Art and Design

“A world without art, is a world without individualism.” Oscar Wilde 

Why do we teach art? 

• To allow pupils the opportunity to express their thoughts in creative and original ways, communicating feelings and ideas without words.
• To open new horizons for them, with fresh ways of seeing, thinking, doing and being. 
• The nature of art, making or consuming, is never fixed or static. By nature, art is about growth and evolution, about the unexpected discovery. 
• ·We want to facilitate this through an aspirational, yet accessible art experience. 

Intent

In our Village Schools Partnership, our intention is for pupils to achieve and experience the following: 

• To inspire our pupils' curious and creative exploration of art and development of their skills. 
• To expand their horizons, adding to the cultural capital their families bring, engaging with new ways of seeing and embracing different forms of expressing their ideas, thoughts and feelings. 
• To engage with authentic first-hand art experiences that connect them to the wider world. 
• Stretching their creative potential and risk taking with learning new techniques, tools and materials.  
• Learning about a range of artists from different eras, countries, cultures and styles, who have helped to shape the world we live in. 
• To give pupils opportunities to become observers, commentators and evaluators of their own and others work.
• Use their Learning Behaviours (animals) to underpin their development as learners.

Our aim is not to just ‘produce pieces of art’ but to facilitate the children’s development of the skills, techniques and thought processes involved in creating a piece of art as well as to see themselves as an artist on their own journey of discovery, starting in our early years setting all the way through to year 6. 

Implementation:    

We have adopted the high quality Access Art Split & Mixed Curriculum. 

This curriculum aims to develop artistic styles and use of a variety of materials through a progressive, varied and exciting curriculum.

Pupils in The Village Schools Partnership will learn the fundamentals of art:

·         Through weekly, or blocked lessons, depending on the activity.

• The three, half-termly units, covering Drawing and Sketchbooks, Surface and Colour and Working in Three Dimensions, will develop skills, knowledge and understanding while keeping the emphasis on experiential learning.

• Through the ‘Talking Points’ pupils will also learn about a range of contemporary and traditional artists with varied styles, backgrounds, countries and perspectives.  

• Through the different Pathways (Schemes of Work), pupils will have opportunities to work with a variety of materials and techniques while building their confidence and enjoyment.
• Pupils will be encouraged to take risks and embrace the unexpected, to view ‘mistakes’ as opportunities and to step back to view things from different perspectives. 
• Supporting pupils with additional needs through quality first teaching, to access and engage with the art curriculum by considering their individual needs and strengths. 

• At the end of each Pathway unit, the children are given the opportunity to reflect critically on their journey and final piece, where appropriate, while also offering supportive suggestions, comments and questions to their classmates.  
• We aim to give them real and authentic experiences by visiting galleries, museums, artist’s studios and inviting artists and professionals into school to share their work and journey with the pupils, so that they make connections to the wider world.
• Once a year, each class will create a class gallery, inviting other pupils, parents and locals to view their work.
• As a partnership we will participate in local exhibitions to give pupils authentic opportunities to showcase their artwork to the public; for example, The Burton Art Gallery’s schools exhibition.

Impact 

How will we know that this has happened?

• By the end of year 6, for each child to feel that they have grown in their creativity and been encouraged to achieve their creative potential.
• To have developed their critical and creative thinking skills, building on their knowledge and understanding of materials and techniques, stretching their experience of how they can make a creative response to a variety of stimuli. 
• To engage with exploratory journeys that produce varied and individual outcomes. 
• To be bolder in taking risks, viewing things from a different perspective and talking about what we can see beyond what is in front of us. 
• Evidence - in their sketchbooks through the children’s work and photos of their journey, including final pieces. 
• Through our Whole School Art Photo Journal, we can show pupils’ progression with their skills and experiential journey.  
• Through participating in local exhibitions in addition to holding our own smaller exhibitions for parents and others in the school to see.   
• Development of visual literacy skills with a greater understanding of visual communication and the ability to critically analyse and make meaningful images and artwork as they progress through each stage of school. 
• Increased cultural capital for each child through opportunities for pupils to discover more about artists, both traditional and contemporary, local and worldwide. To experience galleries and art workshops and understand how they can add to our society and culture, bringing an increased intercultural understanding. 
• To grow in confidence and understanding in their practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge as they progress through the school and to make connections between them. 

Cultural Capital: 

While our Partnership sits in an area of coastal and rural or social and economic deprivation, it is our intention to ensure that our pupils understand the meaning of cultural capital.

We invite local artists, designers and architects to talk with the children about what they do and the process they work through, as well as to show them examples of their work so that the children can engage with them.

We also invite artists in to give art / skills workshops. 

Where possible, we take classes to visit art galleries and take part in local art exhibitions.

We aim to develop their vocabulary to be able to feel comfortable in a museum or art gallery and to have a voice to talk about what they see and feel. 

We want our pupils to begin to understand their relationship with art and learn about themselves through exploring it.