Art, Craft and Design

Art, Craft and Design Curriculum Statement

Intent

At St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum.  Art and Design provides our children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.  It is a subject where great pleasure can be gained and we want our children to be proud of their art achievements. 

We aim to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design which are valued and celebrated.

We will help our children develop lively, enquiring minds and as they progress, encourage them to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of Art and Design.

In accordance with the 2014 National Curriculum, St Bede’s Catholic Primary School strives 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.

We want our children to approach Art and Design with confidence and creativity, working individually and collaboratively, and we believe it is important that they learn how it shapes history and contributes to the world around them. 

We intend that our children should master Art and Design to such an extent that they can make use of it effectively in their everyday lives and could, if they wish, go on to be the artists of the future…. illustrators, graphic designers, fashion designers, architects, printmakers.

Implementation

The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School is based on the National Curriculum and recently we have supported this with the Kapow Primary Scheme of Work.  From September 2021, we will use this scheme to enable our teachers to deliver creative, inspiring and engaging lessons and provide for progression in skills and knowledge from Year 1 to Year 6, affording opportunities for all children to reach their full potential.  If they feel it is appropriate, teachers will adapt parts of the scheme to meet the individual needs of their children or to complement a topic or area of learning in another subject.

Art and Design is taught discreetly, in alternate half terms to Design and Technology, either as stand -alone regular lessons or within blocks of lessons within the term, ensuring the lesson focus is on the Art and Design knowledge and skills.

Our Art and Design curriculum provides pupils with the building blocks to be successful in:

• Generating Ideas
• Making Skills in art, craft and design
• Evaluation of their own outcomes and those of peers and famous artists
• Knowledge of artists and processes

Our adopted scheme helps teachers to plan systematically ensuring a carefully sequenced and progressive journey as children progress through school. Children at St. Bede’s begin their journey in Art and Design by developing creative work in the EYFS, where teachers structure and provide a huge variety of opportunities for children to learn to engage, think freely, explore, experiment and find ways of communicating their own understanding to facilitate their imaginative development.  This is where the foundation is laid. 

Drawing is a key skill which runs throughout all activities, and children learn to draw for a purpose, being able to communicate ideas visually ( a mind map, a plan, a diagram, an expression of thought).  The formal elements are taught from Year 1 and are revisited each year.  They are:

• Line
• Shape
• Form
• Tone
• Texture
• Pattern
• Colour
• Composition

Our Art and Design Curriculum endeavours to develop our children’s knowledge in conjunction with their skills.  Knowledge Organisers present our children with the key learning at the beginning of each unit, which help to support our children remembering their learning journeys.  Key vocabulary is also included in the Knowledge Organisers for each unit, supporting our children in developing their language of Art, Craft and Design. 

Lessons from the Kapow Scheme for Art and Design incorporate teacher and pupil instructional videos demonstrating a wide range of Art and Design techniques.  This supports all our teachers, no matter what their artistic background, to deliver a high-quality curriculum.

Art work is valued and displayed around classrooms, the school and also uploaded to Seesaw.  This provides an online Journal for the children, as well as an opportunity for their work to be shared with parents.

We do look for opportunities beyond our Art and Design lessons to enhance the opportunity for Art:

• Whole School Art Tasks such as a display in the main entrance to show ‘Togetherness’ of the whole school.
• Taking part in competitions such as the Royal Mail Hero Stamp Competition.

Impact

Our children at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School will enjoy and value Art and Design and know how it is relevant in the world.  They will progress to secondary school and beyond, with the confidence to express their creativity in the subject.  They will have a good understanding of Art and Design and its impact on culture and history.  They will know about artists and designers and how they have influenced the world and country. Our children at St Bede’s will appreciate Art and Design showing they have the confidence to try varied Art and Design activities and opportunities and have the resilience to keep going when their ideas or work don’t go to plan.

The impact of our curriculum will be measured by:

• Images and videos of children’s practical learning.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning.
• Children’s work looked at, both on Seesaw and in sketchbooks.
• Art Work produced by children displayed around the school.
• Discussions with children about artists they know.

Art, Craft and Design at St Bede's 

Some classes took part in a national art competition from the Royal Mail - 'Heroes Stamp Design Competition.'  We designed a stamp which included our own hero from the Coronavirus Pandemic.  

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