Art

In line with the National Curriculum, at Great Rollright, we believe pupils should know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity, and wealth of our nation. We ensure the progressive development of knowledge and skills; enable pupils to observe and record from first-hand experience and from imagination; develop the pupil’s competence in controlling materials and tools, acquire knowledge and become proficient in various art and design techniques and processes; begin to develop an awareness of the visual and tactile elements including colour, pattern and texture, line and tone, shape, form and space; and develop a knowledge and appreciation of a diverse range of artists and designers; to experiment, invent and create their own pieces of artwork.

In EYFS, there is a continuous provision of art opportunities which make important contributions to the children’s development in Expressive Arts and Design. In EYFS, art is taught following units focusing on developing key areas, developed by Access Art.  Within each area there are activities which enable an open-ended, playful exploration of materials, processes and ideas, which in turn nurture dexterity skills, promote an early understanding of visual literacy skills, and begin to build the child’s confidence in their ability to make a personal, creative response to a stimuli. We also take the opportunity to teach and explore art skills through our forest school sessions.

In years 1-6, we use the Access Art curriculum to teach art, following 3 large units of work and then 3 smaller drawing units each year. Lessons are taught either weekly or in ‘blocks’. Lessons follow a similar structure to the rest of curriculum whereby prior learning is revisited, new learning is introduced in small steps and children have chance for independent practice. Children complete their artwork in sketch books, and children will build skills towards creating final pieces of artwork which are displayed in the classroom/elsewhere in the school.

Teachers at Great Rollright continuously monitor the impact of the Art curriculum, and whether the work pupils do over time matches the intended curriculum. We use the benchmark of our clearly sequenced curriculum to evaluate whether what we want our pupils to know and do well are evident in their outcomes in daily lessons and end of unit outcomes. Outcomes of this continuous process are recorded as evidence which is used by Teachers to evaluate the implementation of the curriculum and adjust sequences of work accordingly.
As a church school, we also evaluate whether pupils are demonstrating our core spiritual and moral values by their attitudes and behaviour in Art lessons.  We triangulate evidence to ensure are pupils have a love for learning art by showing joy and pride in their own artistic expression, as well as appreciating the work and style of their peers.  That they exhibit a culture of respect, demonstrating a supportive environment where all learners feel valued and challenged.  That they are able to demonstrate courage by trying new techniques, materials, and styles even if they feel uncertain.  That they are truthful and see how art can be used to communicate genuine thoughts, feelings, or observations of the world.

Long Term Planning

Progression and Overview Documents

Progression of Knowledge and Skills Year 1 – Year 6