Our Art Subject Leader is Ms Laura Smart.

Intent

At Crawley Ridge Junior School, we are committed to providing an art and design curriculum that stimulates creativity, imagination and inspiration for all pupils. We strive to equip our pupils with the skills and knowledge necessary for them to experiment and express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design through the exposure to a diverse range of artists.

Implementation

In all year groups, lessons follow and cover all aspects of the National Curriculum, through topic-based planning alongside the ‘KAPOW’ national scheme of work. This enables our teachers to deliver creative, inspiring and engaging lessons and provides a progression of skills and knowledge.

The Kapow Art scheme of work provides sequential lessons organised into four core strands which run through each year group:

• Drawing
• Painting and mixed media
• Sculpture and 3D
• Craft and design

At Crawley Ridge Junior School, our topic-based units fit into one of the four core strands alongside our Kapow units. This ensures continuity and progression throughout the school. Our Art and Design units are also enriched by school trips and visiting workshops linked to our current theme or topic.

Children generate ideas, make and evaluate throughout each unit applying and building on their subject knowledge and vocabulary. This is recorded in their sketchbooks, which are a working journal of their explorations throughout the sequence of lessons. The children are taught the skills and knowledge they need to be able to make informed choices and become their own artist. They work together and learn from each other during each stage of their learning journey.

Over the course of their time at Crawley Ridge, pupils are exposed to a rich and diverse selection of significant artists. The children explore elements which appeal to their artistic style to implement in the making stage continuingly evaluating as they go. They will then use these evaluations to adapt and refine their ideas, the processes they use and their intentions.

Impact

Pupils’ sketch books are used to demonstrate skills and control and technique with a range of media. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
• Images of the children’s practical learning.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
• Foundation formative assessments for each unit.

Pupils are confident in expressing themselves through a wide variety of media. Pupil’s exposure to a wide range of artists and techniques enables them to have the confidence to become their own artist.