Art at Longlands Primary School

EYFS to Year 6

At Longlands, every child is an artist.

Our curriculum gives pupils the knowledge, skills and confidence to explore ideas, work with purpose and communicate meaning through art.

Intent

We aim to develop creative, curious and reflective pupils who understand that art involves looking, questioning, experimenting, practising, refining, making and evaluating.

Using Kapow Primary, pupils build practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge through five connected strands: generating ideas; using sketchbooks; making skills, including the formal elements; knowledge of artists; and evaluating and analysing.

From EYFS to Year 6, children progressively develop drawing, painting and mixed-media, sculpture and 3D, and craft and design.

They learn to use colour, form, shape, line, pattern, texture, tone and space with increasing control and intention. They encounter artists, craft makers, designers and architects from a range of contexts and learn how art can represent ideas, experiences, cultures and viewpoints.

The curriculum brings our values to life: Creativity through experimentation and originality; Excellence through practice and refinement; Empathy through exploring different perspectives; Integrity through developing an authentic artistic voice; and Equality through ambitious, inclusive opportunities for every pupil.

Implementation

Kapow Primary provides a sequenced, spiral curriculum in which important knowledge and techniques are revisited with increasing complexity.

The Longlands artistic journey

Each year group studies four units:

Drawing

Painting and mixed media

Sculpture and 3D

1. Craft and design.

Drawing is taught first where possible so that pupils revisit the formal elements that underpin later work.

• Lessons activate prior knowledge and explicitly teach subject vocabulary, artistic techniques and the safe use of tools and materials.
• Pupils explore artists and artworks, generate ideas, experiment with media, make purposeful choices and evaluate outcomes.
• Sketchbooks are used increasingly purposefully to record observations, research artists, test materials, practise techniques, develop compositions and revisit ideas.
• Teachers model techniques while preserving opportunities for pupils to make individual choices and produce personal responses.
• Adaptive teaching, clear steps, visual examples, appropriate tools and multi-sensory approaches enable pupils with SEND to access the same ambitious artistic concepts.
• Assessment is woven through questioning, retrieval, observation, pupil discussion, sketchbook work and finished outcomes so that teaching can respond to pupils’ needs.

Impact

By the end of Year 6, pupils are increasingly confident and independent artists. They can generate and develop ideas, select and combine suitable materials and techniques, work with growing control, and explain the intentions and choices behind their work. Pupils use increasingly precise art vocabulary, draw on knowledge of artists and artistic practices, and evaluate and refine work thoughtfully.

Progress is evident in pupils’ sketchbooks, discussions, practical work and final outcomes. It is seen in improved technical control, richer subject knowledge, more purposeful decision-making and an increasing ability to create work that communicates meaning.

Pupils leave Longlands understanding that creativity involves curiosity, courage, perseverance and reflection.