Art Co-ordinator - Fiona Coates 

Intent:

At St Francis we really want our children to love art, craft and design!  As well as stimulating creativity, imagination and inventiveness, we believe that art is a fundamental means of personal expression and enables our children to – ‘Live life to the fullest.’ (John 10: 10b)

Our bespoke, high-quality art and design curriculum is designed to engage and inspire children whilst equipping them with the knowledge and skills to be able to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. As children progress through school, they should gain a deeper understanding of how art and design reflects and shapes our history.  Children should learn how different art movements and art forms have shaped, and continue to shape, our history and culture. To that end, we have carefully selected a wide range of artists, craft makers and designers for children to study which also reflects and respects diversity.

The intent is to ensure all children have the opportunity to explore their ideas, record their experiences and evaluate their own work and that of others.  Children will become familiar with a variety of techniques including drawing, painting, sculpting, collage and printing and will broaden their knowledge by studying the work of artists, architects and designers. 

Art is not taught in isolation, although it retains its creative base and its skills and techniques.  Wherever appropriate, it is linked to other areas of the curriculum, giving children the opportunities to develop specific art skills and reinforcing skills already established.

In art, children are expected to be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. Children are encouraged to experiment and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a particular project. As pupils progress, they will become critical thinkers, and through the study of a diverse range of artists, will evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.

Implementation:

Throughout their time at St Francis, every child is given the opportunity to learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, sculpture/3D design and digital art. This may be linked to the exploration of a key artist, craft maker or designer and their work.

Opportunities to reflect and develop, including through the use of sketchbooks, and chances for self and peer-assessment, are encouraged. Through discussion, the pupils explore how their art can share commonalities with famous artwork and use subject-specific vocabulary.  To encourage the development of confident art critics, the pupils share their opinions and make informed observations about what will improve their own practical work.

Cross-curricular links are promoted to allow all children to deepen their understanding across the curriculum, including the use of technology, specific historical, geographical and scientific contexts relevant to each year group.

Further inspiration is incorporated with visits to local art galleries and museums and visits from local artists.

Teachers follow a clear progression of knowledge and skills which ensures all pupils are challenged in line with their year group expectations and are given the opportunity to build on their prior knowledge and experiences, whilst reinforcing art-based vocabulary.

Impact:

By the time children leave St Francis School they will:

• have been able to experiment, explore and discuss different art forms, media and techniques.
• have developed a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, tone, texture, line, shape, form and space.
• have improved their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting, printing and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, oil pastel, charcoal, paint, clay, papier mâché, Modroc] and used a range of materials creatively to design and make products. 
• have explored the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers and architects, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.
• be able to ask and answer questions about the starting points for their work, developing ideas and have created sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas.  
• review what they and others have created and verbally share what they think and feel about it in a respectful manner.