"Art is not just a subject to learn, but an activity that you can practice with your hands, your eyes, your whole personality.” (Quentin Blake, Children’s Laureate)

Intent

At Manor Park Primary Academy, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. 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. 

We aim for Art and Design to stimulate creativity, imagination and inventiveness. It should provide visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a special way of understanding and responding to the world. It should enable children to communicate what they see, feel and think through the use of colour, texture, form, pattern and different materials and processes.

Implementation

At Manor Park, the teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and is planned using Cornerstones 22 Curriculum model. The art and design projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s skills and knowledge of visual elements, art forms, artists and art movements. Each project allows children to investigate art; be taught basic skills; practise those skills; then gives time for children to plan, create and evaluate their own work. The Cornerstones 22 Curriculum maintains strong links to the National Curriculum to ensure all aspects, knowledge,  skills and techniques in Art & Design are being taught across the academy and that foundation knowledge is built upon from the EYFS Framework. 

Creative work in EYFS is based on objectives from the current Foundation Years documentation which children experience daily. Creative work includes art, music, dance, role-play and imaginative play. Pupils will have the chance to explore their own creativity through a range of adult led and child-initiated experiences. We provide a rich, exciting and stimulating environment in which we encourage and value creativity. We give the children the opportunity to work collaboratively and alongside their peers as well as experiences with artists and other adults.

Throughout each project, children build on previous understanding through developing skills, generating ideas, formal elements, knowledge of artists and evaluating their work. Various media types are explored to give the widest possible range of experiences for all children. The materials and media used are revisited throughout projects and year groups to ensure progression of skills previously developed. 

All teachers are creative and practical in their approach to teaching, working in line with the school's teaching & learning strategy, with the ability to support children through explicit modelling and in retaining and recalling knowledge through various methods such as low stakes quizzing and use of knowledge organisers. We use assessment for learning within all lessons to ensure that teaching and learning is relevant, teases out and addresses misconceptions which help to plan for next steps.

At Manor Park, we have an electronic Art & Design knowledge and skills progression map available, outlining clear sequencing of knowledge, skills and vocabulary from EYFS to Year 6. Please contact the school directly for further information. 

Please click here to see an example of the progression across one aspect of Art & Design learning. 

As well as engaging in activities planned in coordination with Cornerstone's Art & Design Mini Projects, pupils may also participate in the following artistic opportunities:

• LEO Arts Week 

• Art workshops run by outside organisations

• KS1 and KS2 art and drawing clubs

• Virtual and physical trips to galleries such as The Tate Modern

• Exploration of art through innovative technology, such as developing photographic techniques and animation. 

KS1 Drawing Club

Impact

Through the high quality teaching of Art & Design taking place, we will see the impact of the subject in different ways.

Through pupil voice, children talk enthusiastically about the knowledge, skills and techniques they have acquired. Children are inquisitive and engaged in their learning using oracy techniques to explain and challenge concepts based on what they have learnt. They are proud of their work and celebrate their own and their peers' successes. 

Pupils at Manor Park leave school having developed a passion for art and creativity, working both independently and collaboratively. They grow in confidence in using a range of tools and techniques, becoming artists in their own right who can apply the skills and knowledge that they have developed throughout the years and respond critically to their own and other’s work.

Sketch books will show a range of sequenced Art & Design learning being covered. The school environment celebrates pupils' work through displays in classrooms and around the school. 

The Maestro assessment tool allows staff to regularly monitor the progress of pupils and provide evidence for robust monitoring of our curriculum. We further monitor progress regularly through learning walks, book looks and discussions with pupils. Monitoring shows that standards in Art & Design are very high. 

 Please find our Art & Design Curriculum Map below.