Overall curriculum
It’s our aim that by the time every child leaves Windmill Hill Academy they can feel as if they have found an area of the visual arts that is relevant and engaging to them – that might be through drawing, or making, or designing, or talking about art.
To achieve this, it’s important that we create as many different kinds of opportunities as possible so that each child can find the thing which strikes a chord with them. That means covering lots of different disciplines, techniques, materials and approaches.
Our art curriculum provides a balanced yet rich offering, with progression of knowledge and skills woven throughout.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers.
Pedagogy
We’ve thought carefully about the purpose of art. Not just in relation to the purpose of teaching art in school, but the relevance of art in all our lives. And this is important because, at the moment, although artists help shape and define our lives in so many ways, we seem to have lost touch as a society as to the purpose art serves, and there is a danger that art is seen as disposable, or a nice added extra.
The AccessArt Curriculum which we have implemented helps build knowledge and understanding in pupils (and teachers) as to some of the ways art is relevant to all our lives. By combining technical skills with contextual and conceptual understanding our curriculum, helps ensure every pupil feels entitled to embrace their own creativity as something which is important to them, and something which is valued by society.
We are using the AccessArt ‘Split’ Primary Art Curriculum which has been devised for schools who currently teach art half the time each term with the other spilt for DT. Each unit has a pathway and the focus of the pathway will either be: drawing and sketchbooks, surface and colour or working in three dimensions.
The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum is knowledge-rich, and pupils will learn a wide range of skills, developing understanding and showing clear progression. But crucially, the knowledge and understanding pupils will build will go far beyond the technical, factual knowledge many current curriculums focus upon.
Our curriculum balances declarative knowledge with experiential knowledge, building self-knowledge and nurturing traits in learners which will hold them in good stead whichever direction their learning takes them.
The AccessArt Curriculum is about opening up what art is, giving pupils have lots of different kinds of opportunities and experiences (media, techniques, approaches, artists), all underpinned by creative use of drawing and sketchbooks.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers.
In EYFS, all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. These are stipulated in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’. The most relevant statements for computing are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Assessment
Assessment is regarded as an integral part of teaching and learning and is a continuous process. There are planned opportunities within the curriculum plan to revisit learning from the current year but also previous year groups.
It is the responsibility of the class teacher to assess all pupils in their class. This is mainly achieved through mini-plenaries, questioning, observation, end of unit tasks, marking, feedback from support staff and pupil self-assessment.
Teachers use the result of sessions tasks as well as end of unit tasks to monitor attainment and progress, as well as analysing for gaps to plan follow up learning.
End of year assessment is reported on Itrack and features on the annual report to parents.
The monitoring of the standards of children’s learning and the quality of learning and teaching of computing is the shared responsibility of the Senior Leadership Team and the subject leader. The work of the subject leader also involves supporting colleagues in the teaching of art, being informed about current developments in the subject, and providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school. A named member of the school governing body is briefed to overview the teaching of the curriculum in the school.
When assessing pupils with SEND, there will be carefully planned opportunities in order for them to demonstrate what they know and are able to do, using alternative means where necessary. Where a pupil is unable to use particular types of equipment, assessment of attainment will be based on understanding of the processes used as demonstrated through oral and written responses or, where possible, through the use of alternative equipment.
In EYFS, the level of development children should be expected to have attained by the end of the EYFS is defined by the early learning goals (ELGs). These are not used as a curriculum or in any way to limit the wide variety of rich experiences that are crucial to child development. Instead, the ELGs support teachers to make a holistic, best-fit judgement about a child’s development, and their readiness for year 1.
Culture
It’s our aim that by the time every child leaves primary school they can feel as if they have found an area of the visual arts that is relevant and engaging to them – that might be through drawing, or making, or designing, or talking about art.
To achieve this, it’s important that we create as many different kinds of opportunities as possible so that each child can find the thing which strikes a chord with them. That means covering lots of different disciplines, techniques, materials and approaches. It can be complicated knowing what to fit in and what to leave out, and how to order elements, but we’re confident that all versions of our curriculum provide a balanced yet rich offering, with progression of knowledge and skills woven throughout.
In practice, that might mean one day a child is practising observational drawing skills, another day they are working from their imagination making larger scale images, and another day they are discussing as a class how the context in which art is presented can change its meaning. The richness and relevance of experience makes learning memorable and impactful.
When a child leaves Year 6 and you ask them, “What does being creative mean to you?” we want them to be able to answer with confidence and self-knowledge.
The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum is supported by a series of ‘Talking Points’ resources, carefully curated to introduce teachers and pupils to a wide variety of artists, designers and craftspeople from across the world.
For some activities, there may need to be a ‘parallel’ activity for pupils with SEND, so that they can work towards the same learning intentions as their peers, but in a different way. The use of technology to assist learning can removes barrier e.g. Widget, switches, text readers and speech and communicator devices. Screen filters may help with glare or using coloured backgrounds e.g. yellow background with blue script for dyslexic learners.
Because the range of hardware and software is wide and continually expanding, teachers will always seek to collaborate with the SENDCo or colleagues e.g. previous teacher, on removing barriers to learning and participation for particular pupils with SEND. Pupils will also be able to advise on the technologies that suit them best.
Systems
In EYFS, the most relevant statements for art are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Physical Development
- Expressive Arts and Design
Reception
Physical Development
- Develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently.
- Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.
- Develop overall body-strength, balance, coordination and agility.
Expressive Arts and Design
- Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.
- Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them.
- Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.
ELG
Physical Development: Fine Motor Skills
- Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases.
- Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.
- Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.
Expressive Arts and Design: Creating with Materials
- Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.
- Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.
The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:
- produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design
- evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
The AccessArt Curriculum which we have implemented helps build knowledge and understanding in pupils (and teachers) as to some of the ways art is relevant to all our lives. By combining technical skills with contextual and conceptual understanding our curriculum, helps ensure every pupil feels entitled to embrace their own creativity as something which is important to them, and something which is valued by society.
We are using the AccessArt ‘Split’ Primary Art Curriculum which has been devised for schools who currently teach art half the time each term with the other spilt for DT.
The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum is knowledge-rich, and pupils will learn a wide range of skills, developing understanding and showing clear progression. But crucially, the knowledge and understanding pupils will build will go far beyond the technical, factual knowledge many current curriculums focus upon.
Our curriculum balances declarative knowledge with experiential knowledge, building self-knowledge and nurturing traits in learners which will hold them in good stead whichever direction their learning takes them.
Policies/key documents
- Whole School Long term horizontal curriculum map
- AccessArt overview of units
- Art Knowledge and Skills organiser
- Art Vocabulary Progression
- EYFS Long term overview
- AccessArt materials: pathways, vocabulary.
- SEND Policy
All of these can be found on our website under the curriculum/policies tabs.