Art

Art Intent

Learning within art, craft and design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a special way of understanding and responding to the world. A high-quality art and design curriculum should inspire, engage and challenge children - enabling pupils to communicate what they see, feel and think through the use of colour, texture, form and pattern.

Additionally, as they learn about the history, roles and functions of art, they can explore the impact that it has on contemporary life and that of different times and cultures

Implementation

At Highfield we will:

• Teach art regularly. The children will cover an art topic at least once every term and will also have additional opportunities to engage with art and design activities throughout the school year.
• Link art as closely as possible to the topic for the term, to ensure relevance and context.
• Teach a predominantly skills-based curriculum, which covers drawing, painting, sculpture, textiles and printing.
• Re-visit skills throughout their time in school. Skills are revisited and honed in a spiral curriculum, which progresses in terms of depth and challenge, to build on the children’s previous learning.
• Ensure that each child develops their skills and techniques in a way appropriate to them, through active and purposeful experiences, and using a variety of art materials and teaching strategies.
• Foster an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and a knowledge of artists, craftspeople and designers introducing pupils to a wide range of contemporary and historical artists and craftspeople.
• Introduce children to artists and art movements directly linked to the skills or topics they are covering.
• Encourage each child to evaluate their art and design work and that of others, both with peers and adults.
• Celebrate effort, progress and achievement in art through displays, exhibitions and enrichment activities, such as trips out and competitions.

Impact

By year 6 at Highfield, we want pupils to have learned, improved and embedded a range of artistic skills. They should have an awareness of a broad range of artists and craftspeople and be able to consider and discuss the artworks they come across. We want our pupils to be confident to explore, experiment and take risks, placing value on the process and journey that they take, not just on the finished product. Most importantly, we want children to have found and enjoyed a creative outlet – a means of self-expression and enjoyment.