Art and Design gives children opportunities to explore ideas, develop practical skills and express their creativity using an increasingly wide range of materials, techniques and processes.

Our Art and Design curriculum develops progressively from Foundation through to Year 6. Children build their knowledge and skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, printing, textiles and collage, while learning to develop, record and refine their own ideas.

Developing as Artists

In the early years, children begin by exploring different materials and tools, making marks, experimenting with colour and pattern and creating their own pictures, models and designs.

As children progress through the school, they develop greater control and confidence in the techniques they use. They learn to make more purposeful choices about materials, colour, texture, shape and form and increasingly plan, develop and evaluate their work.

Sketchbooks become an important part of this process, giving children opportunities to record observations and ideas, practise techniques and develop their work.

By the end of Key Stage 2, children are expected to work with increasing independence, selecting and combining techniques and materials to achieve their intended effects.

Drawing and Painting

Children develop their drawing skills throughout the school, progressing from making marks with a variety of tools to using line, tone, pattern, texture, shape, form and perspective with increasing control and purpose.

In painting, children explore colour from an early age before developing their understanding of colour mixing, shades, tones and contrasting and complementary colours. As their skills develop, they learn to select brushes and techniques for particular purposes and consider the effects they want to create.

Sculpture, Printing, Textiles and Collage

Our curriculum gives children experience of creating both two-dimensional and three-dimensional artwork.

Children explore malleable materials and develop their ability to design, construct and evaluate models and sculptures. They learn a range of printing techniques, progressing towards creating increasingly detailed and purposeful designs.

Through textiles and collage, children investigate texture, pattern, colour and composition, combining materials in different ways and developing greater control over their choices as they move through the school.

Learning from Artists

As part of their Art and Design learning, children encounter the work of artists and use this to help develop their own ideas and techniques.

Artists identified within our curriculum include David Hockney, Georgia O'Keeffe, Wassily Kandinsky, Vincent van Gogh, Giuseppe Arcimboldo and Edvard Munch.

Children are encouraged to observe and respond to artwork and, as they progress, to consider the techniques and approaches used by different artists when developing their own work.

Art and Design Curriculum Overview

Our curriculum overview shows how children's knowledge and skills in Art and Design develop from Foundation through to Year 6, including progression in:

• Developing ideas
• Drawing
• Colour and painting
• Sculpture and 3-D work
• Printing
• Textiles and collage
• Learning about artists

Please view our Art and Design Curriculum Overview below to see the progression of learning across the school.