Art and design

Intent

Pupils should be given opportunities to explore and generate their own creative ideas. They should be encouraged to take risks and experiment, and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not.

It is important that our pupils’ artwork is purposeful. They should be clear on whether their work is a means of self-expression, or a way of exploring the styles of other artists. Pupils need to know the intended outcomes for each piece and have a way to measure their own work against these success criteria.

Pupils should be given time to analyse and reflect on their progress, taking account of what they intended to achieve. As pupils move into Key Stage 2, they ought to have more opportunities to review and refine their creative projects, as they work on more sustained pieces over a longer period of time.

Our pupils are exposed to a range of artists’, designers’ and architects’ work and this allows them to develop their knowledge of different styles. A key strand of all good art education is to help pupils acquire knowledge and understanding of the world of art, craft and design. They should be taught some of the historical and cultural development of different art forms.

Pupils can then reflect upon their own work, and use comparisons with the work of others (pupils and artists) to identify how to improve. Evaluation should be meaningful and continuous throughout the artistic process, with evidence of age-related verbal and written reflection.

We want to provide our pupils with a breadth of artistic projects and creative experiences, including working on projects (i) on their own, and collaboratively with others (ii) in both two and three dimensions (iii) on different scales and (iv) using digital media.

Curriculum overview

Progression of skill