At Templars Primary School, our tailor-made Art curriculum has been written with diversity at its very core. Art is made by all sorts of people, in a variety of ways, and we should all feel represented by the art and artists we learn about. Our Art curriculum places great importance on learning about people from a range of backgrounds and cultures who have made amazing contributions to the world of art. We aim to show pupils that by studying art, they too can belong to this exciting creative world in the future.
The foundation of our Art curriculum is taken directly from the Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum. With the exception of Early Years, our children all use sketchbooks to record their learning and creative journeys. Sketchbooks provide children with opportunities to explore, experiment and reflect upon their ideas and processes.
In KS1 children are introduced to the key skills in art, painting, sculpture and collage. Pupils learn about artists proficient in these skills and draw upon their art to inspire their own. Links are made across the curriculum, particularly with history and geography. We want children to celebrate artists from across the world but also from their own city, Coventry. Pupils can relate to artists that have grown up in their own city and recognise the art in and around their own community. Pupils will be able to represent their knowledge in a visual form. Pictures encourage us to think about and understand the world visually, instead of restricting learning and the acquisition of knowledge to words and numbers alone. Visual thinking and literacy help children learn other subjects.
Throughout KS2, pupils are given the opportunity to develop and refine these skills further. They will now be using more detailed and intricate designs when using clay, transferring images and designing 3D elements. When painting they will consider composition and how all the elements of their artwork are arranged e.g. background, horizon line, foreground.
In KS2 pupils are encouraged to use a sketchbook to further gather and document inspiration, explore and take risks, and annotate and evaluate ideas and techniques. This is modelled and supported by the Subject Leader as children build up to using their sketchbooks more independently in Years 5 and 6. This provides a space for children to freely express themselves and build confidence in their own ability.
Through our Art curriculum we want to engage, inspire and challenge pupils by introducing them to a broad range of techniques, materials and artists, craftspeople and designers. We want to support children to gain the knowledge and skills to experiment, explore, take risks and create. We believe that art, craft and design will enable children to explore their own identity as well as being curious about respecting and connecting with others.
We envision that with a secure knowledge of our Art curriculum, pupils will develop skills that are transferable to other subjects, daily life and future career opportunities. It is a curriculum that is flexible and progressive to reflect our continually changing world and remain relevant for our pupils. We strive to ensure that the knowledge our pupils gain will contribute to them becoming creative, confident and proficient artists, crafts people and designers!
Jess Roberts (Art Subject Lead)