Art

The study of art includes learning about a range of media and styles: sculpture, collage, painting, photography, architecture, fashion & textiles, drawing, video and animation, printmaking and design. 

As a result of our art curriculum, learners will be able to work with a range of materials/resources including wood, plastic, paper, yarn, clay, fabric, paint, crayon, pastel, charcoal, ink, computer programs and recycled and natural found materials to create visual art. Learners will develop their knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of artworks and artists from first-hand experiences and other sources, representing a variety of styles and created using a broad range of materials/media. 

Children will be able to view objects of art and use their observation skills to evaluate, create or recreate. Learners will develop an understanding of the reasons for the creation of art, sources of inspiration and how the creative process works for different artists. Learners will also develop an understanding of the difference between copying, being influenced by, and being inspired by other artists or art works. 

Teaching and learning in art is enriched by our focus on international learning. Children will experience and investigate the work of artists, craftspeople and designers from different cultures, including those represented in the home and host countries.

Our aspiration is that children are inspired to be creative and use their imagination and experimentation to express ideas, emotions, observations and experiences in the form of artwork both in and out of school.

To be successful, learners must: 

  • rehearse, plan and refine ideas and record observations as part of the process of working towards their finished artwork 
  • Use colour, form, texture and patterns to develop their skills of drawing, painting, 3D modelling, printmaking and digital art with a range of materials
  • Develop the confidence to explore, take risks and be reflective about their own work and that of others
  • Understand, appreciate, respect and enjoy other people’s visual expressions 
  • Explore the use of the visual arts in people’s lives now and in the past, developing their knowledge of great artists, architects and designers
  • Use appropriate vocabulary and subject-specific terminology in order to articulate and communicate ideas, opinions and feelings about their own work and that of others
  • Connect learning within different aspects of art and between art and other subjects (e.g. design technology and history

EYFS Expressive Arts and Design

The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

Toddlers and young children will be learning to:

  • Notice patterns with strong contrasts and be attracted by patterns resembling the human face.
  • Start to make marks intentionally. 
  • Explore paint, using fingers and other parts of their bodies as well as brushes and other tools. 
  • Express ideas and feelings through making marks, and sometimes give a meaning to the marks they make.

3 and 4-year-olds will be learning to:

  • Create closed shapes with continuous lines and begin to use these shapes to represent objects. 
  • Draw with increasing complexity and detail, such as representing a face with a circle and including details. 
  • Use drawing to represent ideas like movement or loud noises. 
  • Show different emotions in their drawings and paintings, like happiness, sadness, fear, etc. 
  • Explore colour and colour mixing. 
  • Show different emotions in their drawings – happiness, sadness, fear, etc.

Children in reception will be learning to:

  • Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings. 
  • Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them. 
  • Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.

Implementation

Year 1

Drawing

Shape drawing (KANDINSKY)

Mark making

Small drawing skills (natural objects) – 2B pencils

Colour

Colour mixing – primary and secondary colours

Colour mixing – manipulating watercolour pencils and paint, learning the “wet” technique

Colour – oil pastels (GEORGIA O’KEEFE)

Focus

Simple printing

Natural sculptures – 3D work

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

 

Wax resist and water colour seascapes

3D work – clay

Making birds’ nests

Year 2

Drawing

Mark making – introducing a range of drawing

pencils

Mark making – looking at how artists use
different styles of mark making (VAN GOGH)

Let’s draw small – introducing light and shade and

recording tone

Colour

Colour mixing – exploring tone/light/dark

Mark making with colour – felt tips, pencils

LICHENSTEIN

Working with chalk pastels

Bubbles activity, drawing spirals, creating skin tone

Focus

Portraiture – portraits and self-portraits
PICASSO and MODIGLIANI

Textiles – weaving (IKAT designs Cambodia)
Printing – foam board technique

3D work – Making clay tiles, using templates to cut

pieces and slip to add relief

Year 3

Drawing

Continuous line drawing 

Mini project – drawing feathers

Showing light and dark and casting shadow 

Drawing by touch and feel

3D drawing – using charcoal and chalk to create light and shadow

Colour

Mixed media

Learning to use coloured inks with the “dry”

technique

Using watercolour pencils – 3D effects

Focus

Aboriginal Art – dreamtime paintings
CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI

Egyptian wall paintings

3D work – papier mâché
CLAES OLDENBURG

Year 4

Drawing

Proportions and position of features on a face

Human form and proportion

Still life drawing – plants, fruit

Colour

Skin tone

Exploring backgrounds

Colour collage - MATISSE

Focus

String Printing

3D work – clay
ALBERTO GIACOMETTI
BARBARA HEPWORTH

Tiger in a tropical storm
HENRI ROUSSEAU

Year 5

Drawing

Drawing skills – drawing transparent and
translucent materials

Drawing Greek vases, exploring shapes,
patterns and using images/paper cut outs

Drawing skills Mehndi patterns

Colour

Colour work – using watercolours and pastels to

represent glass

Wax and watercolour

Colour work- detail using viewfinders

Focus

Textiles – collage including sewing
VAN GOGH Starry Night

3D work – clay
Clay slab work using an armature

Comparing work of different artists creating rivers
MONET, HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL, JMW TURNER

Year 6

Drawing

Drawing buildings and scenes – vanishing points

LEONARDO DA VINCI
CEZANNE

Drawing skills – life drawing. Fruit and veg

Anime characters

Colour

Colour work – colour detailing

Colour Work – abstract designs and patterns

CARLOLEE S. CLARK

Colour work – Japanese brush and ink work

Focus

3D work – clay, sewing, casting, wore work
Crating a Roman artefact museum

Colour work/collage Political Art
BANKSY, WILLIE BESTER

Digital Photography/Collage
ANSELL ADAMS - Beauty to destruction

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