Intent
Art and Design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world.
The Robertswood Art curriculum allows children to use colour, form, texture, pattern and different materials and processes to communicate what they see, feel and think.
Our skills-based curriculum, allows children to make aesthetic and practical decisions, becoming actively involved in shaping environments. They explore ideas and meanings in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers. They learn about the diverse roles and functions of art, craft and design in contemporary life, and in different times and cultures.
At Robertswood, our Art curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:
o produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences.
o become proficient in the following 6 artistic skills areas: drawing, painting, 3d work, textiles, printmaking and collage.
o evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.
o know about great artists, craft makers and designers and understand the historical and cultural development of their artforms.
Implementation
We use the Suffolk scheme of Art and Design as the basis for our curriculum planning in Art. The curriculum plan comprises of 6 half-termly units of work for each group from Year 1 to Year 6. The units are based on the areas of experience of drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, textiles and 3-D.
Children have sketchbooks, 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 artwork, 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.
In Art lessons, teachers open up new skills, foster confidence, encourage discussion, reflection and review and promote fundamental qualities of imagination and self-expression which enrich learning and life across the board. Through Art education, we aim to enable the growth and development of imaginative and emotionally literate young people.
Impact
Art experience is deeply embedded in the realm of life skills for all children, not only the gifted or less able. Joyful response, the ability and confidence to relate and bring practical and theoretical skills to bear on a variety of problems, to access the potential of ideas, tools and materials, will have consequences far beyond the discipline itself. Confidence in the value of intuitive as well as logical modes of thinking, supported by practical experience in developing and refining ideas, will spill over into many parts of children’s lives and stand them in good stead as adults.’ -Art & Design in Suffolk-
At Robertswood our children are stimulated and excited to express themselves across a range of art activities. They bring to their artwork the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to express themselves creatively. They are confident to explore and take risks, having fun trying out new and innovative ideas and can develop their ideas. During our annual Art Week, there is a buzz of excitement in school as many Year groups cover their larger scale or collaborative projects.
Sketchbooks are used to document the creative process and children talk about their work with clarity. The opportunity for children to refine and develop their techniques over time is supported by effective lesson sequencing and progression between year groups. This also supports children in achieving age-related expectations at the end of their cohort year. Art checklists enable teachers to keep track of pupil progress throughout each year, by way of year group Art endpoints and these move up with the child for their subsequent teacher.
Art on display within school reflects the children’s sense of pride in their artwork and this is also demonstrated by creative outcomes across the wider curriculum. We also have regular opportunities for children to take part in Art competitions.
When children move to their secondary Art education, their experience of all of these skills at primary level aims to give them a solid foundation on which they can continue to build their creative skillset.
Congratulations to Lola (Year 5), Millie and Mathilde (Year 6) whose paintings were selected for the finals of this year’s Year 5 and 6 painting competition, hosted by The Arts Society Chiltern. Over 400 children from 4 local schools entered the competition, to produce an A3 painting with the theme ‘Celebration’.
The final awards were announced at Chalfont St. Peter Library on Saturday 18th March, where it was revealed that Lola won FIRST place overall, Millie SECOND place overall and Mathilde won ‘Best in School’. This is a fantastic result for these budding, young Robertswood artists whose prize-winning work was colourful, vibrant and really reflected the competition’s theme of ‘Celebration’.
We are really proud of all the children that took part and their effort and commitment to producing their best work for the competition. Ms Mulligan (The Arts Society Chiltern) commented that the judges were particularly impressed with the high standard of work from Robertswood, with many children demonstrating creativity in their use of colour, tone and texture. The Arts Society awarded further certificates for ‘Highly Commended’, ‘Commended’ and ‘Innovative’ work. All children who took part will receive a commemorative badge.
Art 2022 - 2023 (pdf)
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