Art and Design

Intent

At Whoberley Hall, our intent is to create children who are confident, creative, resilient and reflective artists and designers. We are committed to delivering a high-quality curriculum which engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design that they feel proud of.  This means we provide opportunities for children to explore lots of different making opportunities, as well as thinking creatively and critically about the purpose art serves. We believe all children deserve the opportunity to develop their skills through an inclusive, rich and open-ended creative journey. The children will make good progress in individual lessons but also over time because of the links that have been created across year groups.  Our aim is that our children go on to apply these skills across all subjects, as well as in their futures.

Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject specific language they need to describe, question and discuss art. We encourage all our children at Whoberley Hall to express their thoughts and emotions in a safe and appropriate way. This is embedded in everything we do and Art is a fantastic medium, which can support and empower our children to do this. We teach our children to be reflective of their work and respectful of others.

By exploring why art is relevant to all our lives, we aim to make certain that pupils feel entitled to develop their creativity, and understand their place in the world as creative, confident beings.

We study a range of inspirational artists, designers and craftspeople, including those from our own locality, not so we can make copies of their style, but so we can learn from the way they see the world and explore the impact artists can have on society, shaping history and contributing to our national and local culture. We ensure that children retain their learning and therefore make progress over time because we have 7 elements of art that we keep returning to and developing throughout the children’s learning journey. These elements are: Shape, colour, tone, form, space, texture and line.

Expectations

By the end of EYFS children will:

Use their imagination to create a range of artworks. They will safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. They will share their creations, explaining the process they have used. Children will begin to show accuracy and care when drawing. They will use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery.

By the end of Key Stage 1 children will:

Use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination. They will have developed a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. Children will be able to talk about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

By the end of Key Stage 2 children will:

Create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas. They will have improved their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials. Children will be able to discuss great artists, architects and designers in history.

Art and Design is highly valued at our school and we ensure lessons are fun and purposeful. Children are taught specific skills through exploring, creating and evaluating. Ultimately, we seek to promote high aspirations and to create a life-long love of the subject.