Art Curriculum at Phoenix Community Primary School

Intent

At Phoenix Community Primary School we believe that Art and Design has an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum, in which children have the opportunities to develop and extend their skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should 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 children progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of 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.

Aims:

The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all children:

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.

Our curriculum prioritises:

• Rich language development and oracy (expression through speech), building upon prior learning and reflection from within their sketchbooks.
• children at all stages are given the opportunity and are expected, to present their learning in front of other children
• The use of subject specific vocabulary to embed understanding and knowledge.

Implementation

Art and Design is taught through theme based learning. Themes are taught in a two-year rolling cycle so every child visits each topic once. This also allows teachers to work together across year groups to support planning, resourcing and trips. However, in order to ensure children have a broad understanding of a variety of artists and their techniques, each year group investigates their own year specific individuals, encapsulating pointillism, abstract expressionism, collages, painting and sculpture, textiles and impressionists. Children are encouraged to develop metacognition, as they progress through the school – Using both Seesaw and sketchbooks to reflect on prior achievements, to inform future work, as well as peer reviews to provide immediate feedback.

The children's learning is further enhanced with a whole school arts week and collaboration with Art Capital (i.e. the Baubles parade, moon phases in the local library), in the local area.

Impact

Outcomes are photographed and recorded via the media platform Seesaw (in line with the skills coverage document), as well as the children’s sketchbooks, indicating a broad range of acquired skills. children assess and review their work verbally or via annotations, including peer reviews for immediate reflection. This data is used for summative assessments, which take place throughout the year and teachers record the progress and attainment against the National Curriculum expectations of attainment. Children in Foundation Stage are assessed within Expressive Arts and Design and their progress is tracked termly using the Target Tracker assessment system. Age related expectation levels are reported to parents at the end of the reception year.