Intent
We aim to inspire pupils and to develop their confidence to experiment and create their own works of art. Children are given every opportunity to develop their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world, as well as learning about art and artists across cultures and through history. Children are inspired by notable artists and designers and often use their work to guide their own. We recognise that Cornwall is known for its artistic communities and we seek for our children to be both inspired by this and to gain an awareness of this.
Kapow Primary’s art and design scheme of work supports pupils to meet the national curriculum end of key stage attainment targets.
Implementation
Kapow Primary’s art scheme of work is designed with five strands that run throughout. These are:
-
Generating ideas
-
Using sketchbooks
-
Makings skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)
-
Knowledge of artists
-
Evaluating and analysing
Units of lessons are sequential, allowing children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the national curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Units in each year group are organised into four core areas:
● Drawing
● Painting and mixed-media
● Sculpture and 3D
● Craft and design
Kapow’s national curriculum mapping shows which of our units cover each of the national curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the strands. The Gerrans curriculum document also shows this.
Kapow Primary’s progression of skills and knowledge documentation shows the skills that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage. It also shows how knowledge builds in the formal elements of art.
Kapow Primary’s units fully scaffold and support age appropriate sequenced learning, and are flexible enough to be adapted to form cross-curricular links with your own school’s curriculum. Creativity and independent outcomes are robustly embedded into our units, supporting students in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich, are unique to the pupils.
Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils by providing a highly visual record of the key knowledge and techniques learned, encouraging recall of skills, processes, key facts and vocabulary.
Kapow Primary supports teachers who may lack confidence in their own artistic abilities. Pupil videos created by subject specialists help pupils to see art techniques modelled by experts, to ensure the delivery of Art is of the highest quality. Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD. Kapow has been created with the understanding that many teachers do not feel confident delivering the full Art and design curriculum and every effort has been made to ensure that they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.
At Gerrans Primary School, we alternate between art and design and design and technology on a half termly basis. Therefore, three units of each are taught during the year. This allows for effective coverage of the national curriculum over the two-year rolling programme. Further to this, children are given sufficient time to really get to grips with a topic and its new learning. We find that outcomes are higher as a result of this approach. Opportunities to develop children’s art and design skills and to explore their creativity are woven across the Gerrans curriculum.
Impact
Kapow Primary’s curriculum is designed in such a way that children are involved in the evaluation, dialogue and decision making about the quality of their outcomes and the improvements they need to make. By taking part in regular discussions and decision-making processes, children will not only know facts and key information about art, but they will be able to talk confidently about their own learning journey, have higher metacognitive skills and have a growing understanding of how to improve.
The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. A spreadsheet including the learning outcomes for children with secure understanding and those working at greater depth enables teachers to keep records of formative assessments for each child.
After the implementation of Kapow Primary’s art and design scheme, pupils should leave primary school equipped with a range of techniques and the confidence and creativity to form a strong foundation for their art and design learning at Key Stage 3 and beyond.
The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary art and design scheme of work is that children will:
-
Produce creative work, exploring and recording their ideas and experiences.
-
Be proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques.
-
Evaluate and analyse creative works using subject-specific language.
-
Know about great artists and the historical and cultural development of their art.
-
Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for Art and design.