Art & Design

To promote resilience, develop communication and ensure all pupils have access to all learning possibilities both in and out of the classroom.

Intent

At Eaton Primary School our curriculum intent is for pupils to learn more, do more and know more.

The art curriculum is deliberately built around the principles of evidence-led practice. This is to ensure that pupils are equipped to successfully think, work and communicate like an artist. Unapologetically ambitious, our art curriculum focuses on excellence in this subject through a myriad of media and incredible artists. Our intention is unmissable; exceptional teacher instruction inspires pupils to acquire knowledge, as an artist, and enable them to skillfully attempt and apply their understanding.

The Art curriculum is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D and collage. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils can revisit key disciplines throughout their Primary journey at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity.

In addition to the core knowledge required to be successful within each discipline, the curriculum outlines key aspects of artistic development in the Working Artistically section. Each module will focus on developing different aspects of these competencies. This will support teachers in understanding pupils’ development as artists more broadly, as well as how successfully they are acquiring the taught knowledge and skills.

Central to the learning modules are activities designed to develop pupils’ oracy and vocabulary skills to enable them to use artistic language meaningfully when talking about their work and the work of others.

What do we teach?

Reception

• Mark making and drawing with increasing detail. This will be based on observational drawings of the natural world and self-portraits.
• Painting and printmaking inspired by patterns seen in the artwork of Bridget Riley
• Collage inspired by artwork seen in our focus (core) texts
• Colour-mixing
• 3D modelling

Year 1

• Drawings based on seasonal changes and weather,
• Paintings inspired by Mondrian
• Printmaking
• Textile portraits
• Inukshuk sculptures
• Paul Klee inspired collage
• Creative response to the whole school project.

Year 2

• Mark-making
• Wassily Kandinsky inspired paintings
•  Repeated patterns in printmaking
• Abstract collages
• 3-dimensional sculptures inspired by Aboriginal Art
• Creative response to the whole school project.

Year 3

• Stone Age drawings
• Paintings and mark making
• Textured prints and mono-prints
• Storytelling through textiles
• Louise Bourgeois and 3D insects
• Creative response to the whole-school project

Year 4

• Drawings inspired by Giorgio Morandi and Anglo-Saxon artefacts
• Georgia O’Keeffe paintings
•  Gilbert Ahiagble weaving and dyeing techniques
• Alberto Giacometti inspired wire sculptures
• Painting techniques revisited looking at Helen Frankenthaler’s work
• Creative responses to the whole school project.

Year 5

• Subtractive drawing and enlarging images
• Reduction and stencil print-making linked to the work of Andy Warhol
• Lesley Richmond inspired nature collages
• Barbara Hepworth sculptures
• Watercolour techniques
• Creative response to the whole school project.

Year 6

• Portraits inspired by Frida Kahlo
• Still Life paintings
• One-point perspective
•  Dale Chihuly inspired 3D structures
• Terry Gilecki inspired water paintings
• Creative response to the whole school project.

How do pupils learn?

Students develop their ideas and skills in sketchbooks, using a variety of different materials and techniques every year. Each unit is supported by knowledge organisers which provide key artistic language and vocabulary students need to describe artworks and the process of art-making – informing both their own artistic practice and their critical thinking around key artists and artistic movements.

How does the curriculum progress?

Each year children develop their skills and knowledge in drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D art and collage  by revisiting prior techniques as well as increasing their exposure to new artists and ways of working. While this core content is revisited in all year groups, as children develop artistically, skills which are taught separately in Year 1 may be combined to allow children to explore mixed media ways of working in later years.

For example, Year 1 pupils learn weaving skills and Year 3 pupils explore line and shape to make paper collages. This prior experience allows our Year 5 pupils to make informed artistic choices to create wall hangings with layered collage and weaving techniques.  Key technical and tier 2 vocabulary is also mapped onto each unit, allowing children to build a rich bank of artistic language.

Links to learning

Artistic opportunities, when appropriate, are linked to curriculum learning and books students are reading in class. For example, observational contour drawing in Year 4 may be of Anglo-Saxon artefacts. Similarly, children are encouraged to read widely about the artists they are studying and have access to wider topic reading. Where suitable, children will also have opportunities to visit galleries or work alongside practicing artists.