INTENT

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Raising Aspiration, Realising Ambition, Stimulating Curiosity.
The intent of the art curriculum at Priestley school is first and foremost instilling the belief in all children that they are artists with the vision of raising pupil aspiration, realizing ambition and stimulating curiosity. The art curriculum provides children with the opportunity to explore with imagination and confidence. It recognises the great value it holds in enabling a child’s personal and emotional expression.
As children progress through the art curriculum, they will become proficient in a range of techniques and specific skills including drawing, painting, sculpting, as well as other selected craft skills, e.g. collage, printing, weaving and patterns. At Priestley, we place learning at the heart of everything we do and as such, within the art curriculum, children build important skills in collecting, experimenting, making connections, planning, creative thinking, and presenting ideas, all important building blocks in their learning.
All children are given the opportunity to draw inspiration and develop key techniques from opportunities to study art history, famous and new artists.

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IMPLEMENTATION

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Placing learning at the heart of everything we do.
Children will learn and develop skills and knowledge in art, through a topic-based approach, with a strong cross curriculum reach. Each topic theme supports our progressive Priestley Pathway.
Children will access a large range of high-quality art resources and materials with which to practise and refine skills and to produce imaginative final pieces.
Children will be taught subject specific art vocabulary through carefully constructed lists for each age phase.
Dedicated “Art weeks” are planned in the school year to give children the opportunity to learn about art history, famous and new artists, their specific techniques, backgrounds and influence. Art weeks culminate in whole school gallery afternoons for the children to showcase their talent and ideas.
Opportunities for children to work alongside visiting artists are promoted.
From KS1 upwards, children use sketchbooks, of which they have ownership, to document the creative processes in their artwork. By enabling children to freely try out new techniques and approaches, children build resilience and confidence. The sketchbook approach wonderfully engenders many of our “Priestley Values”: ‘Think Things Through’ ‘Share Great Ideas’ ‘Cooperate’ ‘Give it a Go’ ‘Stay Focused’ ‘Take Responsibility’
Sketchbooks do not follow the school’s marking policy. Children can use the sketchbooks to revisit and build upon previous learning in a very accessible and visual manner.

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IMPACT

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Priestley and Proud
We use a variety of strategies to evaluate the knowledge, skills and understanding that our children have gained in each unit:
• CPD to ensure that teacher pedagogy and assessment is secure.
• Supportive feedback and pupil voice feedback.
• Subject monitoring, including book looks and planning peeks.
• Use of sketchbooks to monitor and assess progression of skills.