Rationale
At St Luke’s CE Primary School, we value Art & Design. Engaging with art is essential to the human experience. Almost as soon as motor skills are developed, children communicate through artistic expression. The oxford dictionary describes art as ‘The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.’ A high- quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. Pupils should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
Implementation
Our Art and Design scheme is delivered using a scheme called Kapow. The Kapow art scheme of work is designed with four stands that run throughout.
These are:
- Generating ideas
- Using sketch books
- Making skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)
- Knowledge of artists
- Evaluating and analysing
Units of lessons are sequential, allow children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the national curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Units in each year group are organized into four core areas:
- Drawing
- Painting and mixed- media
- Sculpture and 3D
- Craft and Design
As well as adapting and using the Kapow scheme in our Reception classes, the fundamentals of Art and Design are also delivered to our youngest children through the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. The EYFS curriculum supports children’s Art and design development through the planning and teaching of ‘Expressive Arts and Design’. In Reception and Year 1, in addition to direct teaching, the carefully thought out continuous provision allows our children to build on skills which provide a strong foundation for their artistic development throughout school. Both the environment (indoor and out) and skilled practitioners foster curiosity and encourage explorative play. A wide variety of tools and resources are available for the children. The exploring of these is actively encouraged and supported by staff which enables the children to feel confident and make plans for their time in provision. Our children are motivated to use a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings, refine their ideas and develop ways to express them and to create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.
Impact
Kapow Primary’s curriculum is designed in such a way that children are involved in the evaluation, dialogue and decision making about the quality of their outcomes and the improvements they need to make. By taking part in regular discussions and decision-making processes, children will not only know facts and key information about art, but they will be able to talk confidently about their own learning journey, have higher metacognitive skills and have a growing understanding of how to improve.
The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities.
After the implementation of Kapow Primary’s Art and design scheme, pupils should leave primary school equipped with a range of techniques and the confidence and creativity to form a strong foundation for their Art and design learning.
Art and Design Progression map
Click the link below to view our Art school blog page to see some examples of how our pupils flourish in Art at St. Luke’s:
https://stlukesceprimary.blog-pages.co.uk/subject/art-design/