Art & Design
Art & Design Intent
At Walworth School we aim to ‘significantly improve the quality of all our children’s lives’ delivering a rich and varied curriculum that meets the requirements of the National curriculum whilst meeting our overarching curriculum intent of:
- Teaching pupils to have an awareness of how to be successful learners.
- Helping children to possess the appropriate knowledge and skills to develop independence.
- Supporting pupils to develop a good understanding of what it means to be a responsible citizen.
Our curriculum drivers shape our curriculum breadth. They have been developed from an exploration of the backgrounds of our pupils, our beliefs about high-quality education and our values. They are used to ensure we give our pupils appropriate yet ambitious curriculum opportunities. We recognise that many of our children have had limited exposure to the arts. We therefore plan to offer them wide and varied artistic opportunities to develop their cultural capital. Cultural capital gives our pupils the vital background knowledge required to be informed and thoughtful members of our community who understand and believe in British values. Which helps the children to develop into responsible citizens. This has a direct impact on ensuring that our children are prepared for adulthood. It gives them an understanding of how Art & Design both reflects and shapes our history, and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
Good quality experiences in the arts give children the opportunity to express themselves creatively, contributes to their emotional well-being and fosters an awareness of a sense of wonder. It enables them to enjoy and engage in learning through new modes of personal expression. There is some evidence to suggest that teaching art has a positive effect on social mobility and life chances. Art & Design contributes towards personal growth, an emphasis on creativity will develop skills that compliment other learning areas.
Our Art & Design curriculum is designed to help pupils to become creative thinkers, whilst giving them time to master the basics, with an aim to inspire pupils and develop their confidence in experimenting and creating their own works of art and develop their own individual flair for the subject. Following our long term plan, pupils gradually progress in their expertise and understanding. To help pupils develop, direct instruction is used in the early stages of learning with discovery-based approaches introduced as expertise and understanding develops.
The teaching of subject specific vocabulary is an important aspect of the Art & Design curriculum, contributing to better reasoning and inference skills, academic success / employment and better well-being. Children will also be exposed to a variety of artists and art forms to widen their understanding of art and the impact it has had on society.
Art & Design Implementation
Our curriculum schema design is based on the National Curriculum, utilising the Kapow scheme of work. It allows for spaced repetition, overlearning over time and allows opportunities for retrieval of previously learned content through the use of sequential lessons and the weaving of formal elements of art throughout topics. This allows for previous learning to be revisited and built upon. Long term plans have taken into account when other topics occur and shaped the planning to compliment other foundation subjects, making intra-curricular links and strengthening the overall learning of pupils. We aim to enable pupils to develop ideas, master techniques and the formal elements of art, recognise the impact of and take inspiration from celebrated artists whilst developing the skills to critique their own and others’ artworks eloquently and respectfully. Topics are organised into 4 key areas of art and design and pupils will have access to all 4 over the course of a 2-year cycle. These are:
- Drawing
- Painting and mixed-media
- Sculpture and 3D modelling
- Craft and design
Access to the Art & design curriculum is the right of all our children and we apply the principles of equal opportunity in provision. We recognise the significant impact that the arts can have on a child and their understanding of the world around them, which is why art is taught discreetly in weekly lessons for 3 half terms a year, alternating art and design, and design and technology with DT (another subject that explores our curriculum drivers in a similar way). During this time pupils can readily access the previous learning and have time to develop their skills and explore their own creativity.
Use of the Kapow scheme provides support to teachers who may lack confidence in their own artistic abilities. Teachers have access to videos of subject specialists demonstrating art techniques so that pupils are able to view and learning from high quality modelled examples. To support the teaching of subject knowledge and support continuing professional development, staff will also have access to an abundance of teacher videos. It is the aim that through this all teachers will feel confident in delivering high quality art and design lessons that ensure pupils progress across the school.
We believe that art is a passion and that in order to encourage that passion in our children we need to celebrate their contributions to art and their own creativity as often as possible. and engage in national art projects. This will give the children here a chance to enjoy art outside of the curriculum and continue to foster their enthusiasm.
Planning, accessed through the Kapow scheme of work, has been adapted and organised to ensure that the subject is specific whilst allowing for cross curricular links to be made where appropriate, which enhance the overall learning process. Topics are fully scaffolded and sequenced learning to supports pupils to explore their own creativity through independently making their own creative choices and decisions, justified by the high levels of knowledge gained.
Lessons are practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas. Differentiated guidance ensures that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Topics are also designed to build knowledge of techniques learned, including the skills processes, key facts and vocabulary.
Art & Design Impact
Because learning is a change to long-term memory, it is impossible to see impact in the short term. We do, however, track progress over time to evaluate the impact of our practice. This means that we look at the practices taking place to determine whether they are appropriate, related to our goals and likely to produce results in the long run.
Formative assessment is used to help teachers plan progression and meet the individual needs of children. Teachers also use the iASEND assessment tracking tool to help evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum. This relates to the National Curriculum Programme of Study for Art & Design. This in conjunction with work samples and lesson observations will enable the subject lead to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our curriculum.
Following our Art & Design curriculum will offer pupils the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills whilst enhancing their cultural capital, creativeness and emotional well – being. It will help them to broaden their horizons and pursue a wider range of interests into their adult lives.
