The Teaching of Art at St Mary and St Benedict

Intent

At St Mary and St Benedict school we believe that a high-quality Art, Craft and Design curriculum should  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. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our school and greater community.

At St Mary and St Benedict school we aim to ensure that all children have a wide range of experiences that encourage and develop their knowledge and skills of art, craft and design as well as studying the work of a wide variety of artists from history and cultures. We consider Art, Craft and Design as an important foundation subject that is taught through a thematic approach based on the National Curriculum.

Aims

At St Mary and St Benedict we aim to give each pupil a high-quality art and design education that inspires, engages and challenges pupils to invent and create their own works of art and design. This creativity is achieved through the children receiving lessons that develop skills and gives them experiences that allow them to experiment and develop their own ideas that can be applied to their work. 

Children will study the work of a wide variety of artists and cultures and will reflect on how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

The school aims to ensure that:

• All children enjoy an active involvement in art, craft and design.
• All children can produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences.
• All children become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques.
• All children have the opportunity to evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.
• All children know about great artists, craft makers and designers and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Teaching Art, Craft and Design

At St Mary and St Benedict school all children will have a wide range of experiences that encourage and develop their knowledge and skills of art, craft and design as well as studying the work of a wide variety of artists from history and cultures. We consider Art, Craft and Design as an important foundation subject that is taught through a thematic approach based on the National Curriculum and makes links with other subject areas to help children to make connections. 

Art, Craft and Design is a subject that requires the teacher to be directly involved to ensure the development of a pupil’s progress. This will be achieved through a variety of approaches with the emphasis given on first-hand experiences to enable the child to understand the artistic process. Children will have the opportunity to develop their artistic skills through discrete skills based sessions that accompany a unit of work.

Pupils will have the opportunity to:

• Use a wide range of materials creatively to design and make products.
• Use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.
• Develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.
• About the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between them and making links with their own work.

In addition to this, children at Key Stage two 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.
• To create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas.
• To improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials such as pencil, charcoal, paint and clay.
• About great artists, architects and designers in history.

At St Mary and St Benedict we know that all children will have different levels of ability and therefore their ability to learn and apply skills will vary. Consequently differentiation will be by outcome. A wide variety of resources will be made available to all pupils to support different needs and to allow the development of their own unique style.

Assessment, recording and reporting

Assessment of progress will be made against the learning outcomes for each unit of work. Reporting to parents follows school guidance and procedures.