Intent:

The curriculum has been designed to empower pupils with virtues that enable them to excel academically and spiritually inspiring them to serve humanity selflessly, with an abundance of love, compassion and forgiveness.

Our curriculum is constructed around our vision to ensure we remain:

Faith-inspired: learning from the wisdom of religion

At Primley Wood we aim to foster holistic growth and character development. We focus on nurturing compassionate, responsible human beings who aspire for excellence in all aspects of life. Exploring religious wisdom allows pupils to respect diverse faith traditions and the beliefs of those without faith.

Virtues-led: We aim to develop pupils to become compassionate, responsible human beings

This is done through promoting virtues which we believe form the foundation of all goodness and prepares children for lifelong learning. Our curriculum is carefully enriched to allow experiences where our pupils, teachers and parents alike learn to grow through a conscious focus on virtues. Our virtues-led education approach helps to provide guidance to enable pupils to understand their choices in order to help lead better lives. Our pupils become self-reflective and flourish; they are able to build strong, meaningful relationships and understand their responsibilities to the wider world.

Aspiring for Excellence: in all that we do.

Our pupils and staff alike aim to become the best human beings they can possibly be, in all aspects of spiritual, social, intellectual and physical life. We foster a school culture which inspires optimism and confidence, hope and determination for all to achieve their best possible. This is accomplished through a rich and challenging curriculum, along with excellent teaching to nurture awe and wonder. Pupils gain a breadth and depth of knowledge and a love of learning to achieve their full potential.

The curriculum at Primley Wood Primary School has been carefully crafted to be broad, balanced and stimulating, giving every pupil the opportunity to be knowledgeable, multi-skilled, highly literate, highly numerate, creative, expressive, compassionate and confident people. 

Our vision for Art and Design is centred around providing opportunities for every child to express their individuality and creativity. Our young artists take ownership of their own life experiences by visualising their beliefs, identity, thoughts and emotions. Pupils will meet artists, craftspeople and designers, visit galleries and art spaces and experience all areas of the creative industries.

From EYFS through to KS2 the curriculum is designed to develop:

• Skills and proficiency in the use of a wide range of materials
• Teaching pupils how to strengthen their ability to think creatively
• Develop their self-esteem, confidence and self-awareness
• Strengthen their thinking and analytical skills, which are transferable to all subject areas 
• Understanding the life experiences and the impact that artists, craftspeople and designers have had on society and throughout human history 
• Incorporating the Virtues into their everyday personal development and art practice.

Our curriculum for Art and Design will prepare pupils for a quickly developing and increasingly global and visually complex world.

The ideal art, craft & design pupil is:

• Passionate about creating and experiencing all forms of art & design
• Regularly visits galleries and takes an active interest in the work of historical and contemporary artists
• Independently learns and develops new skills, techniques and how to use different materials
• Keeps a sketchbook full of ideas, notes, sketches, drawings and paintings
• Learns from mistakes and sees the process of failure, accidents and imperfections as a necessary journey towards competency and creativity.
• Open to new ideas and concepts and is flexible enough to view the world through other people's eyes.

The curriculum is necessarily aspirational, focused on excellence and on securing in all learners a love of learning through the acquisition of knowledge and an understanding of the world around them.

Implementation:

At Primley Wood the schemes of learning are guided by the Kapow Scheme of Work for Art & Design. The curriculum is built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills.  These are broken into year group expectations and show clear continuity and progress.

The Kapow Art & Design scheme of work is designed with four strands that run throughout:

• Making things
• Formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)
• Knowledge of artists
• Evaluating

These strands are revisited in every unit and pupils can learn and practise skills discretely. The knowledge and skills from these units are then applied throughout the other units in the scheme. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows pupils to retrieve and build on their previous learning.

At Primley Wood we block the delivery of subject content for Art & Design/Design Technology/History/Geography so that we can limit the risk of what is known as cognitive overload - the process where an individual's working memory is overloaded and unable to process new information effectively due to the amount of information it is being required to process. Block teaching allows for all subjects to be taught in equal equity and have quality focused time. It allows us to ensure that no single subject or subjects are given reduced attention and that no subjects are missed from the curriculum. We ensure that there is full coverage of the knowledge and skills required in each block for Art & Design/Design Technology/History/Geography across each year group, as per the Kapow scheme. 

