Art
Intent
At Austin Farm, we place great importance on the subject of Art as a means for pupils to express their creativity and imagination. Through the AccessArt scheme of work, which our school uses, our goal is to ensure that every student is equipped with the skills and knowledge to experiment, invent, and create their own unique pieces of art. The curriculum is structured to provide progressive learning, where skills from previous years are revisited and built upon, allowing for the development of a broad range of artistic techniques and approaches.
This approach fosters both confidence and competence, with an emphasis on connecting artistic techniques to real-world examples and drawing on the work of established artists and designers. The curriculum supports pupils in making informed decisions, experimenting with different media, and engaging in meaningful creative processes. As children move through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, they develop their understanding of art and refine their skills through a combination of hands-on activities and reflective practice, with sketchbooks playing a central role in their learning journey.
Implementation
At Austin Farm, our children’s knowledge and understanding pupils will go far beyond the technical, factual knowledge, instead balancing declarative knowledge with experiential knowledge, building self-knowledge and nurturing traits in learners which will hold them in good stead whichever direction their learning takes them.
The children in our school develop their artistic skills and knowledge through AccessArt’s ‘Pathways.’ These aim to connect Pedagogy-based resources and activity-based resources on AccessArt, together with external links to websites which explore chosen artists/themes, to form a flexible structure which teachers can navigate easily. Pathways follow tested pedagogical approaches and help build teacher understanding in addition to providing progressive projects. These are repeated annually, providing lots of time to balance repeated practice with new experiences. Throughout the scheme of work, children will study artists, designers and craftspeople, learning from the way they see the world rather than simply making copies of their style.
Impact
The impact of our art and design curriculum can be seen not only in our children’s sketch books but also through classroom displays and the school environment.
At Austin Farm Primary, ongoing assessment is based upon lots of conversation, to discover intention and understanding, as well as looking at outcomes of the journey and end result. In addition, each pathway contains suggested “I Can…” statements which are used to check understanding.
We view the sketchbook not only as a practical tool for recording ideas and inspiration but as an essential part of the creative process. It encourages pupils to reflect, plan, and develop their ideas in an organised way, helping them make aesthetic and practical decisions as they experiment with different techniques. Above all, our school environment nurtures self-expression in a ‘safe’ and supportive setting, where both creativity and self-esteem can flourish.
By the time our pupils leave our school they will:
• Express themselves confidently about the world around them through a variety of creative outlets. • Embody personal and cultural expression through various mediums and art forms.
• Demonstrate knowledge, skills and terminologies and creative outlets.
• Develop their own artistic style that is evident in their sketchbooks.