Art & Design
At Wadhurst CE Primary School, we empower our children to be confident when taking risks and to experiment when inventing their own works of art. Pupils are supported to develop their ability, to nurture their talent and to express their ideas, taking inspiration from a diverse range of artists from across the world.
Our supportive ethos allows our children to be curious and reflective learners who evaluate their own work and the work of others in a tone of respect.
The National Curriculum Programme of Study states that ‘a high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils’. At Wadhurst, we aim to provide our pupils with the knowledge needed to support them in becoming creative and innovative artists who are able to express themselves authentically.
Why do we use the scheme we use?
At Wadhurst we base our Art and Design curriculum on the Kapow scheme of work which is designed to provide a spiral curriculum that ensures progression of knowledge and skills. Throughout this scheme, prior learning is revisited, reinforced and extended year on year during the children’s primary school career. Our Art and Design scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of Key Stage attainment targets defined in the National curriculum.
The Kapow Programme of Study is underpinned by four key strands: making skills, formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour), knowledge of artists and evaluating. It is upon these strands that a broad range of units are taught through a series of videos, discussions and activities.
It is essential to prioritise quality over quantity so that staff can deliver purposeful and coherent Art lessons whilst ensuring that the programme reflects the universal needs of all of our children, as well as the specific needs of the pupils in the school and our local community. Therefore, the Kapow scheme has been adapted accordingly to suit Wadhurst’s mixed-age classes.
At Wadhurst the Art Kapow scheme addresses the following areas:
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Drawing
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Painting and mixed-media
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Sculpture and 3D
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Craft and design
Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on and inventive tasks. This variety means
that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective and robust Art and Design curriculum. Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD. This ensures that teachers deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.
Our Principles For Great Teaching In Art
If our children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes, assessing learning against the age-related expectations for Art, tracking knowledge in pre- and post-learning challenges and in pupil discussions about their learning.
We expect that:
When children leave Wadhurst they will be able to:
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Produce creative work, exploring and recording their ideas and experiences.
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Be proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art, craft and design techniques.
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Evaluate and analyse creative works using subject-specific language.
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Know about great artists and the historical and cultural development of their art.
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Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Art and Design.
We will be able to evidence that children have achieved this through:
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Recorded learning
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Discussion based tasks
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Questioning and feedback to support small steps in learning