Art

Intent
At Thornaby Church of England Primary School, we value Art as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. We believe that high-quality Art lessons should engage, inspire and challenge children to think innovatively and develop creatively. Our Art curriculum provides children with opportunities to develop their skills using a range of media and materials. Children learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles and 3D work and are given the opportunity to explore, appreciate and evaluate different creative ideas. Children will be introduced to a range of works and develop knowledge of the styles and vocabulary used by famous artists. The skills they acquire are applied to their cross-curricular topics, allowing children to use their art skills to reflect on and explore topics in greater depth; for example, by sketching historical artefacts in details, representing how music may look in ‘art’ form, or using art as a medium to express emotion and thought to enhance their personal, social and emotional development. It is paramount that art work be purposeful; be this as a means of expression or to explore the styles of other artists that inspire our own work. Pupils should be clear what the intended outcomes are and have a means to measure their own work against this. In Art, children are expected to be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. This should be meaningful and continuous throughout the process, with evidence of age-related verbal reflection. Children are encouraged to take risks and experiment and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a particular project.

Implementation
At Thornaby Church of England Primary School the teaching and implementation of the Art Curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and linked to our topic scheme, following Cornerstones, to ensure a well-structured approach to this creative subject.
The children are taught Art as part of their termly topic work. Areas covered include printing based on topic work, such as the Egyptian writing, nature, fossil art, Stone Age jewellery making with clay, painting, developing ideas and choosing own resources and the work of famous artists throughout history and now. More detail can be found in our progressions of skills document or long-term plan.
The children’s learning is further enhanced with Art Week or Art Days in school, where the children have the opportunity for collaborative working and exploring the different styles and techniques of a range of artists.

Impact
At our school, Art helps provide the children with fundamental skills they can apply to a variety of different activities and areas. Our Art Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. Children will be become creative learners, who have developed knowledge about the great artists of the world. Creativity and uniqueness will be celebrated and children will become confident at evaluating and improving the pieces they have created. As teachers, there will be an emphasis placed on individuality and children will be given the freedom to explore art using their imaginations. Children will have embedded the key art and design skills needed to allow them to produce inventive pieces of art.

Policy for Art