Art, Craft and Design
Our Curriculum Intent
At Chandlers Ford Infant School we pride ourselves on our creativity and our Art, Craft and Design scheme of work has been designed to engage, inspire and challenge all pupils.
We believe that children have wonderful imaginations and that it is important to allow them to express their ideas, experiences and thoughts about the world. We understand that art, craft and design is a unique medium for listening to the voices of children and recognise its benefits towards good mental health. Our scheme of work allows our pupils to develop their ability and confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art, craft and design. It nurtures their talents and interests and develops their appreciation of how art has shaped history and contributed to our rich and diverse cultural heritage. Our intent is to build the Cultural Capital of all of our students by providing them with a bank of rich cultural experiences. Our scheme of work supports pupils to meet the National Curriculum end of key stage expectations and in EYFS (Reception) we provide opportunities for pupils’ to work towards the Development matters statements and the Early Learning Goals. Our scheme has also been written to fully cover the National Society for Education in Art and Design's progression competences. Chandler's Ford Infant School is a Hampshire "Trailblazer" school and a Green flag Eco-School. Our curriculum aims therefore always support and inspire children to make a positive impact on our planet and whenever possible we take our learning outside.
Implementation
Each unit of work that we deliver has been carefully put together to ensure that its content is relevant and has strong links to topics, so memorable connections are made. We use a process based approach to our learning journeys where children experiment, invent and design in their own sketch books. We teach and equip them with a range of knowledge and skills that are based on different artistic techniques and our children are then encouraged to apply and use these in their own chosen way. As our pupils progress, they think more critically and develop a deeper understanding of art, craft and design. They also develop knowledge of how art and design both reflect and shape our history.
We like to provide lots of opportunities for the children to share and celebrate their thoughts and ideas with peers as this further develops their skills and confidence. Each year we try to hold a whole school art exhibition where every child has their work exhibited. Alongside this we take the children to Southampton Art Gallery, hold a whole school Art week, Cultural week, work with visiting artists and have been involved in an art project with Hampshire County council entitled Climate in Crisis where we have exhibited pieces in a range of public spaces.
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. We draw on past learning and there is a strong golden thread running through all topics. This enables children to acquire knowledge and skills at a deeper level.
During their time at Chandlers Ford Infant school all children will get to acquire and practically apply their knowledge and understanding of key art skills and techniques. They will also be supported to make their own creative choices and decisions so that their art outcomes are unique and personal yet also knowledge rich. In KS1 our children are taught to:
Each unit develops a progression of skills these are:
In the Early Years Foundation Stage the EYFS pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have the opportunities to learn to:
Our National curriculum mapping shows which of our units cover each of the National curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the four strands. Our Progression of skills shows the skills and knowledge that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of Year 2.
The Impact of our Art, Craft and Design Curriculum
Through the study of Art, Craft and design, our children acquire a wide range of knowledge, and skills about art, craft and design and the process involved in its creation. They also develop an enjoyment and confidence in their learning journey and acquire evaluative and decision making skills that they can apply to other areas of the curriculum.
Pupils should leave our school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in the next stage of their learning journey in Key Stage 2.
The impact of our Art, Craft and Design scheme is monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Our Art, Craft and Design curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
Some web sites you might like to use at home:
https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/make