Art and Design
Intent
At Nelmes Primary School, our intent is for Art and Design to engage, inspire and challenge children; equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to experiment more confidently and create their own works of art, craft and design in order to prepare them for their next steps in learning.
The aim of our Art and Design curriculum is to:
- Foster a positive attitude to Art and Design as an interesting and engaging part of the curriculum and of their experiences outside of school
- Explore using a wide range of materials, tools and techniques to experiment, develop and create imaginative original pieces of 2D and 3D work
- Allow all children to more confidently express their ideas creatively and imaginatively
- Develop empathy as they begin to explore how different artists have represented the world around us and make links to their own work
- Develop personal qualities such as perseverance, resilience, patience, aspiration and self- belief through a sense of achievement and success
The Art and Design Scheme of Work and Key Skills show clear progression in line with the age related expectations and the 2014 National Curriculum. Each year group, beginning with EYFS, have a termly focus linked to the key skills that should be covered. These skills are revisited and built upon as the children progress through the school. The progression of skills allows teachers to adapt lessons to support children as required to enable all to make progress, regardless of their starting point.
Implementation
Children are taught Art and Design weekly, with the opportunity for teachers to ‘block’ lessons if a longer period of time is needed for a specific focus. In lessons. sketchbooks are used to investigate and respond to the work of other artists or to focus on a key skill as a starting point for their own work. Sketchbooks are also used to experiment and develop ideas as a key way of responding to a stimulus. This allows children to begin to understand how a final piece of work may differ greatly from its starting point and the importance of experimenting and trying things out.
To ensure consistency and progression, the school has an Art and Design Scheme of Work and Key Skills which provides year groups with a termly focus and key skills to be covered. The progression of skills builds from EYFS through to year 6 and is broken down into 4 key areas:
- Drawing
- Painting
- 3D skills (including working with clay)
- Designing and Evaluating
As they progress through the school, Art and Design lessons help children to develop key fine motor skills and physical co-ordination alongside focus and concentration on a task. Lessons provide opportunities for close observational drawing as well as chances to express ideas imaginatively and creatively. Children are encouraged to evaluate and improve their own work and the work of their peers and this helps them to carefully consider how they explain their ideas and how they feedback to others.
Where possible, links are made to the Topic or English focus for that year group enabling children a wider experience of their areas of learning. There are many other ways that Art is used across the life of the school such as design competitions; mindful art activities used as part of our Relationship Program; larger whole class (or even whole school) projects often as part of our enrichment weeks; and topic days.
Impact
The Art and Design teaching and learning at Nelmes allows children to explore and develop our core learning goals of perseverance, resilience, patience, aspiration and self-belief. Lessons are delivered in a way that allows for experimentation and encourages children to attempt new things. By focusing on a developing program of key skills, children are able to become more confident in their abilities and in turn this allows them to be more creative within their own work.
By focusing on the work of other artists, lessons enable children to develop an appreciation for other’s work, even if they don’t particularly like it! Evaluating each other’s work helps children to empathise with their peers further supporting their social development.
The children take pride in seeing their work on display in classrooms and around the school and this contributes to making the school a bright and cheerful environment.
Art and Design lessons at Nelmes are an opportunity for all of the children to gain a sense of achievement and to become more equipped to explore their feelings and the world around them in increasingly imaginative and creative ways.
For more information about Art and Design at Nelmes please click the link below:
Art and Design whole school overview
Art and Design Policy January 2024
