’Creativity takes courage’

Henry Matisse

‘Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design’….’they should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation’

National Curriculum 2016.

Intent of our Art Provision

 At Whitehouse Community Primary School, we aim to provide engaging, explorative and creative art and design learning experiences. Our inclusive, spiral approach develops a range of art and design skills and knowledge year on year whilst inspiring our children and providing opportunities for individual personalities to flourish. The wonder and beauty of art and design is celebrated through high quality, enthusiastic teaching where children are welcomed to develop a passion for creative arts. We believe that all young people should be entitled to a creative environment where there are opportunities and freedom to express opinions and preferences. To fulfil this, we aim to provide learning experiences where learners feel safe to explore ideas and develop their own identities in a relaxed environment. Our ‘open mind-set’ approach allows for all children to enjoy, excel and achieve in art and design. This approach reflects ‘The Whitehouse Way’ learning values of  courage, perseverance, responsibility and reflection which are embedded in all Art lessons. 

Implementation of our Art Provision

Through our carefully selected art and design curriculum, we provide opportunities for children to experience a breath of study inspired by the rich culture of art and design from around the world. We encourage our children to research, test ideas and create different styles and techniques of art. Within each Key Stage, our children are encouraged to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products. Children are challenged to improve their mastery of art and design techniques through exposure to different methods and approaches with careful modelling and support from their teachers to explore concepts across their artist journey at Whitehouse.

Where possible, art units are linked to our year group enquiry themes. Teachers plan for opportunities for our children to experience and explore historical cultures and practices of art for example; The Lascaux Cave paintings from our Palaeolithic ancestors, to the art of Ancient Greeks. Our engaging topics linked to our year group enquiry themes support the growth of skills and art language from KS1 up to KS2. Our rich curriculum allows for children to learn new skills and techniques which are taught and built upon year on year. Year group specific targets have been developed to ensure the curriculum coverage and progression from reception to year 6 in clear. These targets help teachers focus their lessons and prioritise one key concepts or skill per lesson in order to reduce cognitive load. These targets are also used to create scaffolded three-step learning objectives and gold challenges for each lesson to ensure every pupil can achieve the objective at their own level.

All children use sketch books/portfolios to record their art work and the designing process.  The use of sketchbooks enables children to look at their own personal progress and draw upon skills previously learnt or identify their next steps. We teach our children to use their portfolios to develop ideas and techniques before demonstrating their progressive skills in their final unit pieces. Opportunities to evaluate and analyse creative works using subject specific vocabulary is embedded within our planning and children are encouraged to question artistic techniques and show an expression of preference towards a range of artists. Subject specific vocabulary is mapped for each year group to ensure it is introduced, revisited and embedded year on year. The school has a variety of art resources and equipment which are used to enrich our children’s learning. Teachers also create enthusiasm at home through inspiring homework tasks. Children’s work is showcased on classroom displays or through parent exhibitions. Where possible, enrichment opportunities such as trips or visits are also planned to allow children opportunities to experience local art or meet artists first hand.

Impact of our Art Provision

Through our high quality and creative approach to teaching Art, our children have the freedom to apply new influences and techniques with individuality and produce a personal portfolio which expresses their own creativity and evidences the broad range of skills they have developed.

• Children produce a wide range of high quality artwork which is displayed around the school, raising the profile of art and giving children purpose and praise for their work.
• The knowledge and skills learnt will prepare our children for the challenges of secondary school and give them the confidence and ambition to pursue art outside of school through further education or a career in art.
• Children’ exposure to a wide range of art from difficult cultures and traditions improves their understanding and acceptance of others and inspires them to express their own ideas creatively.
• A high number of children attend a creative club in their free time and choose to complete extra optional art homework tasks. Our art clubs are always fully subscribed and repeatedly run.
• Children’ make huge progress year on year, show cased within their on-going portfolios.
• Cross-curricular links in lessons allow all children to build a wide range of knowledge and skills.
• Less formal, creative learning opportunities increase confidence and reduce anxiety.
• Pupil are highly motivated to take part in art lessons which has a positive impact on their acquisition and development of skills.
• Art and design is enjoyed by all members of our Whitehouse Community, and teachers use their own creative identities and interests to inspire each other, as well as their children.

Progress and attainment is tracked using termly assessments of year group art targets, recorded on classroom monitor and analysed through regular pupil progress meetings.

“Every child is an artist” - Pablo Picasso