At St Mary’s we strive to instil an appreciation and enjoyment of the arts enriching the children’s learning experience. Art and design stimulates imagination and creativity; involving children in a range of visual, tactile and sensory experiences, which enable them to communicate what they see, think and feel through the use of a range of media, promoting careful observation and an appreciation of the world around us. Art and design at St Mary’s allows the children to express themselves creatively whilst taking inspiration from some of the great artists, designers and craft people that have lived.
The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:
Our art and design curriculum is planned to demonstrate the progression of knowledge and skills, with discreet vocabulary progression forming part of the units of work. An artist, designer, crafts person or an art movement is linked to each unit of work enabling pupils to learn how artists communicate their ideas as well as the roles and functions of art and the impact it has had on contemporary life and on different periods and cultures.
In Early Years, pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of adult directed and child initiated activities. They have opportunities to explore and respond to different media and materials to express their own ideas, adapting their work where necessary.
In Key Stage 1, our aim is for pupils to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. Time will be allocated for pupils to explore working with different media and materials before they create their final piece of work.
In Key Stage 2, pupils will be taught how to develop and master their techniques, recording observations and using them to review and revisit ideas. Pupils will become more skilled in working with a range of media to produce desired effects to use in their work. They will also be encouraged to discuss and evaluate their work and that of others.