‘Every child is an artist’
Pablo Picasso

Art and Design at Whixall C.E. Primary School

Intent
At Whixall CE Primary School, we intend, through art and design, to engage, inspire, and challenge all children by introducing them to a broad range of techniques, materials and artists, craftspeople and designers; thus equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, explore, take risks, invent and create. This approach will provide the children with an outlet for self-expression and creativity and allow them to foster a positive, life-long enjoyment and relationship with the subject.

Implementation
The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum at our school is based on the National Curriculum in KS1 and KS2 and Development Matters in EYFS. Wherever possible it is linked to topics to ensure a well-structured approach to this creative subject.

We teach a skills-based art curriculum, which allows the children to express their creative imagination as well as providing them with the opportunities to practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art. This is supported through the study of key artists and the development of the knowledge of their work. Also, in our long-term plan, important links have carefully been made, to support the children to see the integral role, art plays in our everyday lives, our community, in history, and the wider world. We ensure that progression is planned for the children’s skills and knowledge of drawing, printing, painting and sculpture and the formal elements of line, space, shape, colour, tone, texture, pattern and form, by following a skills progression document. Children in KS1 and KS2 use sketchbooks to document their art learning journey. We also take pride in displaying the children’s artwork around our school and build-in opportunities to encourage the children to develop a language for art, through discussion.

Impact
By the end of their time with us, we want our children to have learned, improved and embedded a range of artistic skills. They will have an awareness of a broad range of artists and craftspeople, and be able to consider and discuss the artworks they come across. Our children will be confident to explore, experiment and take risks, placing value on the process and journey that they take, not just on the finished product. The children will have an understanding of a range of careers that they could pursue, which involve their knowledge and skills in art.  Most importantly, children will have found and enjoyed a lifelong creative outlet – a means of self-expression and enjoyment and a driver for positive mental health and well-being.

Art Long-Term Plan