Art and Design
Intent
Art and Design Skills and Knowledge Progression
KS1 and KS2 Long Term Curriculum Plan
Through our Art and Design curriculum here at St Michael’s, we aim to inspire our pupils and develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art. We aim to give all pupils every opportunity to develop their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world, as well as learning about the rich heritage and culture within art and design, both in the British Isles and beyond.
At St Michael’s we use the Kapow Primary Art and Design scheme of work, which supports our pupils to meet the National curriculum end of key stage attainment targets, as well as Early Learning Goals in Reception.
Implementation
In our Art and Design Curriculum, key skills are revisited regularly throughout our yearly cycles, allowing children to revise and build on their previous learning, with KS2 working on a four-year cycle and KS1 using a 2-year cycle. Our long term curriculum plan shows which areas are taught when, and our skills and knowledge progression document 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.
Our curriculum also develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of key artists and art movements throughout the units taught, with a diverse range of artists being covered. 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 pupil and personal.
Our Art and Design lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning, with Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas. We are fully inclusive and teaching is adapted to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils, including opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning when required. We use knowledge organisers for each unit which support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
At St Michael’s, Art is taught in alternate half terms and is timetabled weekly in each of those terms. As a small school, Art is taught to mixed age classes, and where technical knowledge may be the same for each child in a mixed age class if it is the first or only time it is taught in our two-year (KS1) or four-year (KS2) cycles, the technical skills applied to this knowledge will be different and sequential depending on age or stage of the child, building on prior skills acquisition.
Impact
The Kapow Art curriculum which we have adopted 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 our Art curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson in our chosen scheme (Kapow Primary) includes guidance to support our teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and teachers use these to plan next steps and to adapt learning as needed.
Furthermore, each unit in our curriculum includes a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which is used at the start and/ or end of the unit to assess children’s knowledge and skills as they progress. Following the implementation of our Art curriculum, pupils will leave St Michael’s equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be creative, reflective members of society, both within their local communities and in the wider world.