Art and Design

Children develop their art skills from Reception through to Year 6. Our art curriculum focuses on the key skills and knowledge within each year group to ensure children have a range of opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills. We place an emphasis on vocabulary and have implemented a progression in art vocabulary to ensure the children get the opportunity to master the art curriculum in its entirety.

Our Art curriculum is rooted in our Christian ethos — Shine your light — and our core values of Respect, Honesty, Forgiveness, Love, Kindness, Determination and Responsibility, our Art & Design curriculum nurtures curiosity, skill and self-expression in a small village primary context.

We have looked carefully at different artists and matched them to the key art skills. We selected these artists because their work is a strong example of a particular skill. Where possible, art is linked to other curriculum areas however these links are never made at the expense of developing the key art skills and knowledge.

Key Aims

• To teach a carefully sequenced Art & Design curriculum that builds technical skills, visual vocabulary and creative thinking progressively across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
• To ensure all children, including those with SEND and those eligible for pupil premium, access high‑quality art experiences that enable them to know more and remember more of the intended curriculum.
• To develop children’s ability to observe, explore and respond to the world with imagination and respect for diversity of cultures, artists and perspectives.
• To embed oracy and reflective practice within art lessons so children can discuss ideas, critique constructively and articulate their creative choices.
• To promote resilience and responsibility through designing, making and improving work, valuing effort, practice and honest reflection.

Content and Skills

• Knowledge: children will learn art vocabulary, fundamental concepts (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour, form), the history and contexts of artists and traditions (local, national and global), and processes for planning, evaluating and refining work.
• Technical skills: drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, sculpture and basic digital media skills taught explicitly and progressively. Systematic modelling and demonstration will secure foundational techniques before complex applications.
• Creative skills: idea generation, experimenting with materials and media, developing original responses, visual problem‑solving and the ability to transfer learned techniques to new contexts.
• Oracy and reflection: planned opportunities for talk — describing, comparing, critiquing and presenting — so children rehearse subject language and reasoning.

Progression

• Sequence and spiral curriculum: skills and concepts are revisited and deepened each year through a spiral design so that early foundations in EYFS and KS1 (observation, mark‑making, simple colour mixing, constructing) are consolidated and extended in KS2 into more complex techniques, scale, composition and conceptual projects. Each unit identifies essential knowledge, common misconceptions and retrieval opportunities to embed long‑term memory.
• Scaffolding and challenge: lessons use modelling, guided practice and deliberate spaced retrieval to build fluency; differentiated scaffolds ensure access for learners with SEND while progressive challenges extend more confident artists.
• Assessment for learning: teachers use clear success criteria, focused formative assessment and recorded evidence in sketchbooks to identify gaps and next steps.

Wider Impact

• Character and personal development: Art & Design develops patience, resilience, responsibility and collaboration. It models the school values — encouraging kindness in critique, honesty in evaluation, determination in practice and respect for others’ work.
• Cultural understanding and British values: through deliberate study of diverse artists and traditions, children will develop respectful understanding of difference and equality, addressing prior inspection points and preparing them to live and work in modern Britain.
• Wellbeing and community: creative opportunities, including outdoor art in line with EYFS outdoor provision priorities, support mental wellbeing and a sense of belonging.
• Preparation for next steps: by the end of KS2 children will have a secure portfolio of practical skills, knowledge of artistic processes and the confidence to make informed creative choices in secondary education and beyond; they will be able to communicate ideas clearly, adapt techniques across contexts and continue to “shine their light” through art.