Horsforth Featherbank Primary School

'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.'    

The National curriculum

Intent

At Featherbank Primary school we aim to deliver an Art and Design curriculum that provides children with the opportunity to develop their skills and creativity using a wide range of media. We strive to achieve arts excellence for all children by creative a learning environment that recognises the importance of the arts. We enrich the curriculum by inviting artists and engaging with community lead events such as the Horsforth Walk of Art festival.

Implementation

Teachers across the school use long term plans that supports our curriculum. A variety of teaching and learning styles are used which allow children to demonstrate their knowledge in a creative manner. This is done by:

Early Years Foundations Stage 

Teachers of the Foundation Stage base their teaching on the objectives determined in the Foundation Stage Framework for Early Years. This ensures that they are working towards the ‘Early Learning Goals for Creative Development under the umbrella of ‘Expressive Arts and Design’. The goals involve independent and guided exploration of, and engagement with a widening range of media and materials; finding out about and working with colour, texture, shape, space and form in two and three dimensions and being imaginative. In EYFS, the children will explore the elements of art that underpin ‘art’. The children will begin the year by concentrating on line, shape and form in order to be able to start representing their thoughts through drawing and making. They will be taught key skills when drawing self-portraits, exploring nature art and making Diva Lamps. In Spring the children will focus on colour and value through colour wheel activities, nature painting, nature inspired Easter egg painting and by exploring art from Australia’s First Nation artists. In Summer the children will concentrate on texture and space by exploring printing, process art and through making textured Featherbank hands. They will explore art through monoprinting and study artists they meet through the Walk of Art.

Key Stage One 

In Year 1 children are introduced to key design skills alongside the development of their technical knowledge within Art and Design, through the process of developing ideas, making and evaluating. The children will develop their drawing skills throughout the year in their sketchbooks and larger exhibition pieces. They will begin to explore line through the stories told in Warli Art originating from India. They will explore sculpture through the transformation of 2d shapes in to 3d sculptures and will look at artist Henry Moore. In Spring the children will continue to develop their drawing by focusing on faces and self-portraits. They will study print-making inspired by local artists Joash Woodrow. In Summer the children will develop their observational drawing skills by looking at their local environment and nature. They will be using Marianne North as inspiration as they focus on Painting and collage to explore colour to produce painting of coastal flora. In Year 2 the children continue to develop their drawing skills through close observational drawings of cityscapes, landscapes and figurative and still-life sketching. In Autumn they will focus on 3d sculpture by using digital media to create records of models and building designs. In Spring the children will focus on print-making and collage when representing different landscapes. In Summer the children will be focused on painting and will be using the theme of carnival to inspire colour mixing. 

Key Stage Two 

In Year 3 the children will develop their knowledge and skill within drawing by developing quick drawing skills, designing typography, making larger scale drawings from observation and imagination as well as developing their ability to use gesture in drawing. In Autumn they will develop skill in painting and collage through painting on new surfaces using colour for decoration. In Spring the children will use digital media as they transform drawings of animals and people into drawings that move. In Summer the children will explore sculpture by combing materials to create sculptures. In Year 4, the children’s drawing skills will be developed through drawing exercises, by using drawing as a creative response to stimuli and by starting to layer media, mixing their drawing media. The children will learn about sculpture by working with modelling materials to crate quick 3d figurative sketches and by constructing with a variety of materials and bringing media together both technically and visually. The children will use their design skills by collaborating on a fashion design project inspired by Jacopo del Sallaio’s Cupid and Psyche.  In Year 5 the children continue to develop their drawing skills through the use of their sketchbooks to respond to what they have learned about the Anglo-Saxons, explore Islamic art through geometric patterns, vegetal patterns and calligraphy. They will annotate their design projects by close observational drawings of pulleys, gears, mechanical systems and structures. The children will learn more about designing and making by painting on new surfaces such as stone, fabric and walls. They will explore architecture and making by exploring architecture of another culture and time when looking at Early Islamic civilisation begin developing their skills in textiles through combining different fabrics. They will design, make and evaluate a pair of shoes inspired by the Anglo-Saxons. In Food Technology, the children will focus on celebrating culture and seasonality when they design, make and evaluate a pre-fast breakfast and celebratory food of Eid. The children will then further develop their skills within mechanisms and structures by exploring mechanical systems such as pulleys and gears and how to create frame structures inspired by Victorian inventions. In Year 6 the children develop their drawing skills by looking at stencil graffiti and shadow puppets, still –life portraiture and through sequential, narrative based drawing. The children will learn about puppetry by using shadow puppets to create a collaborative performance. They will explore designing and making by creating a container created using slab tiles. 

Impact

By the time children at Featherbank leave our school they should have developed:

• Proficient skills in drawing, painting, sculpture and other design techniques.
• Knowledge about a diverse range of great artists and designers throughout History.
• Should have developed understanding of the process of creating a piece of art from sketch book exploration creating final pieces.