Art at Our School
At Pimperne Primary School we believe art enables children to explore their imagination and develop their ability to express ideas and feelings in creative ways.
Our Art Curriculum provides children with opportunities to develop their skills using a range of media and materials. As artists, our children learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, 3D work and digital art. They are also given the opportunity to explore and evaluate different creative ideas. Not only do we teach the practical skills but theoretical and disciplinary knowledge – developing the children’s understanding of the history of art and studies of different artists from different periods and cultures. The children in each year group are exposed to a range of artists across different time periods, diverse backgrounds and different styles.
We aim to achieve this by providing both skills sessions, developing the use of sketchbooks and exciting topic-based opportunities for them to develop their creativity through investigating, making and imagining art, craft and design.
We encourage the children to be resourceful by providing them with a range of tools and materials so they can explore pattern, form, texture, colour and develop the skills and techniques they need to communicate their ideas effectively and successfully.
Our children are able to enjoy art activities involving painting, drawing, collage, clay, modelling and textiles. We plan fun and exciting art opportunities, based upon our topics, as art lessons or art days and sometimes a whole school art day/week.
The children are encouraged to learn individually and collaboratively with others, which allows them to develop their reciprocal skills. The children record from experience and imagination and are given a range of starting points for their art learning such as first-hand observations, music and poetry or using the work of artists, craftspeople and designers as inspiration. We have visited a sculpture park and been creatively inspired on our return.
Through reflection we provide the children opportunities to evaluate their own and others learning and consider what has been successful and where improvements could be made.
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”
Edgar Degas
Implementation
Our carefully sequenced curriculum allows the children to build upon their understanding of the practical concepts like colour, and they revisit and add layers to their skills as they move from year to year.
We plan for all children to gain a rich knowledge of artists, craft-makers and designers of the past and present and understand how art reflects and shapes our history, contributing to culture, creativity and the impact it has on contemporary life.
In Art, children are expected to be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. Children are encouraged to take risks and experiment and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a particular project.
We plan a whole school ‘Arts’ Week’ every other year. This is either based on a chosen theme, often around a cross curriculum element linked to the School’s Vision or a global theme such as ‘recycling’. We encourage cross-curricular planning and draw upon subject knowledge and skills within other subjects. We use our community links to visit our local area and invite experts into school to enhance the children’s learning experience.
Outside of the taught Art Curriculum, children love the opportunity to be part of the local lantern parade having designed and made lanterns, art workshops in partnership with our local secondary schools. As well as joining exhibitions and visiting sculpture parks and sharing our art work through our partnerships with local community groups such as the local Church
Impact
We use a variety of strategies to assess art knowledge, understanding and skills that our children have gained in each unit. Continuous Professional Learning (CPD) ensures teacher pedagogy and assessment is secure. The subject leader monitors the subject regularly including: viewing sketchbooks, carrying out work scrutinies in the curriculum book, monitoring displays and analysis of pupil voice.
We celebrate children’s individuality and creativity and display children’s work around our school. We want all pupils to be proud of their learning and aspire to be the best they can. Displays can be class based, or in the form of whole school exhibition, where adults and children can view work first hand.
By the time our children leave Pimperne Primary, we want our children to have learned, improved and embedded a range of artistic skills. They should have an awareness of a broad range of artists and craftspeople, and be able to consider and discuss the artworks they come across. We want our children to be confident to explore, experiment and take risks, placing value on the process and journey that they take, not just on the finished product. Most importantly, we want children to have found and enjoyed a creative outlet – a means of self-expression and enjoyment