Art
-
Mrs Joanne Bradbury
Art Lead
At Heamoor School we feel passionate that children are offered a wide variety of art and design opportunities, which enriches self-expression, creativity and builds confidence among our pupils, enabling them to develop their sense of individual identity, which will support them in their futures lives.
Intent
‘To engage, motivate and inspire pupils to take risks and experiment with different media and materials and to give Art the opportunity to support our young artists grow in confidence not just now but in their future lives’‘
At Heamoor School, we ensure Art is fully inclusive to all children and we recognise that Art and Design stimulates creativity and imagination within our pupils. We provide children with the opportunities to develop their skills and express their individual creativity using a range of media and materials. Children learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, 3D work and digital art which allows pupils to solve problems, think creatively and develop ideas.
A high-quality art and design education engages, inspires and challenges pupils equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, whilst nurturing the curiosity for those of whom it doesn’t come naturally. All pupils are taught to think critically about their own work and to be reflective and evaluate their work, and the work of their peers, in order to make changes and keep improving as their understanding of media and materials and specific techniques progress. Pupils develop a thorough understanding of art and its place in the world, including how it reflects our history and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation through sequential lessons that are impactful and engaging.
Implementation
Within the Early Years Foundation Stage, all pupils are taught art and design through expressive arts and design where they have regular opportunities to explore and experiment with a variety of materials, tools and techniques. Children enjoy experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function through both adult led inputs and continuous provision opportunities. These skills develop as they become more confident throughout the year, accessing these resources independently.
The importance of learning these new skills are underpinned by the three prime areas outlined in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’:
· Communication and language
· Physical development
· Personal, social and emotional development
These prime areas are fundamental in ensuring children have a broad and balanced education while being crucial for laying the foundations for pupils to develop curiosity, engagement for learning and to ultimately prepare them for Key Stage One.
In KS1 children are introduced to their sketchbooks, which provide them with a safe space to express themselves effectively as well as a platform to exhibit final pieces of work, just like artists do. Teachers plan creative lessons linked to class topics enabling a range of artists and styles to be studied including: The Cornish artist Sue Read, in particular her beautiful ‘seascape’ paintings. The skills they acquire are then applied to their cross-curricular topics, allowing children to use their art skills to reflect on and explore topics in greater depth; for example, in past topics, KS1 children have explored the features of a Roman coin by drawing and shading their coin designs in detail, making design comparisons with British sterling coins, before creating their own on sugar paper.
As our children move onto KS2, they continue to record their art in sketchbooks. As pupils develop the skills within art even further, pupils are encouraged to use their art books as a self-assessment tool, reflecting and evaluating on their previous work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. Children are encouraged to take risks and experiment and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a particular project, an important skill to have, not just now, but in later life too. Similarly to KS1, in KS2, teachers plan creative lessons linked to class topics enabling a range of design, creation and final pieces to be completed. Whilst learning about ‘Our World – Natural disasters’ topic, pupils looked at the work of famous print maker, Katsushika Hokusai and in particular his piece on ‘The Great Wave’. Pupils studied his famous woodblock print and then using layering and block printing created their own, making links between their own work and that of Katsushika Hokusai.
Open-ended art tasks, provide endless opportunity for our pupils to make choices, test their ideas, come to conclusions and evaluate end results. By developing these skills at an early age, children develop their ability to manage uncertainty, remaining flexible thinkers, to overcome the problem they face through their creative approach and developed confidence.
When children explore art, they learn to master tools and techniques in order to express their own ideas and imagination. At Heamoor School, we offer a safe environment to do this, where pupils have access to the materials they need and enjoy. When our children venture into the wider world, they take this confidence to create and be imaginative with them, to produce solutions to problems, become better thinkers and to be reflective individuals in whatever form their creativity takes them.
Throughout the year, we create several different links with the local community which provides us with a fantastic platform to develop lasting relationships with local businesses whilst also promoting our love for art and creativity at Heamoor School. These include: marking Armistice Day annually, participating in lantern workshops, entering local art competitions including the Penzance BID Christmas Window Competition, inviting parents and carers in to celebrate end of topic project, like an art exhibition and partaking in internal art competitions.
We have plans for a weekly art club, which we hope will be up and running very soon. This will provide children with extra-curricular opportunities to develop their confidence in the skills across the subject area.
Art is showcased throughout the year with the highlights being our annual Mazey Day Parade and our entry to the Penzance BID Christmas Window Competition. These whole school projects, provide a fantastic opportunity for the children to plan, design, create and promote their own creations, with a huge local audience.
Mrs Bradbury works closely with Mrs Osborne (SENDCO) to ensure art is inclusive to all of our children in school, so that every child at Heamoor School can access art and thrive and develop in confidence.