Art and Design
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton
Intent
At St Botolph’s we recognise that Art is a vital part of children’s education and has a significant and valuable role in the taught curriculum, as well as the enrichment opportunities we offer our pupils. Our Art curriculum develops creativity, sets challenges, engages and inspires children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. It allows children to experiment with their ideas, their use of colour, texture, form, pattern and different materials and processes.
Implementation
The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art topic are mapped across each year group and throughout the school to ensure progression. We want the children understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are learning about and being inspired by. A focus on skills and experience means that children are given opportunities to express their creative imagination, as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and sculpture.
The school’s art curriculum is supported through the availability of a wide range of resources, which are used to support children’s confidence in the use of different media. We value and promote the use of first-hand experience, experimentation and development of ideas and skills based on a wide range of stimuli.
Impact
Displays around the school reflect the children’s sense of pride in their artwork and this is also demonstrated by creative outcomes across the wider curriculum. The school environment also celebrates children’s achievements in art and demonstrates the subject’s high status in the school. The Art curriculum contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection.