Art & Design

Our Intent

At Southwark, we provide an art curriculum which immerses children in creative experiences that foster risk-taking, self-expression and resilience. The children learn to reflect on important art and artists from around the world while learning the knowledge and skills needed to work with a variety of mediums. We celebrate and showcase the creativity of all children in order to promote a sense of well-being and build self-esteem. We are committed to providing high-quality arts and cultural provision including giving children the opportunity to engage with arts organisations in the local community and beyond to empower them to explore their artistic talents.

Teaching children Art and Design at Southwark 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.
- Encourage pupils to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
- Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences.
- Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
- Enable children to evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.
- Share knowledge about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

At Southwark, our Art curriculum is in line with expectations set out in the 2014 National Primary Curriculum which provides a broad framework outlining the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Our programme of study is based around the Cornerstones Curriculum and is taught thematically through ‘projects’. Alongside this, Art exemplification documents are used to ensure the progressive development of knowledge and skills as pupils progress through the key stages. Lessons are sequenced so that children’s knowledge of Art and Design builds over time. Each project gives children the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and understanding of the skills, techniques, design processes, significant people and culture throughout a wide range of artistic styles and genres. To help children to learn and use the correct vocabulary, the projects introduce keywords and offer resources with a focus on language and vocabulary. It is planned and sequenced to develop deep, lasting learning and builds upon prior knowledge, which our children can use today, tomorrow and for the rest of their lives.

EYFS:

Children in the EYFS have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. Children get the opportunity to choose a range of materials, tools and resources to create art independently as well as with support through the modelling of different techniques. Children also develop their fine and gross motor skills which will allow them to use tools with increasing control and precision as they progress into KS1

Key Stage 1

In KS1 children will gain a deeper understanding of Art and Design which includes:

- Using a range of materials creatively to design and make products
- Drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
- Developing a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space
- Learning about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

Key Stage 2

In Key stage 2 pupils are taught:

- To develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
- To create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
- To improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
- about great artists, architects and designers in history.

Our Art and Design Curriculum also enables all children to:

- observe and record from first-hand experience and from imagination
- develop competence in controlling materials and tools, acquiring knowledge and become proficient in various art and design techniques and processes
- develop an awareness of the visual and tactile elements including; colour, pattern and texture, line and tone, shape, form and space,
- foster enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and develop a knowledge of significant artists, craftspeople and designers
- increase critical awareness of the roles and purposes of art and design in different times and cultures
- analyse works using the language of art and design and develop a cross-curricular approach to the use of art and design in all subjects.

Educational visits also provide opportunity for learning outside the classroom. At Southwark, all children have the opportunity to visit local theatres and art galleries as well as observe art within the local environment.