Intent
At Upper Arley, we love to teach, encourage and nurture the next artists of our generation. Children at Upper Arley use the influence of our natural environment to produce creative work, explore their ideas and record their experiences. The principle aim of Art at Upper Arley is to 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. By the time pupils leave, they will be able to:
· Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
· Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
· Know about great artists, craft makers and designers understanding the historical and cultural development of their art forms
Implementation
We make Art lessons an enjoyable and practical experience. In Early Years the children will learn how to use art and design to develop their early mark making and construction skills along with being shown how to use simple art equipment (pencils, paint brushes/playdough/clay tools etc). As the children move into Key Stage One, they will learn to use a range of materials to develop a wide range of art and design techniques (colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space) and begin to look at the work of famous artists comparing and contrasting other artists work along with their own. In Key Stage Two the children will continue develop their art and design techniques refining processes (drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials), creating sketch books to record their observations which can be reviewed and revisited and talk confidently about great artists, architects and designers in history.
To ensure high quality teaching takes place at Upper Arley, we plan collaboratively as a Trust to allow professional dialogue to take place and to share experiences and subject knowledge between each year group. Art and Design is planned around the year group’s current themes and builds upon prior learning. The planning carefully follows a structured process which allows artistic knowledge and techniques to be built upon and layered (knowledge, understanding, analysis, application/evaluation, and creation). The final creation is then an opportunity for the children to use all the knowledge and techniques they have developed.
Austin’s Butterfly is an approach we use when providing specific feedback to children’s artwork, as it provides a clear approach to evaluating, developing, and refining their artwork throughout the learning sequence. Year groups showcase this approach on art display boards, illustrating the children’s improved artwork after specific feedback and reflecting their perseverance throughout.
Christianity: Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV – He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Children at Upper Arley are taught that making something beautiful takes time. Art takes time to produce. Looking at how God makes everything beautiful in its time, we take this into consideration when creating our art; sometimes it’s okay to reflect until it is made beautiful instead.