At Pocklington Church of England VC Infant School, our intent is to ensure that pupils are taught to become confident and competent artists in drawing, painting, sculpture, collage and textiles. We will nurture creative thinking skills and help to ensure that our pupils learn through art as well as about art. Our Art and Design curriculum is exciting, rich and challenges children to become proactive.
We give our pupils the opportunity to experiment with and produce creative pieces, using a range of materials, techniques as well as opportunities in environments beyond the classroom. Our curriculum also ensures that our children learn about a diverse range of great artists, craft makers and designers while strengthening their basic skills at the same time.
Our Art and Design scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of phase attainment targets in the EYFS Framework and the National curriculum.
“There is no must in art because art is free.” Wassily Kandinsky
At Pocklington Church of England VC Infant School, in the Early Years Foundation Stage Art is taught through the lens of ‘ Expressive Art and Design’. The children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. Some units will be taught using the Kapow curriculum.
In KS1 we follow the Kapow Art revised scheme of work, which is designed with five strands that run throughout. These are: Generating ideas, Using Sketchbooks, Making skills, including Formal Elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour), Knowledge of Artists, as well as Evaluating & Analysing.
Units of lessons across the school are sequential, allowing children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the National Curriculum, are also woven throughout each unit. Key skills are revisited regularly with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning.
Units in each year group are organised into four core areas: Drawing, Painting & Mixed-Media, Sculpture & 3D, as well as Craft & Design.
Our National Curriculum mapping shows which of our units cover each of the National Curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the strands.
Our progression of knowledge and skills document shows the skills that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of the EYFS and Key Stage 1.
Our units fully scaffold and support essential and age appropriate, sequenced learning. Creativity and independent outcomes are robustly embedded into our units, supporting students in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich, are unique to the pupil and personal.
Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas in Key Stage 1. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.
Consideration is given to how greater depth will be taught, learnt and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion.
Each unit is adapted to our pupils by picking out three or four key words that will be learnt. The units also encourage recall of skills, processes, key facts and vocabulary.
Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD to support teachers to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.
In Key Stage 1 Art and design is taught every other half term and is alternated with Design and Technology. The units in our long term plan give the best overall skills coverage when combined with the Design and Technology units.
Our pupils thoroughly enjoy the extra-curricular clubs we run related to Art and Design. We have an Art Club and a Craft club, which give children further opportunities to hone their skills.
