At Darrington CE Primary School and Nursery we encourage artistic opportunities in many wider curriculum areas, alongside regular stand-alone art skills lessons from Year 1 to Year 6.

Throughout their learning journey, children at Darrington are given opportunities to experience many forms of art, which is used as a tool to allow children to explore their own spirituality, mental wellbeing and personal enjoyment of this subject, alongside building subject specific knowledge and skills to aid progression in art and design throughout their time at primary school.

Intent

At Darrington CE Primary school, we use Kapow to follow the National Curriculum and Early Years framework to deliver a broad and ambitious art and design curriculum. Teachers follow a coherent and well sequenced progression model that outlines the key skills, knowledge and vocabulary to be taught in art. Class teachers work closely alongside the art and design subject leader to further develop the progression of skills, knowledge, and vocabulary - which explores painting, sculpture, drawing, mixed media, and the study of a number of famous artists and designers, both modern and historical - into a more detailed medium-term plan. The art curriculum is planned to allow children to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.

Implementation

Across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, Art is taught in half-termly blocks in partnership with Design and Technology. Pupils have discreet Art lessons, where teachers model skills and techniques and give pupils the opportunity to practice these before applying them in a final piece.

In Reception and Nursery, children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. Children are given opportunity to progress their skills through their own exploration with timely adult modelling. Children will begin by using their senses to explore new experiences and gain an interest in making marks, before refining their creative skills as they move through EYFS.

Across all classes, teachers are supported by the subject leader in their subject knowledge to deliver insightful and informed lessons which are sequenced based on the progression of skills outlined in long and medium term planning.

Children have access to a wide range of art resources in school, including:

• crayons,
• chalk,
• pastels,
• oil paint,
• watercolour paint,
• clay,
• coloured pencils,
• sketching pencils,
• charcoal.

Teachers challenge pupils through questioning and extension of skills, and ensure that children know more and remember more by collaborating, reviewing and building on previous techniques learnt in school, giving children chance to improve their mastery of the subject. Children receive feedback on their work and are offered opportunities for both guided and independent practice of skills. Teachers scaffold learning by modelling key skills as well as providing models from a range of artists. To further support their learning, children are exposed to a range of artworks showcasing the application of taught skills.

Each year, children from Reception to Year 6 enter the National Association of RE Teachers’ “Spirited Arts” Competition.

Impact

We take great pride in the work children produce and it is displayed across the school.

As a result of the implementation of our ambitious art curriculum, pupils are able to talk about artists and artwork that they have learnt about and produced. Pupils are able to use subject specific art vocabulary to talk about their learning.

Pupils' work across drawing, painting and sculpture shows progression and the development of skills. Pupils show a more controlled ability to apply skills sensitively to a piece of work as they progress through school.