MAB’S CROSS PRIMARY SCHOOL

ART & DESIGN CURRICULUM 

INTENT

Art at Mab’s Cross is advocated as an avenue for children to explore, experiment and investigate the many mediums of the discipline. In our curriculum, we provide opportunities across all year groups for children to become adept within painting, printing, textiles, sculpture, digital media and collage. This ensures children have an equal breadth of exposure at all intervals of their primary education. Each area has a designated project running for one half-term a year across KS1 and KS2. Throughout each topic, drawing and mark-making skills are interwoven into the fabric of the preparatory stages as a foundational skill for all applications. Each project culminates in a final piece whereby skills gained throughout the previous weeks can be showcased and celebrated.

In order to contextualise the learning and skill development, each project is related to either a particular artist or an art movement of significance. These have been selected to co-inside with the children’s wider learning across the curriculum in supporting their knowledge of other foundational subjects whilst providing a diverse backdrop of experiences in which to inspire the next generation of artists – aspiration being a key curriculum driver in our school. The reference to existing artwork allows reflection and evaluation of the different artistic processes and impact work has on the individual; breaking down the cultural barrier of art appreciation and galleries being solely for certain sectors of society.

The curriculum is structured using a bespoke progressive framework where skills are revisited each year to allow consolidation and development through increased technicality and refinement as a child progresses through their education. Long-term plans ensure necessary skills are addressed and can be reinforced and extended each year. Skills progression documents enable teaching staff to view the starting points for each discipline by considering previous years’ objectives and assessing their role in preparing children for the subsequent year.

At the end of EYFS, children should have the exposure of opportunities to create and imagine using many of the disciplines where line, colour and shape are used as focal points of exploration, using the world around them on varying scales as topics of engagement. In Key Stage One, we intend for children to recognise the discrete mediums of art and begin to develop an understanding of art as a process which can be changed, improved and reflected upon as opposed to a singular object of effort. In Key Stage Two, there is a view of broadening artistic influences through replication, influence and imagination whilst allowing children to become more critical and reflective of their own and others’ artwork. Control and proficiency in each discipline continue to be refined and at later stages preferences, for mediums will begin to appear in many.

All children follow the same topics in art in-line with the class. However, expectations of response and product are modified based on an individual’s known skill bank and their previous technical ability.

IMPLEMENTATION

At Mab’s Cross, art and design is led by an enthusiastic team of individuals who have an understanding and experience of all year groups as a collective. Teachers have good knowledge of art and our approach to teaching the discipline. Planning and example sketchbooks have been developed to support teachers by providing contextualised knowledge forms, key vocabulary and previous children’s work as reference when making assessments for expectations. Colleagues will wholeheartedly support and offer advice during planning or discrete conversations to ensure all teachers feel confident and enthused in their art teaching.

Each year, the arts team select a medium of focus. During this period in time, project plans are evaluated in collaboration with the year group staff and amended to make improvements. The evaluation of the medium also results in the production of resource files previously discussed and provision of resources for the discipline secured and enhanced where appropriate.

Our bespoke scheme has been written with our school’s pedagogical philosophy to connect subjects in reinforcing a child’s education as a whole rather than individual parts. The individual plans have been structured to reflect the later teaching of the subject in KS3/4, whereby the subject uses sketchbooks as working portfolios to develop and experiment with ideas which can later be applied to a final brief.

Our curriculum ensures art and design plays an equal role in enriching each child’s education and cultural creativity in collaboration with other subjects. It is also used as a tool of communication to highlight the achievements of classes through vibrant and informative displays around our school.

Regular curriculum meetings allow the team to evaluate the subject and decide upon next steps for continued improvement and development of the subject.

Our agreed foundation subject assessment grid allows staff during the year to assess children’s capabilities based on each medium, with art reflecting the diverse nature of the subject before providing an overall viewpoint for the year’s objectives. Assessments are made based on the final piece in response to the skills displayed and applied. Subsequent teachers are able to use this information to gain an understanding as to the varied starting points of each child.

IMPACT

At Mab’s Cross, our monitoring schedule allows the opportunity for subject lead and associated team members to undergo book scrutiny evaluations to ensure teaching staff follow the agreed planning. The result of which enables constructive feedback and admiration of achievements to be provided on a one-to-one basis. When applied across year groups, sketchbooks show clear development of skills progression, highlighting the effectiveness of our art curriculum in preparing children for their later art education.

Our bespoke curriculum planning has ensured the children are able to refer to a diverse selection of artists, who use a variety of mediums. The children are able to explain the reasoning of these selections and the impact this individual has had on their own creativity in the corresponding project. Reference to previous years’ topics, has ensured a consistency in experiences which children can build upon and endeavour to execute greater accomplishments as their skill repertoire is broadened through the years.

Following the introduction of the plans, art has exponentially grown from a subject to produce display work in limited mediums to a skill-based discipline with rigour and breadth.

As a wider community engagement in art at Mab’s Cross, our children’s work has been selected for display both locally and nationally, including for six consecutive years at the National Gallery, London, as part of the Take One Picture project (being one of few Northern schools selected from nationwide submissions).