Art
| What we do |
| Art is taught at least weekly as a discrete subject. Additional sessions are built in when display work is generated for the school, often following a topic or literacy-based theme. Our art lessons are engaging, develop skills, make use of a wide range of media and allow children the opportunity to reflect upon both their own and others’ work, including that of historical and contemporary artists. |
| How we do it |
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Art is taught following the ‘AccessArt’ curriculum. This provides a broad, rich, contemporary and diverse approach to art. ‘The new AccessArt Curriculum helps build knowledge and understanding in pupils (and teachers) as to some of the ways art is relevant to all our lives. By combining technical skills with contextual and conceptual understanding our curriculum helps ensure every pupil feels entitled to embrace their own creativity as something which is important to them, and something which is valued by society. ‘ Individual lessons are planned to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND, to ensure the curriculum is fully accessible. |
| How we ensure progress (skills) |
| Detailed medium-term plans are provided by the AccessArt scheme and learning tasks are designed to enable progress to take place across Year 1 and Year 2. Year R use our ‘Art: Progression of skills’ document to ensure the development of skills/knowledge across year groups. These can be viewed here |
| What we want children to remember from each unit (knowledge) |
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| How we assess art |
| Detailed medium-term plans are provided by the ‘AccessArt’ scheme, and learning tasks are designed to enable progress to take place across Year 1 and Year 2. Year R use our ‘Art: Progression of skills’ document to ensure the development of skills/knowledge across year groups. |
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How we make art enjoyable We ensure that art lessons are enjoyable by using the rich variety of ideas and resources in AccessArt, ensuring a range of media are used in both 2D and 3D art. Outside spaces and the natural world are used as often as possible for inspiration. We hold an ‘Art Week’ event annually where children can immerse themselves in creative activities. Hall displays are changed regularly and provide a gallery for the whole school to access and enjoy. |
Design and Technology (DT)What we do |
| Design and Technology (DT) is taught in blocks three/four times a year in KS1 and are planned into the curriculum in EYFS. Projects are carefully chosen to ensure the EYFS learning goals and the National Curriculum objectives for KS1 are met. They aim to guide the children through the processes of designing, making and evaluating a project, whilst building on technical knowledge and subject – specific vocabulary. |
| How we do it |
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DT is taught as a discrete lesson, although links are made to other subjects (science/art) where appropriate, so that children can apply new and taught knowledge and understanding. Teaching builds on prior knowledge and skills, ensuring progression. (See How we ensure progress below) Children have an opportunity to be creative, practise problem-solving, and learn how to think logically. Our projects provide children with creative thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, that are vital for success in other areas of the curriculum. DT lessons often take the form of group projects, which also develop their collaborative working skills. Individual lessons are planned to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND, to ensure the curriculum is fully accessible. |
| How we ensure progress (skills) |
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Our ‘Design Technology: Progression of skills’ document ensures that lessons are carefully planned to show the development of skills/knowledge across year groups. Planning guides children from e.g. ‘Can I explain what my product is for, and how it will work?’ in Year 1 to ‘Can I explain the purpose of my product, how it will work and how it will be suitable for the user?’ in Year 2. Detailed medium-term plans include learning objectives which are closely matched to the skills progression statements, and learning tasks are designed to enable this progress to take place. Our Progression of skills documents can be read here |
| What we want children to remember from each unit (knowledge) |
We want the children to remember how to:
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| How we assess DT |
| Teachers assess children’s progress against the ‘Design Technology: progression of skills document’ after careful observation of their working practices and outputs. |
| How we make DT enjoyable |
| We ensure that children enjoy their lessons by providing a wide range of ‘design, make and evaluate’ tasks, encouraging them to use a variety of materials and tools as they develop their skills. Visitors with different skills are invited to talk to the children and demonstrate their crafts e.g. knitters, weavers, artists. A S.T.E.M. Centre is planned for the near future which will be a base for special equipment and projects linked with our science curriculum. |