Our Art curriculum has been designed to build on our children’s cultural capital through our curriculum drivers. Children’s interests and the requirements of the National Curriculum will enable our children to have the opportunity to develop their skills using a range of media and materials. Children will be introduced to a range of works and develop knowledge of the styles and vocabulary used by famous artists.
Our Art and design curriculum provides a coherent, structured, academic curriculum that leads to sustained mastery for all. Our progression of skills sets out a clear list of what will be covered for each year group which ensures each teacher, even as a non-specialist has clarity as to what to cover.
Our key Art and Design concepts: develop ideas, master practical skills and take inspiration are organised so that children are able to return to the same concepts so they gradually build a secure Art and Design understanding.
Our teaching of Art and Design is taught weekly in KS1. In nursery and reception Art and Design is interweaved throughout continuous provision with a particular emphasis in the area expressive arts and design. Our key concepts are revisited throughout the children’s time at school. This is to ensure that progression will enable children to build an Art and Design schema and move their learning from working in to long term memory.
Art and Design activities are planned for within our continuous provision which allows application and replication of Art and Design knowledge taught in different contexts, offering a more open ended approach to learning which challenges and empowers children to demonstrate their learning in an imaginative and creative way. It also builds on previously taught knowledge, both day to day and across year groups.
Art and design learning is loved by teachers and children across school. The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of each year group, the vast majority of children will have sustained mastery of the content. Our assessments ensures that teachers and children assess their learning continuously throughout the lesson and when learning in continuous provision.
Possibilities
Children will learn about artists and people of influence and where possible visits from specialists and artists would be encouraged. Introducing children to a range of career paths they can take in the world of Art and Design.
These will include artists, fashion designers, interior designers, architects and illustrators.
Environment
As part of learning in the environment we will focus on using natural and man-made resources. Careful consideration has been made to include environmental issues alongside our Eco schools agenda.
Diversity
Our children enter school with a secure sense of their own cultural identity. We aim to build on this with an emphasis on celebrating their uniqueness. Furthermore, we teach and promote an ethos of valuing and respecting the individuality and cultural differences of all people both locally and globally. As a result, our children are empowered to become positive global citizens. When looking at artists and art work, careful consideration has been made to include persons from a diverse range of backgrounds as possible.
Whole School Overview
Nursery - In Class Learning - 2022-23
During continuous provision the nursery children have been spending extended periods of time exploring different media and materials. Independently self selecting resources and tools, noticing what happens when paint is mixed and combining different materials. Great pride in their own achievements has been demonstrated during each part of the project, persevering until completed.
Nursery children enjoyed using their fingers to colour mix and paint in the style of Iris Scott.
Reception - In Class Learning - 2022-23
Stars have been enjoying learning about fauvism and creating their own artwork in the style of Kandinsky. They were very excited to tell the adults about the techniques they had used such as shading and blending. The children talked about why they used the colours and how the colours made them feel.
Reception children have been learning to become artists by developing their art skills and producing pieces of art in the style of Kadinsky. They have learnt techniques shading, stocking, blending, and smudging when using pencil crayons, paints, and chalks. We have also been thinking about how the bright colours Kadinsky uses makes us feel.
Early Years have been exploring the artist Jackson Pollock They were inspired to create their own version of Jackson Pollock’s art by using the outdoors to make drips and splashes for effect on large pieces of paper. The children loved doing this and have been independently doing it in the continuous provision.
Year 1 - In Class Learning - 2022-2023
So far in art we have been designing the front cover of our art books, utilising skills such as sketching, drawing and cutting. We have also been exploring the Colour Theory and learning about the colour wheel using watercolours. This has enabled us to understand the difference between primary and secondary colours and will continue to aid us in our ongoing art journey.
Over the past few weeks’ year 1 have been taking inspiration from the work of Paul Cezanne. We have looked into his life and why he created the work he did. We have been taking inspiration from his work to create still life paintings. We have used a variety of materials including, water colours and pencils. We have explored different kind of techniques including small brush strokes, wash and wipe and sketching.
