Art and Design at Firs

Ready For Learning and Ready For Life.

Firs Primary School is committed to ensuring all children are able to access a knowledge-rich, broad and balanced curriculum with teaching and learning being at the heart & Design of the delivery of the curriculum. It aims to be bold, free thinking and rigorous; underpinned by a commitment to the school values, ensuring equity, learner empowerment and encouraging social mobility.  An essential element of our knowledge rich curriculum is the development of a broad and rich vocabulary, and the ambitious and explicit teaching of this.  A renewed focus on speech and language is a key driver of the revised curriculum and this is supported by the Voice21 scheme to develop Oracy in the classroom.

Art & Design

Live:  Children will be introduced to the people, skills, ability, opportunities and space needed for Art & Design & design to flourish at the school and beyond.

Love:  Children will uncover a love of the Art & Designs that enables them to communicate and understand the world in deeper ways that speak about our humanity.

Learn: Children will develop the skills and innate artistic ability that is hidden within them. Creativity is a skill that is developed through exceptional teaching, practice and use, thinking carefully about the design process.

Aims of the Art & Design curriculum:

At Firs we use the Cornerstones Curriculum to deliver Art & Design.  The cornerstones Curriculum is a broad and balanced, knowledge and skills based curriculum with a creative edge. Cornerstones believe that the teaching of Art & Design should build on a backbone of skills and offer countless opportunities for quality cross-curricular Art & Design. Cornerstones provide both an essential skills scheme and a vast array of Art & Design contexts for children to develop their on-going a natural creativity. Cornerstones provide a range of topics within each year group (EYFS – Year 6) and Cornerstones provides an overview of all their projects that either has Art & Design as the primary focus or cover it within the project.

The national curriculum for Art & 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 & Design forms.

Progression in the Art & Design curriculum:

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.

Subject content EYFS:

At Firs, we encourage creative work in the foundation stage classes, as this is art & Design of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. We relate the children’s creative development to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged two to five. Expressive Art & Designs (EAD) is one of the four specific areas of learning in the EYFS framework. Expressive Art & Design involves supporting children to explore and play with a wide range of media materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities  in Art & Design, Music, movement, dance, role-play, imaginative play and Design Technology. The range of experience encourages children to make connections between one area of learning and another and so extends their understanding.  We provide a rich environment in which we encourage and value creativity. Children are engaged in a wide range of activities and their responses involve the various sense. We provide them with the opportunity to work alongside their peers and adults, both indoors and outdoors. Teachers will record observations on the children on a regular basis as Art & Design of daily routines. These observations will provide opportunities to gauge children’s needs and so more accurately plan next steps in their learning.

Subject content Key Stage 1:

Pupils should be taught:

• To use a range of materials creatively to design and make products.

• To use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.

• To develop a wide range of Art & Design techniques in using colour, patterns, texture, line, shape, form and space.

• About the work of a range of Artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practice and disciplines and making links to their own work.

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the

knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing

and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home and

school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider

environment].

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

 design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users

based on design criteria

 generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing,

templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication

technology

Make

 select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for

example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]

 select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction

materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics

Evaluate

 explore and evaluate a range of existing products

 evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge

 build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable

 explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles], in their

products.

Subject content Key Stage 2:

Pupils should be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of Art, craft and design.

Pupils should be taught:

• To create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas.

• To improve their mastery of Art & Design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials (for example, pencil charcoal, paint and clay)

• About great Artists, architects and designers in history.

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the

knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing

and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home,

school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment].

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

 use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional,

appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups

 generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated

sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and

computer-aided design

Make

 select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks

[for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately

 select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction

materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic

qualities

Evaluate

 investigate and analyse a range of existing products

 evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the

views of others to improve their work

 understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped

shape the world

Technical knowledge

 apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex

structures

 understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys,

cams, levers and linkages]

 understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits

incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors]

 apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.

Explicit knowledge in the Art & Design curriculum:

Art & Design contributes to the development of the whole child emotionally, aesthetically, physically, socially and cognitively. It provides all children with the opportunity to express themselves imaginatively, creatively and develop their understanding of, and respond to the world around them. Pupils are exposed to many visual, tactile and sensory experiences. At Firs we enable pupils to become involved in, enjoy and appreciate the visual Art & Designs and how it can enrich their personal lives. They learn about the part Art & Design plays in their own and others’ lives, in contemporary life and in different times and cultures:

• Use visual language skilfully and convincingly (for example, line, shape, pattern, colour, texture, form) to express emotions, interpret observations, convey insights and accentuate their individuality.
• Communicate fluently in visual and tactile form.
• Draw confidently and adventurously from observation, memory and imagination.
• Have a knowledge and understanding of other Artists, craft makers and designers.
• Think and act like creative practitioners by using their knowledge and understanding to inform, inspire and interpret ideas, observations and feelings.
• Have independence, initiative and originality which they can use to develop their creativity.
• Reflect on, analyse and critically evaluate their own work and that of others.
• Have a passion for and a commitment to the subject.