Art and Design Curriculum Rationale

At Hadrian Primary school we value Art and Design as an important part of the curriculum. Art and Design provides the children with opportunities to develop and extend skills and also gives them the opportunity to express their individual interests and ideas. We therefore believe Art and Design should be taught as an individual subject as well as incorporated into other curriculum lessons and have submersed ourselves into a rich arts-based curriculum for several years.

‘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 pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. 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.’ Department of Education 2013. 

The impact of Art and Design at Hadrian has been two-fold; in supporting the development of both those talented in the arts and those who use art to broaden their understanding of other areas of the curriculum as well as a platform to improve their wellbeing. The process of engagement in the arts has resulted in increased confidence and improved self-esteem for the majority of our children.  

At Hadrian we are artists! We want our children to love art and design. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be illustrators, graphic designers, curators or printmakers! We want them to embody our core values. The art and design curriculum has been carefully crafted so that our children develop their artistic capital. We want our children to remember their art and design lessons in our school, to cherish these memories and embrace the opportunities they are presented with! We are in the process of putting together an Arts Council who will meet half termly to discuss ways to keep consistently evolving our rich curriculum. To enhance art further, we have adopted two local artists. 

Curriculum Intent

The art and design curriculum promotes curiosity and a love and thirst for learning. It is ambitious and empowers our children to become independent and resilient – like all curriculum areas. 

We want to equip them with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the art and design National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. For example, working alongside local artists, embracing cultural capital, seeing the value of mindful art and art within our local community has helped to inspire our children. We recently worked alongside a local regeneration programme to design a new beacon for our local area, using not only art but our love of vocabulary to foster words that represent our community both past and present. 

https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/71296/New-Park-Beacon-Celebrates-Rich-Maritime-Past

We are committed to putting art and design on the map here at Hadrian Primary School.

We want our children to use the vibrancy of our great town to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, co-operate with one another and appreciate what they have. We achieve this by providing a strong SMSC curriculum, with British Values and our core values placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the art and design curriculum. For example, during Black History month, we embrace the culture and values that underpin our local town. We explore this through a range of arts activities as well as PSHE lessons. 

We enrich their time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities which are normally out of reach – this piques their interests and passions. For example, in Summer 2021, we organised a whole school workshop event with the National Gallery in London. Due to the pandemic and the inability to visit anywhere we brought art live into our classrooms. Our children from EYFS to Y6 participated in live workshops with highly experienced staff working on a range of concepts from clay modelling, mini masterpieces to story telling using art as well as a live tour of the National Gallery. We firmly believe that it is not just about what happens in the classroom with the teacher, but what we can bring into the classroom, it is about the added value we offer to really inspire our children.

Curriculum Implementation

As part of our ongoing Artsmark Journey and commitment to the Paul Hamlin Foundation a regular annual audit of the art and design curriculum is conducted. On the back of the findings from these audits, the art and design curriculum is carefully  shaped, extended and built upon so that the learning opportunities and assessment milestones for each year group can be crafted to ensure progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills.

Staff also receive specialist training to help support their understanding and develop their skills. We are currently part of the EQuIPP Research Project and the Paul Hamlyn Teacher Development Fund; improving Oracy through exposure to the Arts and up skilling staff to build confidence in teaching the arts across the curriculum.

The way art and design is taught at our school has been revamped and now follows a structure which lends itself to teacher autonomy, progression of skills and building upon previous knowledge. Retrieval Practice also plays a role in every art lesson. Initially, pupils take inspiration from artists throughout history to help generate ideas for their work. They explore and practice the practical skills and techniques involved in the topic and use their sketch books to record their observations and to review and revisit ideas before producing a final piece. This sequence is taken for every art and design topic. The way each discipline is taught in our school has also been adapted so that the disciplines are revisited in each phase, at a progressively deeper level. For example, drawing, painting, sculpture and digital media are taught in Year 1 then repeated in Year 3 and Year 5. Whilst collage, print and textiles are taught in Year 2 and then again in Year 4 and Year 6. We are mindful that not all elements can be taught confidently by all staff. We have therefore created a bespoke 'Experience Art' Curriculum which sees children exploring through experiential art with a professional. Whether that be live in the classroom, via Zoom or through a class visit. To further support this, activities are planned and delivered by an external Artist in Key Stage  2 with an underlying link to mental health and well being. We like to call it 'Mindful Art' at Hadrian. 

Art and design subject specific characteristics, which we expect the children to demonstrate, have been developed and shared with all stakeholders. These characteristics underpin all work in art and design and form a focal point for display areas and provide a common subject specific vocabulary for staff and pupils. These characteristics are:

• The ability to use visual language skilfully and convincingly (for example, line, shape, pattern, colour, texture, form) to express emotions, interpret observations, convey insights and accentuate their individuality.
• The ability to communicate fluently in visual and tactile form.
• The ability to draw confidently and adventurously from observation, memory and imagination.
• The ability to explore and invent marks, develop and deconstruct ideas and communicate perceptively and powerfully through purposeful drawing in 2D, 3D or digital media. An impressive knowledge and understanding of other artists, craft makers and designers.
• The ability to think and act like creative practitioners by using their knowledge and understanding to inform, inspire and interpret ideas, observations and feelings. Independence, initiative and originality which they can use to develop their creativity.
• The ability to select and use materials, processes and techniques skilfully and inventively to realise intentions and capitalise on the unexpected. The ability to reflect on, analyse and critically evaluate their own work and that of others.
• A passion for and a commitment to the subject.

We empower our staff to organise their own year group curriculums under the guidance of our subject leaders. Teachers are best placed to make these judgements. Staff develop year group specific long-term curriculum maps which identify when the different subjects and topics will be taught across the academic year. The vast majority of subjects are taught discretely but staff make meaningful links across subjects. They link prior knowledge to new learning to deepen children’s learning. 

We encourage staff to teach a fortnightly art and design lesson. This was a notable change after the art and design audit. This helps to ensure sufficient time is allocated to art and design and that the subject matter can be revisited frequently. We believe that by crafting our curriculum this way, we improve the potential for our children to retain what they have been taught, to alter their long-term memory and thus improve the rates of progress they make. 

Curriculum Impact

We use both formative and summative assessment information in every art and design lesson. Staff use this information to inform their short-term planning and short-term interventions. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able. The assessment milestones for each phase have been carefully mapped out and further broken down for each year group. This means that skills in art and design are progressive and build year on year. 

Our staff use art and design formative assessment grids to systematically assess what the children know as the topic progresses and inform their future planning. These formative assessment grids then inform summative assessment judgements for each topic.

Assessment information is collected frequently and analysed as part of our monitoring cycle. This process provides an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in art and design. A comprehensive monitoring cycle is developed at the beginning of each academic year. This identifies when monitoring is undertaken. Monitoring in art and design includes: sketch book scrutinies, lesson observations and/or learning walks, pupil/parent and/or staff voice.

All of this information is gathered and reviewed. It is used to inform further curriculum developments and provision is adapted accordingly. 

At Hadrian Primary School, we are ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS!

Useful Links

BBC Bitesize- 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z8tnvcw

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/bp-arts-and-crafts

The National Gallery 
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

Art for Kids Hub- 

https://www.artforkidshub.com/

Tyne and Wear Museum Archives 

https://www.twmuseums.org.uk/

A selection of Art Texts 

Examples of additional texts we may use to enhance our Art and Design curriculum:

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert (Foundation Stage)
Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt (Year 1/2)
Tell Me a Picture: Adventures in looking at art by Quentin Blake (Year 3/4)
Vincent’s Starry Night and Other Stories: A Children’s History of Art by Michael Bird (Year 5/6)