Art & DT

Intent

At St Mary’s Primary School, we are currently updating our art and design curriculum.

Our aim is to have an Art and Design curriculum designed to engage, inspire, and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to participate in, experiment with, invent and create their own works of art, craft, and design. Children will be empowered to think creatively and critically. They will investigate and evaluate a range of creative outcomes from the past and present to develop an understanding of various disciplines within art, craft, and design and how they shape our past and future.

Implementation

St. Mary’s Art and Design curriculum is to be built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills. These are broken into year group expectations and aim to show clear continuity and progress. As a school and in accordance with the National Curriculum’s expectations, we aim to ensure that all pupils:

• 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.

Impact

The impact of our art and design curriculum will be evident, not only in our children’s sketch books but also through classroom displays, the school environment and work uploaded regularly to Twitter and Seesaw/Tapestry platforms.

Everything we do is with the child in mind, and positive relationships are built between pupils and staff which create an atmosphere for learning which is conducive to success and allows growth mindset skills to flourish. All children are provided with a safe environment to ‘have a go’ and let their imagination and creativity flow.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
• Images of the children’s ongoing practical learning.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Pupil’s sketch books are shared and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
• Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum.
• Positive comments and what next suggestions annotated by pupils and teachers in sketch books.
• Art and Design week held around a common theme to celebrate the subject and talents within the school. Culminating with a whole school Art & Design display to demonstrate the progression of skills from Nursery to Y6

Our children in Foundation Stage; Nursery and Reception classes are assessed within Expressive Arts and Design and their progress is tracked termly.