ART
Through art lessons at Elm Wood our aim is to inspire pupils and develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art. In the Early Years, children are taught the knowledge and skills that they need to secure in order to meet the expressive arts and design early learning goal through our topic-based approach and bespoke planning. We have chosen to follow the excellent Kapow scheme for art for Years 1-6 which is written by experts in their field and designed to give pupils every opportunity to develop their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world, as well as learning about art and artists across cultures and through history. Our choice of scheme, which we have adapted for Elm Wood, ensures that all children progress through a clearly sequenced progression in learning to meet the National Curriculum expectations for art. For years 1-6 the National Curriculum requirements are met for art through teaching three discrete art units per year. The alternate half-termly with design technology.
Our art scheme of work is designed with five strands that run throughout. These are:
● Generating ideas
● Using sketchbooks
● Making skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)
● Knowledge of artists
● Evaluating and analysing
Units of lessons are sequential, allowing children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the National Curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning.
Units in each year group are organised into four core areas:
● Drawing
● Painting and mixed-media
● Sculpture and 3D
● Craft and design
Where appropriate, our curriculum mapping links with our chosen topics at Elm Wood. The curriculum supports children to learn how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich, are unique to the pupil and personal.
Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas. We further enrich our art curriculum by planning an annual gallery trip for each year group from Years 1 to 6, taking advantage of the excellent opportunities offered by our London location.
We also celebrate Global Arts Day at Elm Wood each year, where all classes spend the day completing art learning linked to an overarching theme and within a particular medium, for example print-making or sculpture.