It also allows for staff to focus on quality implementation, as the intent of each block is pre-determined. Staff spend time ensuring there is effective building of sequential knowledge, with shorter time periods between adding new knowledge to existing knowledge. We also provide meaningful opportunities to revisit, recap and assess following a teaching sequence. We believe block teaching also allows for staff to address any misconceptions quickly and within a block.  We recognise that cognitive overload could be a key barrier to preventing the full learning of subject content for our pupils. We are aware that if we can limit the amount of new information from different subjects that the pupils must hold in their short-term memory then this will have obvious benefits. This approach is grounded in careful research and neuroscience.

Rec

Early Learning Goal: Physical Development

•Progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace.

•Pupils develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently.

•Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.

Early Learning goal: Fine Motor Skills

•Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.

•Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases.

•Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.

Early Learning Goal: Expressive Arts & Design

•Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.

•Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them.

•Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.

Early Learning Goal: Creating with Materials

•Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

•Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.

Year

Half Term 1

Half Term 2

Half Term 3

Half Term 4

Half Term 5

Half Term 6

1

Painting and mixed media:

Colour Splash

Drawing:

Make your mark

Sculpture and 3D:

Paper play

2

Craft and design:

Map it out

Painting and mixed media:

Life in colour

Drawing:

Tell a story

3

Painting and mixed media:

Prehistoric Painting

Craft and design:

Ancient Egyptian scrolls

Sculpture and 3D: Abstract shape and space

4

Drawing:

Power Prints

Painting and mixed media:

Light and Dark

Sculpture and 3D: Mega Materials

5

Drawing:

I need space

Craft and design:

Architecture

Painting and mixed media:

Portraits

6

Drawing:

Make my voice heard

Painting and Mixed Media:

Artist study

Sculpture and 3D:

Making memories

Enrichment Opportunities:

Our curriculum extends beyond the National Curriculum and includes a wide range of enriching experiences and opportunities both within and beyond the school day.  Pupils are provided with a rounded, culturally rich education through activities that enhance their learning.

Pupils can develop their potential to the maximum in a learning environment that is both challenging and enjoyable.  They get involved in several cross-curricular activities across the year. Art club gives pupil additional time to focus on the subject, leading to skills development which can be translated back to the classroom. It also gives them the freedom to try new things. Creative homework projects encourage self-expression and build pupils’ confidence.  Art enrichment days provide valuable space where pupils can continue to develop their own individual programme of work. Art displays held around school give pupils the opportunity to reflect upon their work.

Transitions:

Moving from EYFS to KS1:

Our learning journey starts in the Early Years where children are exposed to a variety of mark making activities using a range of different media. They are allowed to be creative and expressive and are taught to be respectful and appreciative of the marks that others have made. Whilst allowing pupils to work successfully towards the Development Matters statements and Early Learning Goals, the Art and Design elements taught in the EYFS provide a solid foundation of skills and knowledge for children to transition successfully onto Key stage 1.

Moving on to KS3:

After exposure to our Art and Design curriculum, pupils will leave school equipped with a range of skills and knowledge to enable them to study Art with confidence at Key stage 3.  We hope to shape children into confident and inspired artists with respect and appreciation for the work of others. We make links with our local secondary schools asking teachers to come in and provide Art opportunities for our pupils.

Impact:

Evidence of work will show a range of strands explored, links across the curriculum and work pitched to support and challenge a range of abilities and starting points. Formative assessment is an integral part of our approach to Teaching and Learning.

At Primley Wood, teachers use assessment for learning within lessons to provide live feedback to allow pupils to deepen their understanding and identify gaps in knowledge and skills. Knowledge reviews are planned for spaced retrieval and allow for misconceptions to be addressed and further embed pupils understanding of key knowledge, skills and vocabulary. The progression of skills and knowledge allows teachers to assess the impact over the course of a unit, year and across phases. The scheme of learning is used to identify prior links and future learning which informs teacher assessment and allows building blocks of learning to further develop schemas within topics and across subjects.  

Summative assessments are used alongside knowledge organisers to assess the impact of learning at the end of a unit. This in turn informs future teaching adaptations, based on misconceptions and gaps in knowledge and skills. Enquiry questions are used to assess the impact of the teaching of knowledge, skills and vocabulary by allowing pupils to apply their understanding through reflections and critical thinking.