Intent
Through our Art and Design curriculum, we aim to provide all children with a broad and balanced curriculum, which prepares them for life beyond primary education. We want to develop children’s understanding of their place in the world. We are a global community and the world is getting smaller. Whilst we teach about and celebrate the success of local artists and our cultural capital we believe it is essential to enrich our pupils' knowledge of life beyond Co Durham and to help them appreciate cultural expression through art.
“Art, craft and design develops personal expression and cultural understanding through exploring and celebrating similarities and differences between peoples, places and cultures.” NGA-Providing high quality art, craft and design education in schools.
We engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment so that our children can invent and create their own pieces of art, craft and design. As the children progress through St Cuthbert’s we want them to think more critically about art and design. They 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
The Early Years Foundation Stage will have daily access to creative materials through continuous provision. Alongside this, they will have focused activities to help nurture and develop their artistic skills.
Children who attend St. Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School study Art with their class teacher. Our Art and Design curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in experimenting, inventing and creating their own works of art, craft and design. Art and Design is taught weekly for one hour-lessons for one half-term of each term (which is approximately 18 hours of Art and Design lessons per year group).
The art curriculum is made up of 6 areas of study : drawing, painting, collage, printing, sculpture and the work of artists. At St Cuthbert’s we recognise the importance of revisiting prior learning and building on the skills and knowledge they already have. Children will learn a range of skills and techniques, using a range of mediums, more than once throughout their primary education. Each time they revisit a skill or technique, the study will be at a greater depth, allowing them to further develop previous knowledge and skills.
Each unit of work will begin with exploring the work of an artist. These artists have been carefully selected. Children will learn about what inspires/inspired the artists and what techniques they use to create their artwork.
The curriculum overview details what will be covered in each year group in more detail.
Impact
Our Art and Design curriculum is planned to ensure progression of knowledge and skills, and will ensure all pupils develop the key design and technology skills, as set out by the National Curriculum:
- produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
- evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms
We measure the impact of our curriculum through pupil discussions about their learning. We also assess how well the children have developed their knowledge and skills using the ‘progression of skills’ document.
At St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School it is our aim to provide a fun, engaging and high-quality art education that provides children with the foundations and knowledge to become creative and inspired artists. Our learners will not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge but also skills which will equip them to progress into further education and their everyday lives with rich artistic vocabulary. They will become confident artists, inspired and excited to produce their own creative art work.