Art and Design Curriculum Vision

“Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should 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.”  (NC, 2014)         

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use the more you have." (Maya Angelou)

Purpose and Intent

Art at Radipole primary school gives children the chance to be freely creative whilst also providing children with the knowledge of skills to further their artistic understanding. It is our aim to ensure children are encouraged to learn through their own methods and to experiment with different mediums to develop a conscious understanding of both the artistic process and who they are as individual artists. At Radipole, art is not simply about artistic skill and ensures the children have a means of self-expression. Children are encouraged to use the skills taught to then elevate their own art and express their creativity.

Implementation and Realisation

Art teaching at Radipole follows a 2 year rolling programme of key areas and mediums in which throughout their artistic journey they will explore:

• Drawing
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Collage
• Printing
• Digital art

Children are encouraged to learn through a sequence of lessons to be completed in any order. These comprise of the learning of: a technique, the exploration of said technique, the designing and making processes using the skills taught whilst also taking inspiration from artists, craft makers, designers and architects. Each of these steps encourages children to learn a set skill or medium and then be given the freedom to express themselves in their own way. Artists, craft makers, designers and architects both male and female are used not just to explore skills observing similarities and differences, but to inspire the children to develop their own artistic style. Sketchbooks are used throughout KS1 and KS2 to show the artistic process the children have taken. Sketchbooks are encouraged to be a journey and are not just for ‘good’ or ‘best’ work. Children are encouraged to make mistake, but to learn from these mistakes and build on them in the future.

At Radipole, our creative arts week is a yearly, whole school opportunity. The whole school works collaboratively on a whole school stimulus. Each year group and class can embrace this in their own way and are encouraged to take the opportunity to explore and experiment with new and exciting mediums and skills. Practicing artists are invited in to work with children to give the children a real life role model to work alongside imaginatively. There is always a collaborative piece of whole school art and an art exhibition, to which parents are invited, to celebrate and appreciate the hard work and creativity that the children have explored.

Impact and Evaluation

The children at Radipole are immersed in an art curriculum that encourages and promotes both the techniques and skills used in art whilst complementing the creative and self-expressive benefits. The children should confidently say they have been introduced to a wide variety of mediums and skills to enrich their art understanding.

The children’s learning is assessed using sketchbooks. Sketchbooks are assessed against the National Curriculum to ensure they have covered all aspects of learning. They are also used to ensure there is clear progression being made, not only throughout the whole school, but also throughout each academic year. However, children are also questioned on their skill understanding, the influences they have taken from artist studies, and their general feeling towards the subject. The principal aim for our art curriculum is to foster a love of art and a freedom and outlet of expression.