Intent

At Appleby Primary School we believe passionately that high quality Art lessons can inspire children, foster creativity and enable them to develop new knowledge and skills. Our art curriculum provides children with opportunity to work in a range of ways and utilising a plethora of media and materials. Children learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, 3D work and digital art and are given the opportunity to explore and evaluate different creative ideas. Children also explore and learn about the work of significant artists who work across a range of media. They learn about the style and techniques associated with particular artists to inform and influence their own artistic expression.

Our aim is that children enjoy the opportunity to work creatively and develop their own artistic styles as well as developing their own skills and proficiencies in a range of media and contexts.

Implementation

Our Art Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression year on year. Learning in Year One builds upon the learning which takes place in the Early Years and develops incrementally as children progress through Key Stages 1 and 2.

We have identified a number of CORE concepts which are critical when mapping progression:

• Drawing
• Printing
• Painting
• Using sketchbooks
• Collage
• Textiles
• 3D
• Using Technology
• Art Knowledge

These core elements form the basis of our curriculum across the whole school.

To support high quality teaching and to support teachers’ development of subject knowledge, teachers access the excellent resources made available as part of the Access Arts Primary Curriculum. This provides a secure focus on the development of the creative artistic process and supports the development of competencies in a range of skills. Where appropriate, teachers make links to other areas of the curriculum allowing children to use their art skills to reflect on and explore topics in greater depth; for example, by sketching historical artefacts in detail, researching geographical locations to support their work on landscape painting or using art as a medium to express emotion and thought to enhance their personal, social and emotional development.

To help bring learning to life, to enable children to develop their understanding of the work of current artists and to foster aspirations amongst our pupils we regularly engage with a range of visits and visitors to the school. Over the last three academic years we have worked closely with local artist Karen Babayan. Children have participated in workshops in schools, visited her work in local galleries and have developed two of our own installations here in Appleby celebrating the town’s links with both the Appleby Gypsy Fair and the historic Carlisle-Settle Railway line.

Impact

Our Art Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:   

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes 
• Opportunities for work to be displayed beyond the classroom such as on corridors or special show casing events and exhibitions, where work can be shared with a wider audience including children from other year groups and parents. 
• Pupil discussions about their learning; which includes discussion of their thoughts, ideas, processing and evaluations of work.  

Our Art curriculum is also planned in a way that promotes cultural capital. All children will learn the same skills and have the opportunity to realise their talents and develop their character through self-expression. Children will be exposed to a wide range of experiences that will enhance their skills development and provide them with knowledge about a wider range of culture. This will be delivered through guest speakers from local artists, visits to local art galleries and visits to other areas within our community and around our community to explore how art is embodied throughout different institutions.