Art and Design

‘A picture says a thousand words…’ ‘I dream my painting then paint my dream…’ - Vincent Van Gogh

How Art and Design supports our school's vision:

At Aberford C of E Primary School, we strive to inspire children to explore, enquire and communicate their individual perceptions, meanings and emotions through Art and Design. Pupils have the freedom to investigate visual, tactile and other sensory qualities of their own and others work, and develop a natural appreciation, respect and value of the work. Introducing children to the work of great artists gives them the opportunity to experience the amazing achievements of these great works of art.  

The aim of our Art education is to equip children with the essential skills, concepts, knowledge and understanding for them to confidently and independently convey their individual responses to ideas and experiences in a visual or tactile form. We envisage art and design to ignite children’s flair, passion and imagination as it is a means of personal expression, providing valuable opportunities for them to reflect upon their own work and that of others with increasing sensitivity.  

The appreciation and enjoyment of the arts touches all our lives. We believe children enrich and heighten their knowledge and comprehension to cultural richness and diversity through the Art and Design curriculum. They study in depth a diverse variety of cultures/civilizations developing an appreciation and recognition for the different ways in which people lead their lives globally. Through multicultural art projects, children are empowered to develop their knowledge and understanding of artist’s ideas and concepts, helping them to identify meanings behind specific cultures, beliefs and religions.  

Art and design stimulates imagination and creativity; involving pupils in a range of visual, tactile and sensory experiences, which enables them to communicate what they see, think and feel through the use of the elements of colour, texture, form and pattern.  Through learning about the roles and functions of art, children can explore the impact it has had on contemporary life and on different periods and cultures.

We are very proud to be working together to achieve our Silver Artsmark award which acknowledges our school commitment to art, dance music and drama both locally and globally. Take a look at our Artsmark work so far. 

National Curriculum Aims for all pupils:

The national curriculum for art and 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 forms.

Our Art Skill Emblems

Learning progresses by the children revising prior art skills and knowledge taught, which enables them to recall upon previous concepts and make connections with new experiences and techniques through a range of divergent (open-ended tasks when pupils draw upon their own knowledge and experience to create their own style) and convergent (closed tasks for example when learning which primary colours are mixed together to make secondary colours) tasks.

Over a two-year rolling programme pupils will have opportunities to explore and revisit art skills and media in different contexts, topics and themes which heightens and furthers their learning, enabling them to continually build up their art skills. The curriculum content includes different ways of exploring practical, theoretical substantive and disciplinary knowledge and understanding over a period of time. These skills are practised in a sequence and broken down into components so the children can learn to understand, appreciate, contribute and enhance their imaginative thought processes.

Art and design units of work are taught across a half term period focussing on the practical knowledge and skills stated in the aims of the national curriculum which incorporates those of drawing painting and sculpture. We also incorporate the teaching of textiles, colour, pattern, digital art, ceramics, and collage with activities personalised and tailored to the children’s individual needs in order to further their learning of new skills and techniques.

Pupils have opportunities to study the theoretical knowledge of the work of artists, craftspeople and designers both past and present as this helps develops children’s practical art making. Pupils use language to discuss, evaluate, criticise and express their own personal thoughts and opinions about both traditional and contemporary forms of art, craft and design and make connections which exist across periods of time and in different places. This also includes artists, craft-makers and designers from diverse communities.

Children are shown how to use their disciplinary knowledge to critically evaluate artists work; analysing style and techniques which equips them with the ability to appraise a piece of work. Teachers encourage pupils to use disciplinary questions such as 'What is art?’ ‘What is its purpose?’ ‘What are the careers in art?’ ‘What is the role of an illustrator?’

The substantive knowledge is based upon the children learning about the awareness and knowledge of the 7 elements of art eg, line, shape, colour, form, texture, space etc.

Art and Design - Long Term Plans and Progression

Please contact the school directly if you have any questions regarding the curriculum we teach.