Art at Longlands Primary School

Intent

At Longlands Primary School, we believe that children achieve their full potential through caring. We aim to provide an art curriculum that encourages and celebrates children’s learning so that they can fulfil their potential. Pupils will be taught to make products by using materials creatively and to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experience and imagination. In addition, pupils will acquire knowledge and understanding in the world of art, craft and design. Pupils will develop and apply their reading and writing skills alongside their speaking and listening skills in their research of significant artists, crafts makers and designers.

In EYFS, pupils will experience a range of learning opportunities through the Expressive Arts and Design area of learning. Pupils will use sketchbooks from Year 1 to Year 6. These help them to develop skills and are a record of pupils’ progress in Art & Design. Progress in art is demonstrated throughout the child’s primary journey as key skills and knowledge are revisited and reviewed. Learning is embedded through a mastery approach, where art is taught discretely, learning in art is made explicit and then applied across the curriculum.

Implementation

We use Kapow as a basis to deliver Art at Longlands and this is built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills.

These are broken into year group expectations and show clearly the knowledge, skills and progression.

Click here to view Skills Progression.

As a school, and in accordance with the National Curriculum’s expectations, we aim 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
  • Language

These strands are revisited in every unit of work. The knowledge and skills from the Art units are applied through other units and revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiralised model. This allows children to revise and rebuild on previous learning.

Art is taught weekly and and Art Exhibition is held annually with a through-school theme, for example female artists.

Click here for our Long Term Curriculum Plan.

Impact

The Art curriculum involves children in the evaluation, dialogue and decision making about the quality of their outcomes and the improvements they need to make. By taking part in discussions and the decision-making process, it is our hope that children will not only know facts and key information about art, but they will be able to talk confidently about their own learning journey, have higher meta-cognitive skills and have a growing understanding of how they can improve.

The impact of the curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. During each lesson teachers assess against the learning objectives and each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher that teachers use at the end of each taught unit.

Children should leave Longlands equipped with a range of techniques and the confidence and creativity to form a strong foundation for their Art and Design learning at Key Stage 2 and beyond.

Click here to see the Progression of Vocabulary for Art and Design.