Implementation

Our Art curriculum has been designed to cover all of the skills set out in the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum states that ‘pupils should be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.’ Our Art curriculum has been structured mainly in a cross-curricular way to effectively facilitate this and to provide maximum inspiration to our artists and designers. Art projects may be linked to a class topic to enhance the pupils’ understanding of the key historical or geographical concepts covered. Where appropriate, Art projects may also be linked to a community or cultural issue to engage our artists in the world around them and to help them understand the role that they play as an individual.

At High Wycombe CE Combined School, each of our artists/designers has their own sketchbook, in which they can record ideas, practise new techniques and to further refine their skills. These sketchbooks give our artists the opportunity to study an existing piece of art, create a constructive and reflective critique of this work and to use these ideas to develop their own piece of related art work, enabling pupils to show perseverance and dedication to complete any project to the best of their ability.  Artists from different eras are studied throughout the school to give our artists a balanced knowledge and understanding of Art concepts and skills. School visitors and trips are facilitated where appropriate to enhance the pupils’ understanding and skills further.

We support and ensure access for all children through the use of small group/1:1 adult support given where required; by ensuring that a range of equipment and resources are available to ensure success for all pupils (e.g. different sized paintbrushes or paper, additional templates etc). We use teacher and self-assessment to quickly identify any child who requires additional support in specific skills.

We challenge by ensuring differentiation is used from the very start of the lesson and we use small group work to further challenge.

We teach a skills-based art curriculum, which allows children to express their creative imagination as well as providing them with opportunities to practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and sculpture. This is supported through the studying of key artists and the development of a knowledge of their work.
Lessons are taught in blocks on a half termly basis in alternate half terms and may often involve studying existing pieces of art, sketching aspects of these, with a particular focus on the necessary skills, before completing a final piece. The children will then be given constructive feedback and next steps, with further opportunities to create the art piece, to improve their work and ensure that the skills are being developed. The evidence of their work is collected within the art sketch book which follows the children through the school. Photographs of larger, group or 3D pieces are also kept within this book.