ART
Intent
At Kirkheaton Primary School we set out to stimulate children’s creativity and imagination. Our aim is to ensure that we provide a high-quality, practical Art and Design education. We will engage, inspire and challenge pupils, providing them with opportunities to express their individual thoughts, feelings and ideas. Our teaching will equip all pupils with the knowledge and skills to experiment, take risks, become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Our tried-and-tested Art and Design pathway enables pupils to record what they see and feel first-hand, and then develop their creativity through a range of visual, tactile and sensory experiences. The children’s ability to control tools and materials improves over time because the carefully sequenced learning builds systematically through the key stages, enabling pupils to invent and create their own masterpieces. As pupils progress, we expect them to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art, having an appreciation of both the artwork of their peers and famous artists and to be able to articulate the emotions that they evoke. All the while, they are developing an awareness of the role and purpose of Art and Design, and of the people practising it in different times and cultures; as well as how art is reflected in and has shaped our history, contributed to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation and heritage.
The Art and Design Curriculum at Kirkheaton enables pupils to build knowledge and understanding of key concepts, enabling them to recognise, understand and adapt their own creativity in a variety of contexts, considering the messages they wish to communicate as well as the aesthetics.
Implementation
Here at Kirkheaton Primary School, we believe that every child is an artist! During their primary art education at Kirkheaton, our pupils are taught art skills progressively from Nursery, through Early Years, KS1 and KS2. They are given opportunity at every age and phase of learning to use and experiment with a range of media and materials in order to become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art techniques.
From an early age our pupils are inspired to use a variety of art tools and experiment with outcomes. In our Early Years unit, children are encouraged to be experimental, exploring art resources and mark making materials and have access to daily art provision throughout the year. This approach enables pupils to enjoy an active involvement in art, where everyone takes part and has a go and takes responsibility for their own learning. As well as this, within each topic, our children are guided to create a showcase art piece that includes taught skills. Our children are then able to practise and apply these skills independently in the art provision area. This approach, gives our pupils the confidence and freedom to express themselves, take risks, invent and try out new ideas, and we have found that our young learners develop a passion and enjoyment for art that remains with them as they journey through school.
In KS1 and KS2 the teaching of art becomes more guided, with teachers modelling specific taught skills and techniques to allow children to achieve high quality outcomes. Our teachers support our pupils to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform, alongside a curriculum which provides opportunities for our pupils to experience a broad and balanced range of art activities, learn a wide range of techniques and show progression within these. Children are given the opportunity to revisit skills taught in previous years and are encouraged to apply what they have learnt through showcase art pieces. They build a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to create art work for a range of purposes, that can be appreciated by a wide audience.
Art is taught alongside the other areas of the curriculum and used to enhance, engage and enrich learning in these areas. It provides our pupils with a way of communicating what they have learnt about their topic and to visualise their ideas. In KS1, children continue to engage in half termly art projects as we believe that art is equally as important as other subject areas and can also support in developing fine motor skills and emotional literacy. Providing our pupils with frequent exposure to art enables them to become visually cultured and able to identify and apply the key elements of art with increasing control and creativity further up school. In KS2 each year group complete 3 main art projects per year which are delivered through the teaching of skills, developing of ideas and then producing a final showcase piece. At all ages our pupils are introduced to works of great artists from both the past and present. The higher up school they get the more our children are encouraged to reflect upon and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms as well as the impact this had and continues to have on the world
around them and the influence this has on their own style and composition of artwork.
Where appropriate we work alongside specialist art teachers and local artists to enhance the opportunities and experiences we offer our children in order that they can explore and enjoy art to its full. At Kirkheaton we endorse the quote by Brandon Boyd that ‘Art is everywhere and Everywhere is art’ and therefore our lessons happen in a range of environments both in the classroom, our designated art space and outside, where children are given opportunities to use nature creatively during forest school sessions. We give children the opportunities to visit museums, galleries and theatres in order to experience all art forms, developing their skills of observation and evaluation and enabling them to critique using the language of art with a rich and varied vocabulary.
The arts and creativity are an integral part of our school ethos and therefore this is reflected in our learning environment. Artwork is displayed in class and around school in order to raise the profile of their creations as works of art, whilst also inspiring others to develop an appreciation of art, determining what they consider to be aesthetically pleasing and appealing to them. Our learning environment serves to reinforce that every child is an artist and gives our pupils the sense of achievement of being just that!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR LEARNING ENVIORNMENT PLEASE READ THE POLICY BELOW:
Impact
We believe that children given creative outlets are more confident, motivated and have a boosted self-esteem. Children love to create and experiment. It makes them happy and allows them to show a part of them that, for some, is hard to say or write. That’s why at Kirkheaton we dedicate time to ensuring that all our pupils have the best possible creative arts experience. Art is playful, messy and fun and our children will tell you just that! Our pupils and teachers alike value the arts and are eager and enthusiastic to engage in them. The range of art activities we offer, give children a much-needed chance to express their ideas, build on their observational skills, gain confidence, promote feelings of self- worth and develop creativity and imagination, as well as offering children much needed time to relax. Art lessons here at Kirkheaton, whilst following the same key principles of outstanding classroom teaching, also offer variety and a chance to break from the day to day structure; where traditio
nal barriers to learning can be removed. Through art, it has enabled us to develop and strengthen relationships with all pupils regardless of age, gender, ability or denomination and we have created small artistic communities within our classrooms and across the wider school community where children take great pride in sharing their skills and supporting their peers; appraising each other with a focus on strengths, talents and accomplishments. Through our immersive experience in the arts, our children gain skills, experiment with using them, develop and improve ideas and then have a sense of achievement at the end of a project with a final outcome that is unique to them and their experiences. Through our teaching we harness our pupils’ artistic talents and lead them on a unique learning journey of the arts, which is documented in their sketchbooks. They use these to gather ideas, test new skills, create pallets and make relevant notes which enable children to fully absorb themselves and reflect continuously whilst supporting long term knowledge development. These skills of note taking, experimentation, composition and layout are all transferable skills that can be used and adapted within other areas of the curriculum to enhance presentation. Our pupils take pride in their work and use art skills and illustrations to improve the presentation of their work in all aspects of their learning. To quote Matisse... Our art curriculum develops "creative people who are curious, flexible, presistent, and indpendent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play!"
Useful links for art:
Click here for the art National curriculum: National curriculum in England: art and design programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)