Art & Design

What does Art & Design look like at St Richard’s

Each half term we have an art week. This is used to focus on improving skills and knowledge and to create a celebration piece. By doing this the children can really immerse themselves in the subject and focus on creativity. There are other opportunities built in to curriculum for them to revisit prior learning and practise their skills.

EYFS: Children are constantly exposed to colour and art in their continuous provision. Highly stimulating and purposeful areas are at the heart of both indoor and outdoor provision in which the children have free access to a range of materials which encourage them to create, explore and make. Adults are used well in provision to support their understanding of colour and materials and to help them recreate the world around them in a creative form.

KS1: In KS1 children are introduced to drawing, painting, collage and sculpture as different disciplines in art. The use of sketch books to record their research, examples, artists, art movements and responses are introduced, and they are encouraged to find out more by using ICT. Lesson sequences are carefully planned using our skills progression document and these culminate by our children applying these new skills in a celebration piece, which is displayed to ensure our children are proud of their achievements. They are encouraged to develop a critical eye, assessing both their successes and any areas for future improvement.

KS2: In KS2 the same sequence applies, This provides children with the opportunity to retrieve and build on prior learning whilst developing their sketch books in a much more detailed way. Their creative journey is captured on the pages with their thoughts and responses annotated within. They are encouraged to reflect on images and artists, forming opinions and learning about the techniques involved in creating themes, as well as the cultural and historical references which may have impacted upon them. The development of the critical eye is imperative, so that as artists they know how and where to improve their practice and continue to improve.