Art and design

Our school’s vision has been collaboratively created with the input from key stake holders within our community. At the core of our curriculum lies the art and design principles which serve as the foundation in which we plan for art design, ensuring that students receive high quality teaching, enhance their acquisition of art and design, contributing to culture, creativity and richness of societies around the world.

Curriculum coverage
We believe that an art and design curriculum should serve as both mirrors, reflecting the identities of our students, and windows, offering glimpses into the lives and narratives of those from diverse backgrounds. Through this approach, we carefully select subject content from the National Curriculum document and weave it in to our art and design curriculum, ensuring representation of a rich tapestry of cultures.

This methodology not only cultivates a sense of belonging and affirmation for our students but also fosters empathy and appreciation for the experiences of others. By integrating diverse perspectives and stories into our curriculum, we provide students with a platform to explore, understand, and celebrate the myriad of human experiences. This not only enhances their artistic skills but also nurtures their capacity for critical thinking and cultural understanding.

Vocabulary
The curriculum outlines key vocabulary that children are expected to acquire and understand. These terms are taught explicitly and demonstrated by the class teacher, and students are encouraged to incorporate them into their learning. Each year group has a vocabulary document which highlights the meaning of taught words so that this is consistently taught across school.

 

Curriculum progression
Our art curriculum comprises of three interrelated strands of knowledge:

Procedural knowledge
Procedural knowledge, representing the practical skills of an artist, is vertically integrated within our curriculum. This means that as students’ progress through each year group, they revisit and deepen their understanding of these skills. By structuring our curriculum in this manner, we ensure that students have the opportunity to continually enhance their abilities over time.

This approach enables a seamless progression, allowing students to build upon foundational skills and explore more advanced techniques as they advance through the year groups. By fostering this iterative learning process, students develop not only proficiency in various artistic techniques but also a deeper appreciation for the creative journey.

Disciplinary knowledge
We introduce the children to disciplinary knowledge in art and design through the following ‘Big ideas’:

The development of our disciplinary knowledge means that we are able to show the children how artists use the different ‘Big ideas’ to focus on a specific aspect of their work. These ‘Big ideas’ are taught, revisited, and referred to in every year groups as the children move through school.

Substantive knowledge
Substantive knowledge represents the art content that is taught in each year group; in planning, this knowledge is presented as specific learning points; the content that we want the children to remember. Whilst selecting these specific learning points, we have ensured that a full range of artists and styles were taught. As a result of improving art across the curriculum, we made deliberate choices to ensure a range of artists/designers are studied so that our curriculum is representative and sensitive to, the community that we are part of.

Repetition and retrieval
Our art and design curriculum is meticulously structured to incorporate high levels of repetition, ensuring that our students can do more and remember more as they progress through their school years. From Year 1 to Year 6, the strands of procedural knowledge (how to do things) and disciplinary knowledge (understanding concepts and context) are continuously revisited and developed. This consistent repetition ensures that by the end of Key Stage 2, our students possess the ability to apply the skills and knowledge of artists with a high level of independence and confidence.

During the course of their art and design projects, we share significant amounts of substantive and disciplinary knowledge with our students. Our planning includes specific learning points that detail the exact knowledge we want the children to know, remember, and apply. To support this, sketchbooks are used for focused practice, allowing students to develop and embed specific skills throughout the topic. This approach ensures that students not only acquire but also retain and apply critical art and design knowledge effectively.

Assessment
t West Meadows Primary, we believe that art and design encompasses more than just knowledge about artists, movements, and media. To gauge our students’ understanding and application of their learning, we assess their abilities through a final assessment piece at the end of each topic. This composite task evaluates the students’ ability to integrate substantive knowledge (facts and information), disciplinary knowledge (concepts and context), and procedural knowledge (skills and techniques).

In addition to creating their own compositions, students analyse their work using the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout the topic. This dual approach (analysing and creating) provides comprehensive insights into how well the children are learning the curriculum. It allows us to see not only what they know but also how effectively they can apply and synthesize their learning in practical and creative ways.

Vocabulary progression document

Art Vocabulary and Definitions

Art at a Glance