“If you hear a voice within you say, “you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh.

“Art is as natural as sunshine and as vital as nourishment.”-MaryAnn F Kohl.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou.

Our Art and Design Curriculum Intent

At Olton Primary School, we aim to inspire pupils and develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own art works, inspired by artists, craftspeople, designers and architects from across time and place. Our scheme is adapted from Kapow and supplemented by specialist weeks, additional school created units of work and artistic opportunities across the school year. We want our children to value creativity and to not be fearful of experimentation, valuing creativity and experimentation over a final product or finished art work. We endeavour to inspire, broaden and promote our pupils’ love of art, nurturing their own talents and interests, enabling them to express feelings and responses to our world as well as learning about the rich heritage of the British Isles and beyond.

In 2021-22, Olton Primary has embraced a revision to our Art and Design Curriculum in response to the pandemic and opportunities that some of our children may have missed as a result of lockdowns. We have adopted Kapow Art scheme because we feel it offers cultural breadth and depth whilst promoting creativity and the essential art message that as “an artist, you can never be wrong”. Alongside this, we have created additional KS2 art units to further enrich the curriculum. At Olton Primary School, we value individuality and our Art and Design curriculum enables pupils to experience a diverse range of art forms and practices which promote pupil discussion, empathy and most of all an appreciation of our creative world.

Implementation of our Art & Design curriculum

Our scheme of work is designed with 5 key strands being developed throughout Y1-Y6. These strands support the coverage of the National Curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the strands for KS1 and KS2. The 5 key strands developed through our scheme are:

• Making skills

• Formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern and colour)

• Knowledge of artists, art movements, craftspeople, designers and architects from across time and place

• Generating ideas

• Evaluation skills

Through the implementation of the scheme of work these strands are revisited in every unit. Within Art and Design skills and Formal Elements of art units, pupils have the opportunity to learn and practice skills discretely. At Olton, we have used these as an opportunity to develop skills that were not developed due to the pandemic and remote learning in 2020-21. The knowledge and skills from these units are then applied throughout other units in the scheme. Key skills are revisited again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows our pupils to revise and build on their previous learning.

Our curriculum overview shows how the units cover each of the National curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the strands. The progression of skills document shows the key skills that are taught in each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

Our curriculum develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of key artists, craftspeople, designers and art movements which we are developing further links within other areas of our curriculum. Creativity and independent outcomes (ensuring pupils do not directly copy art works but support pupils into making their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich are unique to our pupils and personal.

Lessons at Olton Primary are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils in Y2- Y6 using sketchbooks to document their ideas. (From February 2022, our pupils in Y1 will also have sketchbooks).

Teachers are supported with differentiated guidance for every lesson so that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and that opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit of work support pupils in building a firm foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging a recall of key facts and vocabulary.

At Olton Primary, we support our teachers who may lack confidence in their own artistic abilities by using coaching and also pupil videos as part of the Kapow scheme. This also allows our pupils to be aspirational and to see precise skills being taught by art “experts” who are sharing their knowledge. All Kapow units of work have videos to support teacher knowledge and to further their professional development in this subject. This will enable the delivery of high quality art and design lessons and ensuring pupil progression. Where units have been created specifically for year groups, art leaders support teacher development by team teaching and modelling effective teaching and learning in Art and Design.

Curriculum Impact

Our art and design curriculum involves pupils in the ongoing dialogue and discussion about the quality of their outcomes and the development of techniques. Dialogue within the classroom with their teachers, the development of peer evaluation and support and in 2022, the emphasis on using sketchbooks as visual journals will support our pupils in being able to talk confidently about artists, craftspeople, designers and architects but also to express their own learning journey and to have higher metacognitive skills and a growing understanding of how to improve.

The impact of each unit of work can be shown through a unit quiz and a knowledge catcher. The further development of sketchbooks in 2022 to capture self-reflection during the stages of experimentation and where there is a more finished outcome will further develop pupil evaluation.

By the time pupils leave Olton Primary school in Year 6, following our scheme of work, our pupils will:

• Produce creative work, exploring and recording their ideas and experiences
• Be proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques.
• Evaluate and analyse creative works using subject specific language.
• Know about great artists, designers and the historical and cultural development of their art.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined within the National curriculum with opportunities throughout their time at Olton Primary to deepen and expand their skills.

Overview of units of work- Kapow 2021/22.

* Denotes school’s own scheme to enrich the curriculum

Enrichment Opportunities and planned events

An Arts Week, celebrating arts and crafts from around our world and representative of the wide range of languages and cultures associated with our school will occur in June 2022. This will bring together other expressive art forms including, dance, drama, music and language to both deepen pupil’s art awareness but also their artistic response to different cultures and themes. Outcomes from this will be used to mark the joining of our infant department and junior department onto one Campus in November 2021.

An art club (after school) will be developed in the summer term of 2022 for KS1 and KS2, allowing pupils to experience a range of different media around a theme.

Throughout the school year, art and design supports other aspects of the taught curriculum and pupils have the opportunity to create, make, design and respond to different stimuli using their art and design skills eg- celebrating significant festivals within our community, creating replica artefacts in World Studies etc.