Art and Design

Aims

Our aim in teaching art at St Charles R.C. Primary School is to stimulate children’s creativity and imagination through visual, tactile and sensory experiences. Pupils use colour, pattern, form, texture to communicate what they see, feel and think. They explore different artists and learn about the diverse roles and functions of art in different times.

We aim to teach the children to:

• develop visual awareness.
• provide opportunities to use art to record feelings and express creative imagination.
• develop visual vocabulary.
• understand the visual elements of colour, texture, line, tone, pattern and shape in order for them to effectively express themselves through artistic means.
• develop mastery of a range of tools, media and processes.
• acquire artistic skills and techniques.
• develop their capacity to evaluate their own and others artistic endeavours. 

Curriculum

Early Years

During the Early Years, young children will be given the opportunity to explore colour, texture, shape and form in two and three dimensions. The children will have access to a wide range of constructions, collage, painting and drawing activities, using appropriate tools and art materials. In order to tap their artistic potential, the children will be encouraged to develop their own creative ideas.

Key Stage 1

During Key Stage 1, Art and Design is about expanding children’s creativity and imagination through providing art, craft and design activities relating to the children’s own identity and experiences, to natural and manufactured objects and materials with which they are familiar, and the locality in which they live.

• Children will explore the visual, tactile and sensory qualities of materials and processes and begin to understand and use colour, shape and space, pattern and texture, to represent their own ideas and feelings.
• Children will focus on the work of artists, craftspeople and designers by asking and answering questions, such as: ‘What is it like?’ ‘What do I think about it?’

Key Stage 2

During Key Stage 2, Art and Design is about fostering children’s creativity and imagination by building on their knowledge, skills and understanding of materials and processes, through providing more complex activities. Children’s experiences help them to understand the diverse roles and functions of Art and Design in the world around them.

Progression and Continuity

St Charles RC Primary uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in art and design lessons. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in art and design. We ensure that the act of investigating and making includes exploring and developing ideas, evaluating and developing work. We do this through a mixture of direct teaching and individual/ group activities. Teachers draw attention to good examples of individual performance as models for the other children. They encourage children to evaluate their own ideas and methods, and the work of others, to say what they think and feel about them. We give children the opportunity within lessons to work on their own and collaborate with others, on projects in two and three dimensions and on different scales. Children also have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and resources including other artists’ work, educational visits and ICT.

We recognise the fact that we have children of differing ability in all our classes, and so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies which are differentiated by task, expected outcome and/or support from peers or adults.