Art
MEET OUR SUBJECT LEADER
Mrs Wilson is our Art subject leader. She is passionate about art and enjoys sharing, talking about and teaching art. She believes that art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas and an opportunity for pupils to express their creativity and believes art can have a positive impact on pupil wellbeing. Mrs Wilson enjoys visiting art galleries and is passionate about our children developing a love and appreciation for the work of a range of artists through the art curriculum.
Mrs Wilson is currently in the process of developing a program whereby our children can work alongside outside agencies and artists to help develop their knowledge, skills and creativity further.
The National Curriculum explains that ‘art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.’ It aims to ensure that all pupils explore their own ideas to produce creative work and become proficient in a variety of art and design techniques including drawing, painting and sculpture. Children will be encouraged to evaluate and analyse both their own, and others’ creative work, using language associated with art and design. It is also important that all children are given opportunities to learn about different artists, craft makers and designers, and develop an understanding of the historical and cultural development of art.
At St Barnabas and St Paul’s school, we believe that creativity is a highly valuable skill that children will need in their future careers and throughout their lives. Therefore, we aim to make every art lesson as creative, exciting and inspiring as possible for all of our pupils. All children will be encouraged to make their own creative decisions, with increasing independence, using a range of art skills and techniques. The children will be introduced to these skills during high-quality art lessons, beginning in Reception, and then refine and develop them throughout each year group. Pupils will be given a wide range of opportunities to experiment with different materials and techniques, in addition to exploring and analysing different forms of art created by artists and designers from various cultures and time periods. They will be encouraged to research their own ideas and collect evidence of their inspirations in their sketchbooks, allowing them to take ownership of their artwork. All children will be challenged and supported by enthusiastic teachers, who regularly model their own creative processes, provide suggestions and demonstrate the importance of evaluating and refining their work. The children will also be given opportunities to present their artwork so that it can be celebrated by the whole school. This will ensure they are able to invent and design unique pieces of work which give them a sense of pride and satisfaction.
As a school, we have chosen to teach art using units from Kapow. We have chosen Kapow as the units build the key knowledge of techniques, materials and vocabulary to help support the children's artistic practice. Kapow provides the tools to help ensure quality teaching so we can give the children the best chance to build their subject knowledge and make progress. Each lesson begins with a review of previous learning so teachers can ensure the children can confidently make progress and allow them to learn more and remember more. We look closely at artists featured within Kapow to influence and inspire the children's artwork.
“Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves and to explore what is possible.” Maryann F. Kohl