At Portfields Primary School, we believe that Art can and should be enjoyed by all.

Art is a diverse and stimulating subject that encourages children to actively engage with the world around them. It draws upon sensory experiences and provides endless opportunities for independent learning and building resilience. Through Art, children are encouraged to express their emotions and ideas while reflecting on and improving their knowledge about the subject.

Our Art programme has been designed as part of a broad and balanced curriculum and embodies our four key ‘Drivers’. In each unit of work, pupils are introduced to a new artist or school of art to inspire their creativity. They are taught to develop and refine a wide range of skills, using a variety of media to create desired effects. They are then challenged to apply these skills to independently plan and create a ‘final piece’ of work.

In line with National Curriculum expectations, our pupils use sketchbooks to record ideas and experiment with different art techniques including drawing, painting and modelling with a range of materials. They are taught to think critically and evaluate creative works using the language of art and understand how they can use this information to further their own learning.

At Portfields Primary School, we believe that Art and Design is an essential part of the curriculum that develops creativity, and that it can and should be enjoyed by all.

Art is a diverse and stimulating subject that encourages pupils to actively engage with world around them. It draws upon sensory experiences and provides endless opportunities for independent learning and building resilience. Through art, children are encouraged to express their emotions and ideas while reflecting on and improving their knowledge about the subject and developing their skills.

A Portfields child will:

• Develop art and design skills using a variety of media and techniques, demonstrating progression across year groups.
• Learn about a diverse variety of artists from different schools of art and how they contribute to our culture.
• Learn how to analyse and think critically about art: their own and that of others including the professional artists studied.
• Believe that they can produce quality artwork that they are proud of.
• Use all of the above to experiment, invent, create and improve their own work in a range of media.

Implementation:

• Teachers discuss and model all aspects of art and design, including critical thinking and art analysis, in order to demonstrate processes and address any misconceptions.
• They give children the time and resources to develop and practise each skill, providing regular feedback throughout lessons.
• Pupils use sketchbooks to record ideas and document creative processes.
• Sketchbooks include written annotations and records of thinking (at an age appropriate level) including thoughts on examples of the studied artist/ school of art.
• Talk Cards (See below) are used to ignite curiosity and support children's use of technical vocabulary.
• Units of work usually begin with a study of an artist or school of art to inspire initial ideas and research.
• Pupils are encouraged to practise and apply techniques using a variety of media, leading to the development of an independent final piece.
• Pupil work is celebrated and showcased within the classroom and wider school.

Developing skills and techniques:

• Skills are revisited and developed each year in progression, building on previous knowledge.
• Children use sketch books to practise techniques and use as a resource bank, stimulus and reminder.
• A range of techniques in different media are taught every year including sketching, printing, painting, modelling and sculpting and also in work using mixed media.

Learning about a variety of artists:

• In the majority of units of work, pupils are introduced to a new artist or movement in art at the beginning of the unit.
• The artists/schools of art introduced across the school cover a range of techniques, styles, media and time.
• These are used to inspire their creativity and to model techniques, composition and understanding.
• As children progress up the school, the artists studied are analysed in greater depth and considered within a wider context.

Knowledge and thinking critically

• A progression of thinking skills is used from the earliest years through to Year 6; beginning with likes and dislikes, through why something is liked or not, to understanding what effects an artist might have been wanting to achieve and how they achieved those effects.
• Pupils in all year groups are encouraged to consider personal responses to pieces of art with older children encouraged to explain their reasons.
• Children increasingly use their understanding of media, techniques and composition to achieve different effects, to think critically about their own work and to develop their ideas.
• Sketchbooks are used to record ideas, analyse images and experiment with different compositions and techniques.
• Children look critically at the work of others in order to share ideas and improve their own work.
• Children review their own work as it progresses, with increasing depth and knowledge as they get older, and become able to change things that they feel are not working in practice.
• Children assess their own work and that of others in order to consolidate their learning.

Positive attitudes to art

• Teachers model and foster a positive attitude towards art.
• Teacher’s give advice for improvement in a constructive, positive way.
• All children know that artists often make lots of trials before they feel they have got it right. Experiments that do not work are part of the process.
• Pupils know that producing images of a photographic likeness is not a marker of good art: many artists are aiming for things much different to that, such as mood and effect.
• Work produced is celebrated by being shown to the class and the final pieces are displayed in the class as far as possible.