Intent: 

Our Art curriculum has been carefully designed to drive the development of creativity, set challenges, engage and inspire children and equip them with the knowledge and skills to: experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design and engage confidently with a diverse range of artists and art works in different contexts.

We believe that the arts give us the tools and skills that are essential to help us make our way through life. We owe it to the next generation to ensure that they enjoy an education that offers them the whole of life and culture: head, heart and soul.

Implementation:

The art curriculum at St. Simon’s is based on the National Curriculum and carefully sequenced to ensure the well-structured progression of knowledge and skills.

Curriculum Structure.

EYFS: Early Years Foundation Stage.

· Pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities.

They have opportunities to learn to:

· Explore the textures, movement, feel and look of different media and materials

· Respond to a range of media and materials, develop their understanding of them in order to manipulate and create different effects.

· Use different media and materials to express their own ideas

· Explore colour and use for a particular purpose

· Develop skills to use simple tools and techniques competently and appropriately

· Select appropriate media and techniques and adapt their work where necessary

Y1-6:

Pupils are taught Art as a discrete subject, through carefully selected  pedagogies, resources and assessment methods.

The Art curriculum alternates termly with Design and Technology and is divided into termly units.

• Term 1: Drawing
• Term 3: Painting
• Term 5: Sculpture

Key elements

Each unit will ensure the development of:

1. Knowledge and Skills: Pupils will be equipped with substantive and disciplinary knowledge across different disciplines and media.
2. Creative Expression: Pupils will be encouraged to express their ideas and emotions through art within each unit.
3. Cultural Awareness: Develop pupils' cultural awareness through the study of a diverse range of artists, art forms and traditions from different time periods and around the world.
4. Critical Thinking: Enhance pupils' ability to analyse and critique their own work and the work of others. 

 Enrichment.

• The children's learning is further enhanced with whole school 'Experience'
• events and weeks when Art is linked with other subjects to give the children      opportunities for collaborative working and exploring different styles                     
• and techniques of art.

Impact.

The creativity of all our pupils is evidenced and celebrated through communal displays class big books and published on our website.

By the end of Key Stage Two we expect our pupils to:

• Confidently use a range of knowledge, skills and techniques to produce high quality art work.
• Use technical vocabulary accurately
• Have a passion for being creative and using their imagination to express themselves.
• Have the confidence to articulate reflect, review and evaluate their work and that of others effectively.
• Have a desire to embrace expressive art as a way to reflect, comment on and visually respond to emotive issues and the world around them.

Assessment and Monitoring.

To ensure effective impact we carryout termly quality assurance and development activities.

• Teachers plan ongoing assessment of children's understanding, knowledge and skills throughout lessons. This is then used to inform the support and challenge required by the children.                 
• The impact of the art curriculum on Pupil learning is assessed using our progression of skills document and knowledge organisers for each year group.
• Moderation of big books, sketch books and learning environments ensures collegiate understanding of expected attainment and  outcomes across the school.                                                                     
• Art and Design is monitored by the subject leader to establish the quality and impact of teaching and outcomes across the school and to allow pupils to discuss their learning and understanding. This is done through: Learning walks, book monitoring, lesson observations ,pupil interviews and tracking progress data.