Art

Art

Intent

At Farsley Springbank, we aim to deliver a broad and varied art curriculum, which inspires, engages and challenges children to think creatively and equips them with the skills to create their own works of art, craft and design.

Our commitment to working towards the ‘Artsmark’ ensures we are developing an arts-rich curriculum for our children. We believe that by learning a range of visual arts, the children will build their knowledge and skills during their time at Springbank, in order for them to be confident artists, crafters and designers and enjoy the process of creating artwork.

We teach our children about a wide range of artists, crafts people and designers and how their artistic achievements have impacted and shaped our history and contributed to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. By visiting local arts centres and galleries and inviting local artists and experts into school, we hope to inspire our children and raise aspirations for careers in the arts.

As a school and in accordance with the National Curriculum’s expectations, we aim to ensure that all pupils:

Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
Become proficient in drawing painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
Know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms

Implementation

Each year group has three art topics a year and where possible, these are linked with that year group’s Learning Challenge. This results in the art topic being more purposeful for the children allowing them to build on their learning in other curricular areas. Our curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure clear progression of art skills in drawing, painting, 3D art, textiles and collage across the year groups. The children are therefore able to build on prior learning as they move through school, building up key skills and knowledge. Children are exposed to a wide range of media so that they can build up the experience and knowledge to make their own artistic choices and produce individualised art work. Frequent retrieval practice gives children the opportunity to make connections and apply what they already know in different artistic contexts.

Each child is given a high quality sketch book which follows them through school. The sketch book is an extra-special book in which to capture each child’s artistic learning journey. The children use the sketch books to develop their ideas and practice and refine their skills, whilst being encouraged to demonstrate their learning in their own personal and creative way.

Each art topic begins with a research lesson where children will learn about an artist, craft person or designer. These have been carefully chosen to ensure the children are exposed to a range of cultures and time periods in history, including inspirational local artists such as David Hockney. Children learn about the artist’s preferred media, the processes the artist uses and their inspiration for creating visual art. The children use their sketch books to create an artist study where they can ask questions, give opinions, annotate photos and use a range of media to experiment in the style of that artist.

Each topic consists of a series of lessons that focus on building drawing skills and experimentation with a range of media. Specific skills such as colour mixing, print making or stitching are taught to give the children the skills and knowledge needed to make informed choices for their final composition.

At the end of each art topic, children are taught how to critique their own and their peers’ art in a positive and constructive way. Children reflect on the skills and knowledge that they have learnt and think about what has gone well and what they would improve. We value the importance of showcasing the children’s art with displays around the school, photos on our website and inviting parents into school for class exhibitions.

The art curriculum is further enhanced with a whole school arts week in the spring term where the children are immersed in the arts by exploring the different styles and techniques of a range of artists and designers. The children work collaboratively to produce a final art piece which is celebrated and shared at the end of the week.

Art Learning Journeys

Here are some examples of our art Learning Journeys.

Art long term plan

Art long term plan

Art skills progression map

Art skills progression map

Progression in Printing

Here is an example of how the skills of printmaking progress through the year groups. In Year 2, the children learn how to make their own printing block and experiment with repeated patterns. In Year 3, the children build on this by creating a fossil relief print on a polystyrene tile. They experiment with overlaying prints and also printing onto different materials such as tissue paper. Finally, in Year 5, the children combine all the print making skills they have learnt to design their own space print. The children use their overlaying knowledge from Year 3 to design a separate background. They also draw on what they learnt in Year 2 by making independent choices about different materials they could print with for a desired effect.