Art and Design

“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.” Georgia O’Keefe

INTENT

Art and Design, as the National Curriculum says, “embody some of the highest forms of human creativity.”  At Nunney First School we believe it is an integral part of a child’s learning journey to develop their creativity through Art and Design.

Togetherness – Art is a great tool to bring people together.  Through Art, pupils will have a deepened understanding and connection with the world and people around them.  They will encourage and support each other to develop their creativity.

Happiness –   Not only will Art and Design lessons develop knowledge and skills, they will seek to give pupils a creative outlet and offer an interest that supports good mental health.  They will experience the joy of creating and designing throughout their school journey.  We hope they will develop a genuine interest in the subject, kindling an inner motivation to explore and practise the skills taught beyond the classroom.

Respect  – Pupils will show respect to each other’s pieces and creative processes, giving feedback constructively. They will learn about great artists, craft makers and designers, showing respect and understanding towards the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Independence – Pupils will aim to master a variety of art techniques and skills. They will develop techniques and put into practise their skills with increasing independence.  They will have opportunities to experiment, invent and create, allowing them to express their own thoughts and ideas.

Variety – Pupils will experience a wide variety of art mediums giving them a breadth of skills to draw upon. Teachers will also ensure that a variety of artists and styles are be part of the curriculum to allow pupils to have a broad understanding of what Art is. Links will be made across the curriculum in subjects such as History, Computing and R.E to further enhance the pupil’s knowledge and skills.

Excellence – High quality art resources will be provided and pupils will strive to produce pieces to an excellent standard.  As they go through the school, they will learn to evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design with increasing confidence and accuracy.

IMPLEMENTATION

We use a project based method of teaching Art and Design interweaved into our ‘Learning Means the World’ projects on a two year rolling programme. The Art and Design projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s skills and knowledge of visual elements, art forms, artists and art movements.   Art projects are interwoven alongside other subjects where there are opportunities for making meaningful connections. For example, Creating 3D forms (masks) has been placed in the same teaching sequence as the Culture project (Come Fly with me to Africa) which has a Geography focus in Year 1 and 2.

Years 1 and 2 explore themes directly related to the children themselves, such as their facial features, the surrounding natural world and their local community. Further projects expand children’s artistic horizons to study a more comprehensive range of artists, artistic movements, colour theory and creative techniques.

In Years 3 and 4 they build on their previous understanding of colour and further develop their expertise by studying theory.   Pupils expand their experiences to study a broader range of art forms, artists and genres. They also begin to study art from specific and diverse periods of history, including prehistoric pottery and Roman mosaics. Children develop their techniques in printmaking, drawing, painting and textiles. They also explore ways in which ancient cultures have influenced art and crafts by studying, for example, medieval weaving techniques and the religious significance of Islamic art in R.E

A variety of teaching approaches are encouraged:

  • Teacher presentations and discussion
  • Use of photographs, videos, pictures and maps
  • Sketchbooks are used to record ideas and practise techniques
  • Whole class and small group teaching of skills
  • Lots of practical opportunities, for instance to work with clay over a number of weeks
  • Visits to Art Galleries or visiting artists.  (Virtual or in person!)

We also make sure there are cross curricular links in our teaching and questioning. For example, our unit of work on Prehistoric pots works in partnership with the history learning in ‘Through the Ages’. The children learn clay techniques but also reflect on what the pots teach us about the way of life in prehistoric times.