Junior Art & Design | Christ Church Fed

Art & Design

What are ‘the Arts’?

‘The arts’ are a means by which we can develop our creative flair and imagination. At Christ Church Junior School we are committed to provide such opportunities within visual art, music, drama, dance, creative writing and across all aspects of the curriculum.

Intent:

The aims of Art and Design in our school are as follows:

To enable all children to have access to a varied range of high quality art experiences.
To provide an imaginative, innovative and co-ordinated art programme which will foster enthusiasm for art and design amongst all the children.
To foster an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and a knowledge of artists, craftspeople and designers, through links with the local and wider multicultural community.
To stimulate children’s creativity and imagination by providing visual, tactile and sensory experience.
To help children explore the world at first hand, using all their senses and experimentation, and so gain knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live.
To develop children’s understanding of colour, form, texture, pattern and their ability to use materials and processes to communicate ideas, feelings and meanings.
To inspire confidence, value and pleasure in art.
To cultivate children’s aesthetic awareness and enable them to make informed judgements about art and become actively involved in shaping environments.
To teach children to express their own ideas, feelings, thoughts and experiences.
To develop children’s design capability.
To learn about and be exposed to artists that reflect their own self-image and cultural background.
To enhance children’s ability to value the contribution made by artists, craft workers and designers and respond critically and imaginatively to ideas, images and objects.

Our Curriculum Provision:

Our school ethos and curriculum reflects the importance we place on the arts:

Art lessons are planned to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum
Physical Education is allocated two hours per week, including dance
Drama is an element of our English lessons and is used as a powerful, creative teaching tool across the curriculum
Music is taught by a Junior Jam specialised teacher and visiting peripatetic musician.
A range of instrument tuition is offered in addition to statutory lessons.

Our school has individual policies for Music; PE (Dance) and English (Drama and creative writing, including poetry). This document will focus on the Teaching of Art.

Implementation

Planning, Assessment, Progression and Evaluation:

The Curriculum planning offers an overview of units for each curriculum area across the year groups and are based on the National Curriculum Programmes of Study.

The progression of skills and knowledge will guide staff and support them in their planning of Art. It will give them the freedom to change how they deliver their lessons as long as the skills are taught.

The Art co-ordinator will monitor termly plans to keep them in line with national curriculum requirements. Monitoring takes place through sampling children’s work and teacher planning, by book monitoring and also pupil voice. Short term planning is in the form of whiteboard files. Progression across the year groups and resource needs are then identified. Issues that may indicate needs for further development will be included in the School Development Plan.

Lessons and children’s work are evaluated by staff and inform future planning. Art Resources are stored in labelled boxes in the ICT suite. Resources are ordered (when necessary) by the Art co-ordinator.

Each child has an art sketchbook which serves as a cumulative record of their work and is passed on to the next teacher at the end of each year. This allows for a clear visual of progression of skills from Year 3 through to Year 6.

Equality of Opportunity

We will provide arts opportunities to all our children, regardless of gender, race, disability or financial circumstances (in the case of external visits and visitors). The arts may be used to develop children’s learning in any area of the curriculum, particularly for those with SEND.

Partnerships and Progression:

Our school values the contribution that can be made by partnership with parents and actively invite parents to support and participate in our learning when required. Parents are invited to share their talents, religion and cultural backgrounds. They are invited to our celebratory Leaf assemblies and school productions and concerts.

Impact

Art and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. Our curriculum will 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 will be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art reflects history and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of a nation.