Art: Intent, Implementation & Impact

Art at Tritlington Church of England First School 
Let your Light Shine as an ARTIST!

Intent

At Tritlington School we want our pupils to love art, craft and design!  We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and to grow up wanting to be illustrators, graphic designers, fashion designers, curators, architects or printmakers.  Our Art curriculum is designed to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, while equipping them with the knowledge and skills to be able to experiment, invent and create their own works of art.  

As pupils progress, they will gain a deeper understanding of how Art and Design reflects and shapes our history, and how it contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our world.  We aim to equip our pupils with not only the minimum requirements of the Art and Design National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.  We want our pupils to use the local area as inspiration, to learn from other cultures and respect diversity.  To that end, we have carefully selected a wide range of unique and diverse artists, craft makers and designers for pupils to study.

Morpeth Partnership Curriculum Statement

Art, Craft and Design has the power to expand our cultural awareness, increase our ability to problem solve, cultivate our fine motor skills and aid us in producing a range of opinions and views on our world.  We use these skills each and every day as tools to navigate our way around our visually complex world. Creativity builds self- esteem and confidence, independent learners, and prepares our future artists to appreciate the design world, develop a passion for the subject within the classroom and externally (through interaction with our local area, region, artists and galleries). Art supports the school’s core values including inclusivity and diversity, and helps to raise self-esteem. It provides an exceptional opportunity to broaden experience and support social, moral, spiritual and cultural learning. 

Art, Craft and Design changes our world. 

‘Creativity takes courage’ Matisse

Implementation

At Tritlington we teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression.  One unit of Art and Design is taught each term for one hour per week.  We use the Kapow Primary scheme of work which is designed with the following strands that run throughout:

  • Generating ideas

  • Using sketchbooks

  • Making skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)

  • Knowledge of artists

  • Evaluating and analysing

These strands are revisited in every unit and pupils have the opportunity to practise these skills discreetly. The knowledge and skills from these units are then applied throughout the other units in the scheme.  Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral column model.  This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning.  Units in each year groups are organised into four core areas:

  • Drawing

  • Painting and mixed media

  • Sculpture and 3D

  • Craft and design

Our Curriculum overview shows which of our units cover each of the National curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the strands.

Our Progression of Skills 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 each key stage.  

Our Art and Design curriculum develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of key artists and art movements and links to artists through practical work.  Creativity and independent outcomes are embedded into our units of work, supporting our pupils in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that art outcomes, while being knowledge-rich, are unique to the pupil and personal. 

Our lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils from Year 1 using sketchbooks to document their ideas.  Our lessons are differentiated to ensure that they can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and there are opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning where required.  Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

We use pupil videos created by subject specialists to help pupils to see art techniques modelled by experts, to ensure the delivery of Art lessons is of the highest quality.  Each unit of work includes teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD.  

Our pupils’ artwork is displayed in classrooms, shared around school, on our website and via social media platforms.  We hold art exhibitions in school for our local community to celebrate our pupils’ achievements 

EYFS

Through Expressive Arts our pupils are encouraged to explore different media, explore how media can be combined to create different effects and develop a range of skills and techniques experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Pupils are given daily access to a range of creative opportunities and enjoy our carefully planned and well-resourced creative areas both indoors and out. Pupils are encouraged to create on both small and large scales and our outdoor environment supports this well. Pupils are encouraged to develop their communication and language skills through talking about their creations and sharing these with others to build confidence and raise self-esteem.

Impact

Our curriculum is designed in such a way that our pupils are involved in the evaluation, dialogue and decision-making about the quality of their outcomes and the improvements they need to make.  By taking part in regular discussions and decision-making processes, pupils will not only know key facts and information about art, but they will be able to talk confidently about their own learning journey, have higher meta-cognitive skills and have a growing understanding of how to improve.

The impact of our curriculum is monitored through both formative and summative opportunities.  In each lesson, pupils are assessed against the learning objective and each unit has a quiz and knowledge catcher to support pupils’ ability to retain learning and increase space in the working memory.    

We also welcome feedback from a wider audience at community events such as art exhibitions in school. 

Our pupils will develop a real passion for Art and Design and use their skills across the curriculum and during extra-curricular activities. 

After the implementation of Kapow’s Primary Art and design scheme, pupils should leave Tritlington school equipped with a range of techniques and the confidence and creativity to form a strong foundation for their future art and design learning. 

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary Art and design scheme of work is that children will:

  • Produce creative work, exploring and recording their ideas and experiences

  • Be proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques

  • Evaluate and analyse creative works using subject-specific language

  • Know about great artists and the historical and cultural development of their art

  • Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for Art and Design