Curridge Primary School

Intent

Teaching art helps children to learn to observe the world around them more closely. Our art curriculum provides children with many transferable skills such as critical thinking, understanding and respecting different cultures, thinking in depth, understanding how to make and learn from mistakes and emotional literacy.

Art is used across the school, in our nurture sessions, to support children when faced with challenges – providing them with a creative outlet to explore and express their emotions. It can help to build resilience and develop social skills. For many children the arts can be a creative outlet for releasing feelings of pressure or stress of everyday life. 

Our fabulous outdoor environment provides a stimulus for art projects. Natural resources are collected to create art in 2D and 3D forms, make pigments to paint with and make natural brushes to express their ideas. Children use paint, chalk, charcoal, clay and natural resources such as sticks, leaves, flowers and berries.

We aim to inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. We want children to think critically and develop a rigorous understanding of art and design. They should know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Implementation

Our art curriculum gives children the opportunity to build on their knowledge and skills over time so they become progressively more proficient. All children will:

• Engage in regular, timetabled opportunities that provide ‘building blocks’ in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
• Record and share their work in different ways and for different audiences. For example; display, website, competitions and exhibitions
• Voice an opinion on art and artists by evaluating and analysing creative works using the language of art, craft and design
• Be introduced to great artists, craft-makers and designers and have opportunities to study them in depth
• Understand how art can shape communities, record history and tell a story of the past. For example; cave paintings, ancient Greek pottery and tomb paintings
• Use a range of materials and techniques to express themselves
• Develop and gain control over their techniques and skills as they progress through the school using sketch books as ‘working documents’

Impact

Children will understand that being ‘creative’ does not mean that some people are not good at art. They will leave our school having had the opportunity to try, and progress in different art forms and know that art is subjective. Art can move you and inspire you and is deeply personal. Children will:

• Have developed their fine motor skills to complete art work
• Will have participated in open-ended art projects so they practice techniques without rigid judgements
• Know that there are different ways to represent and express their ideas, feelings and emotions through their art work
• Be able to express their views on their own and others’ art work with carefully thought out comments and observations
• Have observed, appreciated and been close to art work from artists throughout history
• Have had the opportunity to exhibit their own work for a wider audience