Art
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."
Maya Angelou
At West Bretton we are artists!
We provide the children opportunities to develop their cultural capital, which forms the foundation of our art and design curriculum. Through an appreciation of culture, we want to inspire the children to realise their artistic potential and broaden their understanding beyond what they think is possible. When they leave West Bretton, the children will be prepared to continue their artistic development and be ready to effectively contribute to an increasingly creative workforce.
Our Intent
Our art and design curriculum promotes curiosity and empowers our children to be independent and resilient artists. We know that everyone is an artist and we work on developing their patience and skills to achieve this. Art is a place where children can learn to trust their ideas and explore what is possible. It enables children to become lost in their own imagination and gives them a whole range of new skills to experiment with and an opportunity to express their individual creativity.
By going beyond the National Curriculum’s statutory requirements, our children will have no limits to what their ambitions are. They will grow up inspired to be designers, illustrators, graphic designers, curators, sculptors and painters.
Our curriculum has been carefully crafted so that our children develop their artistic capital through carefully planned lessons that develop a range of specific key skills. These skills are practised, experimented with and built upon before the children create a final piece.
By exploring a range of artistic work, children will take inspiration from some of ‘The Great Artists’ and lesser known local artists to our school. West Bretton is situated in the same village as the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where inspiration is often gained. The children will also celebrate famous local artists through visits to the Barbara Hepworth gallery in Wakefield.
During their time at West Bretton, all pupils will achieve their Arts Award Discover and Explore as part of our West Bretton passport.
Through engaging, inspiring lessons, the children will develop key, technical and artistic vocabulary to describe their own work and others’. They will develop an understanding and appreciation of art around them and the history of art through time.
The children will cover a range of knowledge and skills required to develop their creative potential in this subject and these are set out in the progression documents below.
Our Implementation
The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art project are mapped over a 2-year cycle and throughout the school to ensure progression. Each art project is linked to their humanities or science topics in order that the children gain a greater insight into these areas and that it is more relevant to them. All children from year 1 upwards use sketchbooks to practise the different skills, develop their ideas and plan their final outcomes.
The children will gain inspiration from the work of other artists by analysing their individual styles. Specific skills are taught related to this and these are built upon as the children progress through school. The children practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and collage, 3D form and digital art.
As they progress, the children will be encouraged to think critically to develop a rigorous understanding of art and design. They will discuss and evaluate their work and reflect on it by themselves and with their peers. Artwork will then be displayed around school to celebrate the children’s achievements.
As part of our West Bretton passport, children will visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Hepworth Gallery. They will also undertake a hands-on workshop experience with an Artist or Designer.
Impact
A West Bretton artist will be able to have the confidence to create artwork beyond their expectations. They will be able to reflect on their own and others’ work in order to take ownership of their creative development. Through exhibitions and celebrations of their work, the children will continue to believe in themselves as artists and inspire their future success.
Our Art Curriculum is of a high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. West Bretton pupils love art and are proud of their achievements. The school environment celebrates these with creative displays.
Our Art Curriculum contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, and self-reflection.
KS1 Progression in Art and Design Skills
LKS2 Progression in Art and Design Skills
