Art & Design Curriculum Statement

Intent

At Ellison Primary Academy, we aim for a high quality Art and Design curriculum which engages, inspires and challenges pupils. It should equip the curious child with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. Our curriculum is linked closely with the history of the great artists who influenced the world globally as well as the different cultures around us locally in Wolstanton.

Art and Design plays a vital role in our lives. We are surrounded by designed and crafted objects which we use and rely on a daily basis. Pupils will consider how the past artists, designers and craftsmen have influenced the present lives of today and why they chose to communicate in the way they did in that moment in time. We will compare different styles of artistry as it is a unique language of imagination. As they explore the great artists of the past and present, the children will develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of art history and will begin to understand the journey through the different periods of art from the ‘Stone Age’ period of cave painting through to today’s local ceramic craftsmanship in Stoke-On-Trent. What they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices of styles when becoming an artist in the classroom. Within art and design, children are able to think creatively and express their own unique style within a celebration of their identity.

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in Art and Design, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Art and Design is taught as part of a half-termly or termly topic, focusing on art history knowledge and progressive skills stated in the National Curriculum. Key Stage One children learn about local and British art and design; Key Stage Two children complete learning on an Ancient, Middle and Modern period of art and design. This has been planned in a chronological order throughout the Key Stage. We use a concept-based curriculum and ensure our units are planned to engage, developing progress within featured concepts creating a love of Art and Design in which everyone is an artist and there is no right or wrong answer. We are all artists at Ellison. The school uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in Art and Design lessons. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in art and design within a creative curriculum.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The carefully planned concept-based curriculum in EYFS aims to provide all children with a wider understanding and for them to become a dynamic designer who can choose and safely use the resources they need to make their creations, talk about what they have made and how they have made it. The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. Children will have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what our children see, hear and participate in will help them to develop their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. Frequency, repetitive and in-depth experiences will help them to progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe. 

Teaching Art and Design to children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Our art and design curriculum ensures that all children with Special Educational Needs are able to access lesson.  With carefully planning and differentiation lessons are designed any barriers are reduced and that all pupils are able to progress. Children with personalised targets or Individual Educational Plans (IEPS) are specifically planned for within the art and design lesson so that their targets are considered. To ensure the correct level of challenge learning is scaffolded with scaffolding removed as their skills and understanding develop. 

Impact

The impact and measure of our Art and Design curriculum is to ensure that children at Ellison Primary Academy are equipped with the progressive skills and knowledge of the significant chosen artists, craftsmen and designers which have influenced us until this very day. The children will be encouraged to share reasons why they think certain artist communicated in the way that they did and why some designers rebelled against the norm of their period in time. The knowledge that they have gained will enable them to reason with the Art and Design curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in which art and design is so widely relied upon. They will have the awareness of past designs, such as significant buildings, to compare to today’s innovative Apple IPhone which is celebrated worldwide. The children at Ellison will communicate using their own artistic language and their artistic skills will be documented within their own sketchbook from arrival in Reception to leaving in Year 6 becoming an artist through their learning.