Intent

At Putnoe Primary School, our vision is that Art and Design engages and inspires pupils to recognise that they are artistic, develop a love of art, nurture talent as artists and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they will begin a critical engagement with Art, allowing them to develop isolated skills, create their own Art and analyse with discrimination a variety of Art and Design pieces from a range of traditions and genres.

We have taken careful consideration over our curriculum design, working with the aims and recommendations of the National Curriculum alongside the school’s Arts Team and recommendations from local Arts professionals/teachers to form a sequenced and broad experience for pupils.

The Art and Design curriculum has been created to develop automaticity (practising practical isolated components), internalisation (re-encountering, building in complexity and opportunities) and magic (enquiry, imagination and creativity). When these three slowly and incrementally become more complex, this allows pupils to make artistic progress.

We aim to develop complexity within these above by focusing on the following disciplines:

• Sketching
• Sculpture
• Painting

The curriculum also provides opportunity for pupils to experience printing techniques, photography and mixed media creation.

Implementation

At Putnoe Primary School, all pupils have weekly Art lessons on bi-termly rotation, with DT alternating. The majority of these lessons take place in our purpose built Art and DT room.

In a typical Art lesson pupils view an inspirational piece of Art/Design and illicit skills and context for this before developing skills and isolated components prior to creating their final piece. We know that Art is not a born talent, it is taught, nurtured and refined, therefore complex skills are broken down to support children to move from novice to expert. Our sequenced curriculum is designed so that pupils reencounter knowledge, build on their skills and so make progress.

To enhance learning and provide meaningful artistic opportunities, pupils have access to a wide variety of resources in school including:

• Oil pastels
• Charcoal
• Paint
• Watercolours
• Clay
• Wire
• Modroc
• Printing equipment
• Class iPads

As well as quality outcomes, we provide experiences that motivate, inspire and engage pupils. These compliment our curriculum and have a huge impact on pupils. Recent trips, experiences and workshops have included:

• Bawden Workshop with local artist Katie Allen
• We Are Ten Gallery Curating
• Screen printing workshop
• Illustrating workshop
• Visiting The Higgins Galleries
• Cultural Ambassador tour behind the scenes with Curator Victoria Partridge

Art is an inclusive subject, with all pupils able to access learning and make progress as individuals in lessons.  Art and Design processes allow pupils to express knowledge, ideas and feelings without having to use words, as such any barriers in written or spoken language are reduced or often overcome with pupils.

Assessment for learning is woven into lessons, with formative assessment a vital part of developing automaticity and internalisation within class. Summative assessments take place termly with the data logged on Sonar Tracker by class teachers. The practical nature of the subject lends itself to pupils having evidence in their sketchbook, art folder and photographic evidence which is stored securely on a school drive account.

The subject leader is responsible for creating termly reports, they analyse trends and set objectives relevant to pupil needs as identified by the data and pupil voice. Subject action plans are monitored by the Senior Leadership Team.

Pupils get involved with leadership of projects, sharing Arts messages and providing feedback on the Arts in school, as part of a pupil voice group called the Cultural Ambassadors.

At Putnoe Primary School we are very proud of our displays. Twice a year pupils and staff contribute to the creation of a whole school effort towards a themed set of displays. Each year group has a display to produce with past school themes including; nursery rhymes, inspirational women in the arts, books (including The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr Morris Lessmore, The Lost Words, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse) as well as collaborations with The Higgins Art Gallery.

Art and Design is used in other subject areas to reinforce learning, focus or help retain information. Art regularly supports other areas of the curriculum and is used to celebrate and bring awareness to events, including Black History Month, Year 5 Opera and World Book Day.

Clubs

We signpost pupils to Art clubs in school and advertise the local offer to further develop our pupils as Artists and Designers. Our extra-curricular activities at Putnoe Primary School are offered on a first come first served basis. Clubs in the last year have included; photography, KS1 Art, KS2 Art and sketching.

Other sessions are held to allow pupils time to prepare for competitions and for pupils to assist with designing programmes and sets for various shows and events.

Impact

Art and Design can be found in everything in the world around us, pupils enquiry into the process of creativity and a variety of artists help them to understand and celebrate various cultures and deepen their understanding of the wider world. Our mission is to help all pupils delight in engaging with and be inspired by Art and Design so they ultimately appreciate and create their own works of Art and Design in years to come

By the end of key stage 2, pupils should be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design. Pupils will create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas, they will improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials. Pupils will also have awareness of great artists, architects and designers in history.

Other positive impacts of a good Art and Design education include; increased school engagement,  reduced stress, developed social-emotional and interpersonal skills, engagement in enriching experiences, critical and creative thinking skills and enhanced performance in non-arts academic subjects such as mathematics, science, reading and writing.

Putnoe Primary School hopes pupils continue with their Art and Design education able to enjoy Art and Design by appreciating and / or creating, that pupils understanding that talent in these disciplines is nurtured and a continuous effort in developing and experimenting in creative processes. The best arts and cultural education can change a young person’s sense of the wider world around them, opening up possibilities for their future that may have previously seemed out of their grasp.