Art

At All Saints, we are dedicated to providing an enriching and inspiring art education. We believe that a strong foundation in art and design fosters creativity, confidence, and a lifelong appreciation for the visual arts. The ability to create art, and enjoy works of art, can greatly support personal wellbeing and an appreciation for the world we live in.

INTENT 

Art lessons aim to engage, inspire and challenge our pupils creatively, with visual, tactile and sensory experiences, offering a unique way of understanding and responding to the world. Our curriculum allows everyone to create, explore ideas and record experiences.

Artistic learning at All Saints aims to equip our pupils with knowledge and skills to experiment thoughtfully, be inventive and create artwork to be proud of. They will draw, paint, sculpt and learn other crafting techniques including print making, textiles and digital art. We want our pupils to take inspiration from a variety of artists, craft-makers, and designers throughout history, across varying cultures and within their community. We want to help our children understand processes of art and design, discover how Artists work, and to develop a ‘language of art’ so they can talk with confidence about the works of Art they discover.

IMPLEMENTATION 

We follow the ‘Kapow Primary Art & Design’ scheme, which is structured to provide a coherent and comprehensive art education. The scheme ensures a balanced coverage of key artistic skills and concepts, delivered through engaging and well-resourced lessons. Pupils develop knowledge and skills through: generating ideas and using sketchbooks, discovering and taking inspiration from a range of artists, craft-makers and designers. Developing use of colour, form, line, pattern, shape, texture and tone through the making of images and objects and critiquing their own work and that of others.

All children are given opportunity to participate in creative activity where they can experiment artistically in a ‘safe’ environment, where there is no ‘right way’ of achieving, enabling them to ‘build their learning powers’, enhance self-esteem and develop a ‘can do’ attitude toward making Art. 

Adaptations to offer support and/or challenge will be offered to ensure everyone can join in and achieve of their best. This could involve a child’s teacher providing alternate tools, additional modelling, and adjustment in working scale or pace, added challenge through extended vocabulary, critiques or the challenge of working to a brief. 

In the Early Years, the areas of learning entitled ‘creating with materials’ and ‘being imaginative and expressive,’ provide the foundations of our Art provision. Our Early Years Practitioners support learning through demonstration, vocabulary rich discussion and enabling environments with lots of creative materials to explore and play with.

Our Art curriculum for Key stage 1 and 2, guided by the Kapow scheme, covers the skills & knowledge set out in the National Curriculum. Our lessons offer the chance for children to develop their emotional expression through art to further enhance their personal, social and emotional development. Opportunities to explore excellence and celebrate success are built into the curriculum provision. For example, working toward a ‘Classroom Art Gallery’ which parents are invited to visit. Educational visits to museums, galleries and other places where art is on display, such as parks or shops, gives our pupils insight into how the skills learnt in art can be implemented in real life.

Art projects aim to work cohesively with each year group’s half termly themes, so that learning in art compliments learning in history, geography, science and literacy. This ensures projects feel meaningful and have context within the wider curriculum.

Art is taught for three half terms each year, alternating with D&T. Over a half-term, a sequence of lessons builds on pupils existing skills and knowledge, introduces them to new ideas and techniques, and allows time for them to explore, experiment, and practise in their sketchbooks. As they refine and master skills, pupils are encouraged to take inspiration from artists and craft-makers and to combine their own ideas to develop a personal style. As they work toward creating a final piece, pupils develop confidence and a feeling of achievement in their artistic abilities. Evaluating and reflecting on artwork at the end of a project develops a sense of appreciation for their own work and that of their peers and other artists.

Regular whole school art projects, which are displayed in the school hall, are planned by the Art Lead to help pupils apply skills learnt in their lessons and to create a sense of community through art, as pupils across the school contribute to a piece of artwork for a communal large-scale display.

IMPACT 

Our approach to Art at All Saints ensures our children find enjoyment in art through participation in a variety of meaningful cross-curricular art projects. 

As a result, pupils reach the end of year six equipped artistic skills they can use to create their own art in a range of forms (painted, drawn, sculpted or crafted). They acquire a working knowledge of skills and become proficient in choosing and applying these to express themselves for enjoyment, well-being or to fulfil a brief – ensuring they are ready for art in high school, and to draw on art activities as a resource to support their own well-being outside of school. Our pupils will have conversations about artwork and feel confident in using artistic vocabulary to discuss art for pleasure, educational or future work purposes. By sharing the work of great artists, craft-makers and designers, our curriculum conveys how art reflects and shapes our history and culture. Children’s own artwork on display around the school showcases our pupils’ developing artistic talents at all abilities, and demonstrates how art is a vital subject in its use to communicate ideas feelings and meanings visually; at school and in the wider world beyond. 

PARENTS 

Art is an enjoyable activity which is easy to do at home. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. Save some of your recycling and old magazines to use for model making and cutting pictures from. Create a ‘bits and pieces’ box containing bits of wrapping paper, ribbons, greetings cards, sweet wrappers, bottle tops – anything which could make fun and exciting art. Have some art materials available such as colouring pencils, paint brushes and a water-colour paint pallet. Keep these materials easily accessible in the home so that children can practice their artistic skills regularly - Art can also be a great distraction and mood booster! Be observant when out and about, encourage children to notice buildings, street art, advertisements and landscapes around them. Develop an ‘I can try…’ instead of an ‘I can’t draw’ attitude to creating artwork, and make time to enjoy creating some art with your child, either alongside them or in collaboration. Make a space at home to proudly display the family’s artwork. 

We are lucky to have many local artists in the Carshalton area, some of whom open their homes and studios for the CAOS (Carshalton Artists Open Studios) trail in the summer. This is a wonderful walking trail for families to enjoy, look out for trail maps in local libraries and shops. London is also considerably rich in galleries and museums to be visited, from the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Galleries or Dulwich picture gallery, along with many smaller temporary exhibitions held throughout the year. When you visit, have some fun whilst looking at the art, play ‘I Spy’ or tell your own stories about the pictures you see.