Subject Leader: Mrs S Farrugia 

"Every child is an artist."Pablo Picasso


Vision

St Augustine Catholic Primary school, our vision is to engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As our children learn and create through the curriculum, we inspire them to think critically and develop a deep understanding of the subject. The children learn how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. We believe that art stimulates imagination and inventiveness; giving our children the skills, concepts and knowledge necessary for them to express responses to ideas and experiences in a visual or tactile form. It fires their imagination and is a fundamental means of personal expression.

Intent
At St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum in art and design which provides children with opportunities to develop and extend knowledge and skills to express their individual interests and ideas, whilst also contributing to the development of the child emotionally, aesthetically, spiritually, intellectually and socially.
 
We believe art and design instils an appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts and stimulates imagination and creativity. High quality art teaching provides children with the skills to explore, experiment, create and invent their own work of art whilst engaging, inspiring and challenging them. As artists, children should be able to critically evaluate their work and the work of others, taking influence from well-known artists and adapting their work accordingly. As their skill set progresses, they should understand how art has changed their landscape, culture and history.
 
The aims of teaching art and design in our school are:
 
·        To inspire confidence, value and pleasure in art
·        To provide an imaginative, innovative and co-ordinated art programme which will foster enthusiasm for art and design amongst all the children
·        To enable all children to have access to a varied range of high-quality art experiences
·        To foster an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and a knowledge of artists, crafts people and designers, through links with the local and wider multicultural community
·        To stimulate children’s creativity and imagination by providing visual, tactile and sensory experiences
·        To develop children’s understanding of colour, form, texture, pattern and their ability to use materials and processes to communicate ideas, feelings and meanings
·        To help each child achieve their creative potential in both two and three dimensional work, working on a variety of scales
·        To encourage children to appreciate the beauty, order and precision that is found, naturally and man-made, in our world
·        To enhance children’s ability to value the contribution made by artists, craft workers and designers and respond critically and imaginatively to ideas, images and objects
·        To develop the children’s knowledge of materials by allowing them to experiment freely and to encourage them to use materials sensibly and safely

Implementation
We implement a progressive curriculum in which art and design is taught as part of a half-termly topic, which ensures a well-structured approach to this creative subject. Our long-term plan is drawn from Kapow, which supports us to implement the knowledge and skills required within the Primary National Curriculum. The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art topic are mapped across each year group and throughout the school to ensure progression. These plans define what we will teach and ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term. The emphasis on skills means that children are given opportunities to express their creative imagination, as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and sculpture. As well as the skills taught a focus on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are learning about and being inspired by. Our curriculum is carefully planned to engage and excite all our learners. Coordinated whole-school project work will ensure that art is given high status in the curriculum. By the end of year six children will have experienced a broad, balanced arts curriculum, with an emphasis on the development of knowledge and skills, which includes links across other areas of the curriculum.
 
Our key aim is to develop the children’s skills, knowledge and understanding. We do this best using a variety of learning styles and teaching through a mixture of whole class teaching and individual/group activities on projects in two and three dimensions, using a wide range of materials and resources, including ICT. When starting new projects, we ensure that the children have the opportunity to investigate, explore and develop ideas as well as evaluate, revisit and improve their work. In our classes we recognise that we have children of differing abilities, therefore we provide appropriate learning opportunities by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child, making it inclusive for all.

Cross curriculum links

English – Art and design encourages children to ask questions about the starting points for their work. They learn to compare ideas and approaches and to express feelings.
 
Maths - Art and design allows children opportunities to develop their understanding of pattern, shape and space through work in two and three dimensions.
 
Computing - I.T is used to support art and design teaching. Children use I.T software to explore shape, colour and pattern and it allows older children to develop their ideas using digital cameras and the internet. They record their observations, and they manipulate them through photo-editing or painting software.
 
Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) – Art and design contributes to the teaching of some elements of personal, social and health education. The children discuss how they feel about their own work and the work of others.
 
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development – Art and design offers opportunities for social development. Working in groups allows children to learn from each other and to share ideas and feelings. It helps them to develop a respect for the abilities of other children and encourages collaboration across a range of activities and experiences. They also develop an understanding of different times and cultures, through their work on famous artists, designers and craftspeople.
 
EYFS – Early Years Foundation Stage
During Reception year the children engage in art and design through the area of learning: Expressive Arts and Design (EAD). This area of learning is used to develop a child's imagination, creativity and their ability to use media and materials through three broad areas:
·        Imagination and creativity
·        Self-expression
·        Communicating through arts


The EYFS classroom provides a rich environment in which we encourage and value creativity. Children are engaged in a wide range of activities and are given opportunities to work independently and collaboratively as part of child-initiated and adult focused learning. The children’s EAD learning includes art, designing & making, dance, role-play, singing songs and making music, playing with colours, patterns, textures, shape and design. 
 
Children are assessed at the end of reception in EAD against two Early Learning Goals:
·        Creating with materials
·        Being imaginative and expressive
 
Key Stages 1 & 2


Key Stage 1
Children are taught:
1. to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products
2. to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
3. to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space
4. 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.
 
Key Stage 2
Children are taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
Children are taught:
1. to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
2. to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
3. about great artists, architects and designers in history. 

Impact
Our classroom displays and the school environment reflects the children’s sense of pride in their artwork and celebrates their achievements in art. Whole school Art Gallery display is visible in the main atrium.
Children have shared their enjoyment in art and design through child’s voice.
Child and teacher discussions about their work and learning are positive. Children are proud to share their work and talk about their art and design during whole school celebration assemblies.
Children’s artwork is stored in their learning journeys in the EYFS, and then in art and design books in KS1 and KS2.
Art is visible in other curriculum subjects.
Our continued journey in achieving the Arts Mark Award.
Access All Arts Week- encourage children to draw and create during the week. 


Whole School Curriculum Map