Beeches Junior School

Art and Design

Intent:

At Beeches Junior School, we value Art, Craft and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Art and Design provides all children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.

A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils and at Beeches, we are equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art 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.

The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:

- Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences

- Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques

- Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design

- Are introduced to a diverse range of great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Implementation:

The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum at Beeches Junior School is based on the National Curriculum aims. Our pupils are taught Art weekly (alternating each half term with Design and Technology) through a carefully planned combination of Art learning journeys and shorter art projects. Our Art learning journeys are planned around our anti-racism and equal opportunities ethos at Beeches and focus on skills based on the National Curriculum aims and our own Beeches Junior School Art skills progression document to ensure a well-structured approach to this creative subject which is accessible to all of our pupils with a range of SEND.

Across KS2, a diverse range of famous local, national and international artists, designers and architects are explored as part of our learning journeys; giving the children opportunities to investigate the many eras and movements of art. The children are immersed into a range of art strands across their time at Beeches School including: painting, sketching, sculpture, digital art, printing, photography, mosaics and textiles. Inspired by our focus artists, the children are then supported in developing their skills, knowledge and vocabulary on their journey to planning and creating a final project piece each term.

The children’s learning is further enhanced with interspersed, shorter art projects with a topic or whole school celebration focus to support a cross-curricular approach.

Impact:

Ongoing teacher assessments and monitoring take place throughout the year at the end of each termly topic. Teachers use this information to inform future lessons; ensuring all children are supported and challenged appropriately. This data is analysed to inform and address any trends or gaps in attainment. Age related expectation levels, along with effort grades, are reported to parents at the end of the academic year as part of the end of year report.

Pupil voice forms an important part of our Art and Design curriculum a Beeches Junior School in order to assess understanding and enjoyment of the Art learning journeys. Acting on pupil voice surveys, we continue to increase the variety of extra-curricular opportunities available to our children including clubs, competitions and future opportunities to increase cultural capital through visits to museums and galleries.

Our pupils leave us at the end of KS2 with a rich knowledge of the paradigms of art, a broad range of artistic skills and with an enthusiasm for Art and Design in its many forms.

Year 3 have been studying photography this term. They have been researching the history of cameras and photography, learning about composition and even trying out some camera and filter effects too.

Year 5 have been studying animation in art this term. They begun by researching the history of animation and exploring the work of some famous animators, looking at their unique styles. Year 5 dived into the animation techniques of stop-motion and clay-mation, designed their own characters and had a go at creating short stop-motion films.

Along with our skills driven art learning journeys, here at Beeches we also get to create some art inspired by our broader curriculum topics , whole school celebrations and at our creative clubs.

Year 4 have been studying relief printing inspired by Hokusai this term. They have been learning about different types of printing, planned their own designs, and then created their own stamps using a variety of techniques.

Year 6 have been studying Graffiti art this term, inspired by artists like Banksy. They have created their own designs, made their own stencil and then used spray paint to create a finished masterpiece.

At Beeches, we are very proud of our wonderful displays around the school. They are a great way to celebrate the broader curriculum and also to show off our inspirational homework.