Art

  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Curriculum
  4. /
  5. Art

Overview

As part of Tibshelf Schools federation, we work closely with colleagues at the infant school to ensure progression in Art.  At Town End we believe high quality arts opportunities should engage, inspire and challenge our pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to help with their resilience and self- worth. We believe children should develop positive mental health and believe art can be our way to facilitate this.  We believe that art can empower our young students to develop confidence and foster a place for peace and calm in our hectic world, alongside growing the artistic skills of our children.  We encourage the children to embrace all their mistakes in their sketchbooks, with a no rubbers policy and help them to use these mistakes to reflect and work from.  We celebrate the work of our children in art and foster a lifelong confidence and love of art in the world around us.  We use the ACCESS ART scheme to promote these core values and strengthen the children’s understanding of art and artists from around the world.

Intent:

A high-quality art and design education should 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.

The Access Art Curriculum asks: “What is the purpose of art?”. We answer through creating opportunities for pupils to explore many different aspects of making, helping pupils understand the ways art connects us with our past, helps us embrace the present, and empowers us to shape our future. By exploring why art is relevant to all our lives, we aim to make certain that pupils feel entitled to develop their creativity, and understand their place in the world as creative, confident beings.

Art and Design teaching at Town End Junior School instils an appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts.  Art and Design will stimulate imagination and creativity; involving children in a range of visual, tactile and sensory experiences, which enable them to communicate what they see, think and feel through the use of the elements of colour, texture, form and pattern.  Art and Design promotes careful observation and an appreciation of the world around us. Children explore ideas and meanings through studying the work of artists and designers. Through learning about the roles and functions of art, they can explore the impact it has had on contemporary life and on different periods and cultures. 

Implementation:

 We implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school.  Art is taught as part of a half termly art  topic, focusing on knowledge and skills as stated in the National Curriculum.  At Town End, we ensure that art and design is given the same importance as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences. Teachers plan lessons for their class using the Access Art scheme.  Teachers can use this document to plan their art and design lessons suitable to their class’s interests and what they want to learn.  The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group. Our  Art Curriculum is knowledge-rich, and pupils will learn a wide range of skills, developing understanding and showing clear progression. But crucially, the knowledge and understanding pupils will build will go far beyond the technical, factual knowledge many current curriculums focus upon. Our curriculum balances declarative knowledge with experiential knowledge, building self-knowledge and nurturing traits in learners which will hold them in good stead whichever direction their learning takes them.

  Sketchbooks are key to the teaching of art at Town End, they are a safe space for trying out new ideas and overcoming being cautious.  They become a space for personal discovery as children choose and try different resources and techniques. Our sketchbooks allow children to develop and share ideas, experiences and imagination, to develop techniques and will study a range of artists. They support and build a creative curiosity within our pupils.

Impact:

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

  • Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
  • Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
  • End of topic Statements I CAN

There are no set sequences, and no right and wrong order in the way we introduce skills. Instead, learning is built through a weaving and layering and revisiting of experiences.   The AccessArt Curriculum is about OPENING UP what art is, giving pupils  lots of different kinds of opportunities and experiences (media, techniques, approaches, artists), all underpinned by creative use of drawing and sketchbooks. As teachers, we  understand the larger structure and relevance of what comes before and after, and that every child has the opportunity to find the elements of art, craft & design which resonate for them.

The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum is supported by a series of “Talking Points” resources, carefully curated to introduce teachers and pupils to a wide variety of artists, designers and craftspeople from across the world. We also juxtapose contemporary artists with more traditional artists, giving you the opportunity to look afresh at artists you may already study. Our collection of Talking Point resources is being added to all the time, keeping schools up to date and inspired.

All AccessArt resources promote open-ended creative learning. We place great value on the creative journey – understanding that outcomes are generally excellent when each pupil is enabled to explore their own creativity. Our aim is to ensure that by the time they leave school, all pupils understand what it means to enjoy exploring their creativity through the visual arts.

