Intent:

At Westmorland we recognise that Art enhances our children’s education and provides them with unique opportunities to express their individuality and develop their creativity through a broad range of sensory experiences.  We recognise the vital role that Art can play particularly for those children at Westmorland who have limited access to life enriching experiences.

We believe that Art enables children to grow emotionally, intellectually and socially and provides valuable insight into different cultures, perspectives and communities.  It is vital that children at Westmorland are encouraged to think from different viewpoints, consider their own and others ideas and are pushed to broaden their horizons and consider opinions which may be different to their own.

We believe a high quality Art curriculum should equip children with the skills they need to experiment, invent and create their own pieces of Art and Design.  As they progress children will perfect skills in drawing, painting, printing and sculpture and will develop their knowledge of a range of artists and their processes.  In line with our whole school MORE intent children are given opportunities to develop their oracy skills through discussions, small galleries within classrooms and learning key vocabulary associated with artists methods and media.  Children will learn to evaluate and think critically about their own and others Art work.

Implementation

At Westmorland Primary School the planning and delivery of the Art and Design curriculum is both engaging and varied. At the heart of the teaching is our MORE intent. In every year group throughout Key Stages 1 and 2 the children are taught 3 explicit units of Art and Design each year. All teachers at Westmorland Primary School ensure that they have a sound knowledge and understanding of the Art and Design curriculum throughout the whole school and use this knowledge to plan and deliver purposeful and exciting lessons building on the childrens’ prior learning. The children are regularly encouraged to share what they have learned in previous years-we refer to this as ‘Sticky Knowledge’.

Across all units of Art and Design at Westmorland Primary School children are given opportunities to explore the artwork of famous artists. This allows them to analyse and evaluate different styles of art and develops their disciplinary knowledge. Children use sketchbooks to develop and reflect on their skills as they grow as artist; each sketchbook is individual and a space for children to take in, test out and reflect on their ideas across a range of artist disciplines. Research and discussion are given a great emphasis during lessons so that children are able to explore and develop their own creative style using different design tools, techniques and media. Teachers at Westmorland Primary School empower children by promoting independence in their learning, encouraging them to be imaginative and helping their confidence develop when learning new art and design skills.

Impact

At Westmorland Primary School we believe that Art and Design is a vital part of a broad and balanced curriculum throughout the school. Art enhances our children’s education and has a positive impact on their mental and emotional health.

We use pupil voice as a key component of our monitoring of Art and Design in ascertaining children’s level of knowledge and understanding as well as their ability to express themselves effectively. This also ensures that we listen to their needs and are able to provide more bespoke artistic opportunities to develop their creativity and individuality.

We use sketchbooks to measure children’s progress against the progression of skills and to demonstrate the progress children make over time, not only in their disciplinary knowledge but also in their personal artistic ideas, skills and voices.  

Children’s artwork is displayed and most importantly celebrated in communal areas of the school and in classrooms. We aim for children to develop their skills and creativity across a wide range of activities therefore by the end of their journey at Westmorland Primary School all leaners are equipped with the knowledge that art is much MORE than an end product-it is a process, experimentation, exploration and an expression of creative individuality.