Art

Rationale / Vision

Rational / Vision

Founded in hope St. Mary’s CE (VA) Primary School is a place where all can find their voice, grow in wisdom and live well in community and service.

Art plays a fundamental role in living out our school vision.

Finding our voice:

Through our Art curriculum children will have opportunities to develop their vocabulary, grow in self-confidence to share their creative thinking and be able to communicate effectively about their artistic skills.   

Living in Community and service:

Through our Art curriculum children will be able to learn about the impact that Art has had on contemporary life, on life in different periods in the past and on different cultures, including in the communities at the heart of our school. For example, through links with the Hepworth Wakefield. When exploring different kinds of Art children see that it is everywhere and an integral, inspirational part of our world.

Growing in wisdom:

Through our Art curriculum children will flourish in artistic understanding and skills. They will be inspired by the work of artists, themes and style they study and develop skills and vocabulary to inspire their personal expression. They grow in appreciation of the world around them and its art and how they can articulate their personal thoughts and feelings in response to it. Children become aware of careers that are driven by art; artists, designers, architects, sculptors, allowing them to feel inspired in the choices they could make in their lives.

The Primary National Curriculum is used to plan St Mary’s School Art curriculum and is well-sequenced and knowledge is valued and specified. Substantive and disciplinary knowledge are intertwined and revisited to ensure that children have a firm understanding of key concepts:

Substantive Knowledge:

Key Art concepts:

• Colour – primary/ secondary colours, warm/ cool, tints, shades
• Line – thick, thin, expressive, contour
• Shape and Form – 2D/ 3D
• Texture – implied texture (drawing/ painting) and actual texture (collage/ sculpture)
• Pattern – repeating, symmetrical, irregular
• Space – foreground, background, perspective

Techniques and Processes:

• Drawing (pencil, charcoal, ink)
• Painting (watercolour, acrylic, colour mixing)
• Printmaking (monoprint, relief)
• Sculpture and 3D work (clay)
• Collage and mixed media

Knowledge about Artists:

Children learn:

• Who artists are
• Their styles, processes, ad purpose
• How artists work in different cultures and time periods

Disciplinary Knowledge:

Generating ideas:

• Exploring concepts and experimenting
• Using sketchbooks to test, refine, and develop ideas

Making Art:

• Making decisions about media and techniques
• Refining artwork based on what works or doesn’t
• Taking creative risks

Evaluating and reflecting:

• Looking closely at art (their own and others’)
• Describing what they see using art vocabulary
• Giving opinions: ‘what do I think?’ and ‘why?’
• Understanding that art interpretations can differ

Understanding art:

Children learn that:

• Artists work in different ways
• Artists respond to the world around them
• Art can communicate ideas, emotions and stories
• There is no ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ way to make art

The Art curriculum at St Mary’s aims to:

• Encourage children to explore their own ideas, experiment with media and create original work.
• Develop children’s core skills in drawing, painting and other techniques and processes.
• Improve children’s mastery of art techniques.
• Enable children to make sense of their own environment through learning about local artists.
• Enable children to make sense of their global environment through learning about worldwide artists. children’s citizenship by exploring local and global artists.
• Equip children with vocabulary and ability to discuss, critique and evaluate their own work and the work of others.
• To introduce children to great artists, craft makers and designers from various historical periods.
• To foster enjoyment and confidence in art, nurturing emotional expression dn self-esteem.
• To build resilience by encouraging experimentation and understanding that failure can be part of learning.
• Enable children to appreciate and make sense of different art forms.

Assessment in Art:

Within non- core subjects we formatively assess all children throughout the topic, we give formative feedback in line with our ‘Marking and Feedback Policy’ to continuously improve children’s knowledge. At the end of every topic, we summatively assess children against the substantive knowledge of that topic. In Art pupils will have opportunities to create independently; these creative opportunities will provide one source of information of summative assessment.