Art & Design

By the time our children leave our school, we want them to be confident in their own creativity, recognising that Art is a valuable subject in its own right. We want them to appreciate the wide range of different forms of art, experiencing as many as possible through their time in school.

We follow the National Curriculum for the teaching of Art and teach it through a focus on the following three concepts;

Mastering practical art skills with a focus on drawing and painting through the school
Taking inspiration from artists across the world and through time
Learning to evaluate and analyse their own and other artists’ work

In order to enable our children to develop their skills and appreciation of art, it is important that our art curriculum provides well-designed opportunities for children to learn and practice their skills in a progressive manner throughout the school, starting in the Early Years. They also need the opportunities to grow and develop their appreciation and knowledge of art as they move through the school. Each year group’s curriculum builds on the learning from previous years, making links to past learning of both skills and knowledge. Sketchbooks, used specifically to develop their skills in drawing, are used throughout the school. By the end of year 6, we want our children to have developed a real enjoyment and appreciation of art, as well as having the skills which they can build on through secondary school and beyond.

A key part of our Art curriculum is to build cultural capital, at Raynham, each year group is taught four art units of work. All units start with a discussion of a key artist and their artwork. The artists they study are all from diverse backgrounds, which enables our children to feel connected and develop an appreciation for a range of art.

Visits to galleries, be they virtual or in real life, meeting local artists, creating large community art installations, valuing their own opinions of selected artworks etc., are all key to enabling our children to grow in their appreciation of art.

Vocabulary enrichment runs through our whole curriculum, and therefore we ensure that children learn new vocabulary through Art that is transferrable to other areas of the curriculum to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

Art and design at home

There are lots of ways in which you can support your child’s learning in Art and Design.

Talk about Art and Design in the world around you.
Ask your children about their Art and Design learning, I’m sure they will have lots to talk about.
Encourage your children to have their own Sketchbook at home. They can use this to express themselves and sketch anything they like, an object at home, something they see while out or even something they just would like to doodle.
Get messy! Let them get creative using things around the house – for example, pasta and pulses to create pictures using glue.
Celebrate your child's art, there is no right or wrong way to do things. You could even ‘frame’ their work using coloured paper or card and create a little gallery on the kitchen wall or in their bedroom to display their work.
Visit Art and Design Venues. (Lots of art galleries are free to explore!)