Intent
At English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.
In art we aim to develop curiosity. We want pupils to ask questions about how works of art were created and how they can develop their own skills.
We want children to be aspirational in their work. We want them to challenge themselves to create works of art they are proud of and to develop new skills. Children are expected to be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving.
We want them to be fully engaged in art lessons, developing a love of experimentation, to think critically about their work.
Implementation
The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum at English Martyrs Catholic Primary School is based on the National Curriculum and linked to topics to ensure a well-structured approach to this creative subject.
The children are taught Art as part of their termly topic work. Areas covered include sculpture, mosaics, textiles and printing. Painting and drawing skills are ongoing throughout the school. There is a clear progression throughout the school based on the objectives in Milestones. The art programme is always linked to topic work, often to the history and geography curriculum, but also to science, literacy and maths.
The work of famous local, national and international artists are explored to enhance the children's learning. Children in Key Stage 1 and 2 use sketch books to record ideas, practise different skills and experiment with different techniques.
Art is also used within other areas of the curriculum to enable pupils to represent their thoughts and ideas visually. It can be used as a stimulus for literacy, to portray complex emotions in RE or to deepen understanding in maths