To enhance our cultural capital, we looked at Indian miniature paintings exploring the style and techniques from these paintings. We then looked at the Singh Twins artists and produced a collaboration of artwork inspired by the Singh Twins to celebrate Diwali. We traced the design using tracing paper and pens.
To enhance our cultural capital, we explored Halloween and looked at Mexican Art. We looked at how Mexicans celebrate the ‘Day of the Dead’ by exploring the masks they wear during this festival. We then revisited the skill of collage and recreated masks using collage. We also linked this with Remembrance Day as we discussed how Mexicans remember the dead on this day and how we have Remembrance day and wear poppies to remember people that passed away during the wars. The children loved creating the masks and showed a very good interest in Mexican art.
In year 1 we at the artist Van Gough we explored his paintings and talked about wellbeing and how we can create work depending on how we are feeling and our experiences. We explored the painting – ‘starry night’ using various materials and then children recreated a collaborative piece of the ‘starry night’.
In year 1 we looked at the artist Paul Signac exploring his painting technique – pointillism. We explored the technique of pointillism and then recreated our own paintings using paint and cotton buds which gave the effect of pointillism.
Year 2 - In Class Learning - 2022-2023
So far in art we have been designing the front cover of our art books, utilising skills such as sketching, drawing and cutting. We have also been exploring the Colour Theory and learning about the colour wheel using watercolours. This has enabled us to understand the difference between primary and secondary colours and will continue to aid us in our ongoing art journey.
Over the past few weeks’ year 2 have been taking inspiration from the work of Paul Cezanne. We have retrieved our learning from year 1 and looked into his life and explored the paintings he created further. We arranged a still life with objects, drew it and then painted it. We used a variety of materials and techniques such as using a range of brushes for thickness.
To enhance our cultural capital, we looked at Indian miniature paintings exploring the style and techniques from these paintings. We then looked at the Singh Twins artists and produced a collaboration of artwork inspired by the Singh Twins to celebrate Diwali. We traced the design using tracing paper and pens.
As part of our Art curriculum the year 2 children have visited the Attenborough Arts Centre. They explored contemporary art by an artist called Letty McHugh. The exhibition explored ideas around sculpture, space and our relationship with ourselves and each other. They created a piece of art to create their own personal space using ropes, pegs, lights and other materials inspired by Letty. One of Letty’s forms of Art is poems so children were exposed to this and thought about how poems can be a form of Art. Children really enjoyed the experience of visiting a gallery, for some of the children it was their first time. They all loved the long walk to the gallery and along the way showed excitement for the things they saw.
In year 2 we looked at the artist Paul Signac exploring his painting technique – pointillism. We retrieved our techniques from year 1 and then mastered it further by recreating our own paintings using paint and cotton buds which gave the effect of pointillism.
In year 2 we looked at the artist Van Gough. We retrieved our knowledge from year 1 and mastering the techniques of using oil pastels to create small dashes and swirls. We explored more of his paintings and talked about wellbeing and how we can create work depending on how we are feeling and our experiences. Children shared their views on this and gave examples of when they’ve created art work based on their own feelings. We explored the painting – ‘starry night’ in more depth using various materials and then children adapted the painting “starry night” adding familiar silhouettes of Leicester to their piece of work.
2021-2022
Painting
In art children have been exploring different techniques such as brushing, painting, splatting and flicking.
Creativity
The year one children have enjoyed being creative during continuous provision and have been using their art skills to create pictures.
Andy Warhol
We created portraits in they style of Andy Warhol using digital media.
Van Gogh
We created a picture in the style of Van Gogh. We used different materials such as spray bottles, tooth brushes to create the light source.
Paul Signac
As part of our jubilee celebrations the Dragon class followed step by step instructions on how to draw a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. At first they felt worried with the idea of drawing her and getting it wrong. However we discussed how art is open to interpretation and that there was no “right or wrong way” to draw a portrait. The children persevered to create some great drawings. They then coloured their portraits using the pointillist technique of Paul Signac, an artist the children had studied in the Autumn term. The children were amazed with the end results and felt proud of what they had produced.
