Coppice Farm Primary School

Art & Design

As art and design lead at Coppice Farm I am committed to ensuring that as a school we provide all children with learning opportunities to engage in quality art and design. The purpose of Art and Design education is to give pupils the skills, concepts and knowledge necessary for them to express their responses to ideas and experiences in a visual or tactile form. It fires their imagination and is a fundamental means of personal expression. While it is essentially a practical subject, art should provide opportunities for reflection and, with increasing sensitivity, pupils should acquire the ability to make informed, critical responses to their own work and that of others.- Kate Jefferson, Art & Design Lead

INTENT - what does the Art and Design curriculum intend to do?

The aims of teaching Art and Design at Coppice Farm are:

To engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
As pupils 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.
We ensure that the children have the opportunity to study a broad range of artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
We also believe that our children should experience and become proficient in a number of different skills in art including drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, printing and textiles.
To evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art and design.

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

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

IMPLEMENTATION - how is the curriculum implemented?

When delivering the creative curriculum at Coppice Farm there is a real focus on teaching the children new skills and techniques. Our long-term and medium-term plans map out the themes covered each term for each key stage. These plans define what we will teach and ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term. Our curriculum ensures that children across all key stages are being introduced to artists from different cultures, time periods and varying art styles. The emphasis on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are learning about and being inspired by. This enables links to other curriculum areas, including humanities, with children developing a considerable knowledge of individual artists, as well as individual works and art movements.

All staff follow a clear planning structure which promotes; 'making choices', 'planning and reflecting' and children 'creating and evaluating' their own outcomes. This systematic approach to the planning and development of artistic skills means that children are given opportunities to express their creative imagination, as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles and sculpture. Children also learn to understand and apply the key principles of art: line, tone, texture, shape, form, space, pattern, colour, contrast, composition, proportion and perspective.

The opportunity for children to refine and develop their techniques over time is supported by effective lesson sequencing and progression between year groups. Each new unit of work begins with a recap of the previous related knowledge from previous years. This helps children to retrieve what they have learnt in the earlier sequence of the programme of study, and ensures that new knowledge is taught in the context of previous learning to promote a shift in long term memory. Key vocabulary for the new topic is also introduced as part of this unit introduction.

As a school we are also committed to creating co-ordinated whole-school project work ensuring that Art and Design is given high status in the curriculum. At the start of each school year all children participate in a whole school project which is then displayed in school.

IMPACT - what progress will children make?

Through following clear and comprehensive medium-term plans, in line with the National Curriculum, it expected that teaching and learning will show progression across all key stages within the strands of Art and Design. Subsequently, more children will achieve age related expectations in Art at the end of their cohort year and Key Stage. It is our aim that children will retain knowledge and skills taught within each unit of work, remember these and understand how to use and apply these in their own art work, whilst beginning to understand what being in ‘artist’ means.

At Coppice Farm Primary School, we are able to measure the impact that Art and Design has had for all children by:

Determining the extent to which objectives are met within each lesson and overall, at the end of each unit.
Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
Images of the children’s practical learning including classroom displays that reflect the children’s sense of pride in their artwork.
The creative outcomes across the wider curriculum.
Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
Regular book reviews by the Art & Design lead and opportunity for discussions with class teachers on their children’s work.