Art

What we want our children to learn in Art at Ghyllgrove

Ghyllgrove believes that art plays a vital and enjoyable part of our children’s education, with a significant and valuable role in the taught curriculum. The art curriculum aims to inspire and challenge, whilst equipping the children with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own pieces of work.

Children will develop their understanding of the visual language of art with effective teaching and considered sequences of lessons and experiences. Understanding of the visual elements of art and design (line, tone, texture, colour, pattern, shape, 3D form) will be developed by providing a curriculum which will enable children to reach their full potential.

How we want our children to learn art at Ghyllgrove 

The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art topic are mapped across each year group and are progressive throughout the school.  The emphasis on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are learning about and being inspired by.

At Ghyllgrove we aim to achieve this by:

• Teaching art regularly. The children will cover an art topic at least once every half term and will also have additional opportunities to engage with art and design activities throughout the school year.
• Linking art as closely as possible to the topic for the term, to ensure relevance and context.
• Teaching a predominantly skills-based curriculum, which covers drawing, painting, sculpture, textiles and printing.
• Re-capping skills throughout the children’s time in school. Skills are revisited, which progresses in terms of depth and challenge, to build on the children’s previous learning.
•  Ensuring that each child develops their skills and techniques in a way appropriate to them, through clear adaptation and support, active and purposeful experiences, and using a variety of art materials and teaching strategies.
• Fostering an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and a knowledge of artists and designers.
•  Introducing children to artists and art movements directly linked to the skills or topics they are covering.
•  Encouraging each child to evaluate their art and design work and that of others.
•  Celebrating effort, progress and achievement in art through displays, exhibitions, celebration and Wizard learning assemblies and competitions.

By the end of their time with us, we want our pupils to have learned, improved and embedded a range of artistic skills as well as have an awareness of a broad range of artists and designers. We want our pupils to be confident to explore, experiment and take risks, placing value on the process and journey that they take, not just on the finished product. Most importantly, we want children to have found and enjoyed a creative outlet – a means of self-expression and enjoyment.