Art Curriculum

Intent

At Northfields Infants and Nursery School we believe that Art is inclusive and encourages creativity and curiosity for all pupils. We believe that Art should be a stimulating and enjoyable experience for all pupils, allowing them to express themselves through a piece of artwork, which has been produced individually or collaboratively. At Northfields, we want our pupils to have the confidence and freedom to experiment with their own ideas, through different media. Through the use of sketchbooks, pupils at Northfields will have the opportunity to evaluate, analyse and re-visit their work and develop resilience by making and learning from mistakes. All pupils should leave our school with: a set of basic skills in drawing and painting, sculpture, textiles, printmaking and ICT; an appreciation of work by a range of artists and an inquisitive nature meaning that they are capable of producing a piece of creative artwork which they and others can be proud of.

Implementation

At Northfields Infants and Nursery School the Art curriculum consists of art objectives taught through Subject Based Learning lessons. Art  units are taught each half term. Every half term the pupils build on their drawing and painting skills and then work on another Art element. We encourage pupils to express themselves and produce high-quality pieces of work in a variety of media that they can be proud of. Northfields’ Art curriculum is based on the National Curriculum. The units of Art covered throughout KS1 are: drawing and painting, sculpture, print making, collage and Art through ICT. Pupils at Northfields are given opportunities to discuss, critique, appreciate and evaluate their own and the work of professional artists.

Pupils are taught:

1. To create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas.
2. To explore different media of art techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay].
3. To develop their understanding of the appropriate art techniques and tools to use.
4. To appreciate works of art from great artists from a wide range of diverse backgrounds celebrating men and women artists.

Impact

We strive to ensure that our pupils’ attainment is in line with or exceeds their potential when we consider the varied starting points of all our pupils. At Northfields Infants and Nursery School we can judge the success of our Art curriculum in the following ways:

• Using a clear progression of skills.
• Pupil conferencing – are pupils happy, engaged, motivated to do well and challenged within the subject. Are pupils able to clearly express their opinions about Art? Do the pupils know the names of professional artists and their work?
• Sketchbooks – do they show a clear learning journey, progression of skills and opportunities to revisit and evaluate work?