Art

Intent

We offer a structure and sequence of lessons to help teachers ensure they have covered the skills required to meet the aims of the national curriculum. The intent is to ensure all pupils produce creative, imaginative work. Children have the opportunity to explore their ideas and record their experiences, as well as exploring the work of others and evaluate different creative ideas. Children will become confident and proficient in a variety of techniques including drawing, painting, sculpting, as well as other selected craft skills, e.g. collage, printing, weaving and patterns. Children will also develop their knowledge of famous artists, designers and craft makers. Children will also develop their interest and curiosity about art and design through a series of lessons offering skills progression, knowledge progression and offering children the opportunity to ask questions and demonstrate their skills in a variety of ways. The lessons will offer the chance for children to develop their emotional expression through art to further enhance their personal, social and emotional development. This progression grid can support any teacher of art to ensure progression of skills and knowledge.

Implementation

Each IPC unit (where art is a focus subject) and through this progression of skills document gives the teacher and adults leading art, confidence in progression of skills and knowledge that outcomes have been met. The lessons within the units of work develop the children’s techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design. Children will also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lessons and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. The diagram right demonstrates our approach to teaching each unit.  The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. Adult guides and accurate design and technology subject knowledge are always provided within lessons to allow the teacher and adults working in those lessons to feel confident and supported with the skills and knowledge that they are teaching.

Impact

Art and design learning is loved by teachers and pupils across school. Teachers have higher expectations and more quality evidence can be presented in a variety of ways. All children use technical vocabulary accurately and pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified. Children improve their enquiry skills and inquisitiveness about the world around them, and their impact through art and design on the world. Children will become more confident in analysing their work and giving their opinion on their own and other works of art. Children show competences in improving their resilience and perseverance by continually evaluating and improving their work. All children in school can speak confidently about their art and design work and their skills.

The following statements are taken from our progression of skills document for art and demonstrate how pencil portraits of World War II veterans develop in complexity whilst giving every opportunity to consolidate and master skills each academic year.

Year 1

• Create simple representations of people and other things.
• Work spontaneously and enjoy the act of making/creating.
• Sustain concentration and control when experimenting with tools and materials.
• Use materials purposefully to achieve particular characteristics or qualities.

Year 2

• Use drawing to record ideas and experiences.
• Draw recognisably from observation and begin to add some colour, shade and texture.
• Deliberately choose to use particular techniques for a given purpose.
• Develop and exercise some care and control over the range of materials they use. For example, they do not accept the first mark but seek to refine and improve.

Year 3

• Draw with some scaling accuracy from observation adding colour, shade and texture.
• Develop practical skills by experimenting with, and testing the qualities of a range of different materials (pencil, charcoal, paint, clay) and techniques.
• Select, and use appropriately, a variety of materials and techniques in order to create their own work.
• Take time to reflect (in their sketchbooks) upon what they like and dislike about their work in order to improve it.

Year 4

• Investigate the nature and qualities of different materials (pencil, charcoal, paint, clay) and processes systematically.
• Apply the technical skills they are learning to improve the quality of their work. For example, in painting, they select and use different brushes for different purposes, in drawing scaling is evident.
• Regularly reflect upon their own work (in their sketchbooks) and use comparisons with the work of others (pupils and artists) to identify how to improve.

Year 5

• Confidently use sketchbooks for a variety of purposes including: recording observations, develop ideas; testing materials; planning and recording information.
• Use their acquired technical expertise to make work which effectively reflects their ideas and intentions. Observational drawings are accurate using perspective and or shading for depth texture and realism.
• Regularly analyse and reflect on their progress taking account of what they hoped to achieve.

Year 6

• Independently take action to refine their technical and craft skills in order to improve their mastery of materials (pencil, charcoal, clay, paint) and techniques.
• Independently select and effectively use relevant processes in order to create successful and finished work.
• Observational drawing evidences convincing scale, depth, texture, and tone through the majority of a piece.