Carlton Hill Primary School

Rationale for teaching Art

 ‘Art is not what you see but what you make others see’ (Edgar Degas, French artist 1834-1917)

Art in our own words

At Carlton Hill Primary School Art is about equipping all children to think creatively and innovatively. We encourage children to develop self-expression whilst building critical thinking skills, enabling them to interpret the world around us.

We say: ‘Art is a way of freely exploring the world around us through looking, drawing, playing and making.’

Our pupils work independently and collaboratively on art projects. We encourage them to discover their ‘voice’, reflecting on their own art and the impact of artists in our culture and history.

We teach children determination and resilience - that it is ok to not always get things right the first time and to have the courage to start again. Children experiment with different art mediums and develop sketchbook skills, enabling children to review and edit their learning.

We use a range of materials and opportunities in the curriculum to teach proficiency in key techniques such as drawing, painting, sculpture and other craft and design.

How is our Art Curriculum organised?

In the teaching of our Art curriculum, we aspire to showcase a broad range of art experiences and artists from different genres and the curriculum is taught in a flexible way throughout the school.  Children are taught skills discretely as well as through a cross curricular focus. E.g. As part of Year 2 History study on Victorians, children learn about the silhouette portrait artist ‘Auguste Eduoarte’. They develop skills in experimenting with brush strokes of different thickness and create an ombre wash background to explore adding tones of shade to their own self-portraits.  

Children progress through carefully mapped skills across the year groups and as they build upon these their work becomes more complex.  In KS1 children learn to draw lines of varying thickness and add dots/lines to create pattern. In KS2 children rehearse these skills and also learn to use shading to show light and shadow effects and develop further techniques to show texture e.g. cross hatching.

Opportunities are planned across the curriculum to allow children to experience all areas of art (Drawing, Painting, Printing, Collage, Sculpture, Textiles) Children demonstrate their learning through practical exploration, sketchbook work and finished pieces e.g. whole school project exhibition displays.

How does our Art curriculum support pupils with SEND?

In our art curriculum, we're all about making sure everyone feels included, especially students with SEND. We don't follow a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we tailor our teaching to meet the unique needs of each student. We believe in a hands-on, interactive way of learning, similar to how we teach other subjects. When we plan art lessons, we think about how to break down barriers and give specific support where it's needed.

Teaching art to students with SEND isn't about having a fixed method. It's about understanding each student - what they're good at, what challenges they face, and what interests them. In our art classes, we're committed to embracing neurodiversity, celebrating the creativity of students with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other neurological differences. We know these students might learn differently, so we use a variety of creative methods, like visuals and interactive activities, to make sure everyone can participate. 

What is the impact of our Art curriculum?

We are able to assess our Art Curriculum in the following ways:

Evidence

Throughout the year children’s learning is tracked through the use of photographic evidence e.g. developing stages of projects, finished pieces, and sketchbook work and an art portfolio is collated by the Subject Leader to show progression in skills across the year groups. This enables the teacher and subject leader to celebrate, review and reference learning against the skills and make adjustments to future planning/support if needed.

Pupil self-assessment

Our pupils are given opportunities at the beginning and end of units to assess their knowledge and skills, e.g.  ‘Exhibition celebrations’ (Whole School Community Art Project) provide a rich opportunity for children to showcase their art and review their own and others work.

Pupil voice

All of our subject leaders are given time to listen to pupils from across the school and discuss their given subjects. Our pupils experience great delight and pride in developing their individual expression in this subject – this delight and pride is one that we hope will motivate them to become individual creative artists and innovators of the future.

What are the inspirations for our Art curriculum?

Our curriculum draws on ideas from AccessArt a leading provider of artist-led and artist-inspired teaching and learning resources. We are also fortunate to have received the skills and expertise of local artist and teacher Suzie Poyntz in the planning of our whole school art projects.

What are the key milestones in Art?

These key milestones are a snapshot to support teachers when assessing children’s learning. Please see the ‘Progression in skills and knowledge’ document to see how these are mapped in more detail.