2 year cycleDownload

Town End Junior School

  We seek to improve opportunities and outcomes for all pupils in order to build a culture focussed on achievement and aspiration that is ambitious for all pupils.  All set within a framework that expects and seeks to attain the highest possible achievement from our pupils regardless of their race, sex, disability or background, through the promotion of shared values which we endeavour to uphold and live by.

Vision

Through The Arts, we aim to provide dynamic, inclusive artistic and cultural experiences where success is created through exciting opportunities. We use the AccessArt Scheme to enable us to promote these values and teach content rich lessons that foster a love of the arts and appreciate a wide variety of artists from around the world. We are committed to providing a range of growth mind set and mental health strategies to support our children as they go through their lives. Through all of The Arts, we intend to build on the good practice of growth mind set through which pupils gain confidence, improve self-esteem, and improve their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.  We place an emphasis is on journeyful teaching and learning which empowers pupils to become confident creative decision makers. 

Wherever possible The Arts will contribute to every child learning and applying the skills they need to read and write effectively and provide links to develop children’s mathematical learning and ability in relevant ways and support our desire to create lifelong learners.

Principles of Learning and Teaching in The Arts

The Arts are important because:

  • They stimulate creativity and imagination through visual, tactile and sensory experiences
  • They provide visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world
  • They can motivate and promote self-esteem and confidence in all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
  • Through activities in The Arts children learn to make informed value judgements and aesthetic and practical decisions, becoming actively involved in shaping environments
  • The Arts enable children to explore ideas and emotions through the work of artists, musicians, dancers, actors and designers
  • Children develop understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of The Arts that have the power to enrich their lives

Aims and Objectives

Children will:

  • Develop an understanding and enjoyment of Art.
  • Explore a range of starting points for practical work, for example themselves and their experiences, images, stories, drama, music, maths, science, natural and made objects, beliefs and faiths, cultures and environments.
  • Extend their understanding and appreciation of The Arts from a variety of artists and designers working in different times countries and cultures.
  • Develop the ability to observe, investigate, respond to and record the world around them through a variety of art forms.
  • Develop their artistic and creative skills through a skills-based curriculum that ensures progression between year groups, using a range of personnel, opportunities, materials and processes including IT.
  • Make increasingly informed and creative choices of media and techniques for a given purpose.
  • Use their artistic and creative skills to enhance learning and enjoyment in other curriculum areas.
  • Develop opportunities to improve mental health through the growth mindset.

Monitoring and review.

 We allow time (half- termly) for peer review to take place to celebrate each other’s work whilst offering honest feedback on how improvements could be made. This could be in a variety of ways such as small talking groups, as larger whole class share of work or even mini art galleries within the classroom to allow children to display their pieces and discuss their creative processes to teacher and peers.

More formal assessment occurs at the end of each topic when teachers complete the assessment document for each child.

The art co-ordinator will look at a selection of sketchbooks and final pieces and teachers will upload photographs of a selection of work to help create an art portfolio.

Learning walks, pupil voice and displays throughout school help support the evidence gathering.

Inclusion

All AccessArt resources promote open-ended creative learning and places great value on the creative journey – understanding that outcomes are generally excellent when each pupil is enabled to explore their own creativity. Our aim is to ensure that by the time they leave school, all pupils understand what it means to enjoy exploring their creativity through the visual arts.

We study artists, designers and craftspeople not so we can make copies or pastiches of their style, but so we can learn from the way they see the world. Explore the video on AccessArt to understand how AccessArt advocates using artists, designers and craftspeople in school.

Each pathway tells a story / forms a journey, for both teacher and pupil. Each pathway follows a particular format which promotes excellent teaching & learning: – Warm-up: Artists: Activity: Crit / Reflection – Artists: Materials: Activity: Crit / Reflection – Challenge or Brief: Artist: Activity: Crit / Reflection.

Creativity likes rhythm – we respond best as creative beings when we have space and time to explore and respond. The 36 Pathways, of AccessArt, follow a repeated rhythm, providing lots of time to balance repeated practice with new experiences, quiet approaches with active and dynamic activities, time to work alone with collaborative and community based activities… all geared to create energy and momentum throughout the year.