“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.”
- Georgia O’Keeffe
Our Goal
At English Martyrs, our art program aims to inspire students and build their confidence to create their own works of art. We want to nurture their talents, encourage them to express their ideas, and teach them about art and artists from different cultures and history. Our curriculum meets the National Curriculum (2014) targets.
How we teach Art
Our art curriculum is organized into blocks, each focusing on disciplines like drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D art, and collage. Students revisit these disciplines throughout their primary years, tackling more complex challenges over time.
Key aspects of artistic development such as shape, line, color, value, form, texture, and space are emphasized. Activities are designed to enhance students' vocabulary and ability to discuss art meaningfully.
Our curriculum has five main strands:
- Substantive knowledge, including artists
- Disciplinary knowledge, including formal elements of art (line, shape, texture, color, form, space, tone)
- Practical knowledge, including idea generation and creating art
- Using sketchbooks
- Evaluating and analyzing art
Teachers adapt lessons to create cross-curricular links and encourage creativity and independent outcomes. Lessons are practical, promote experimentation, and are adaptable for all students.
Impact
Our art curriculum engages children in evaluating and discussing their work, helping them understand and improve their artistic outcomes. Continuous assessment allows teachers to monitor progress and provide guidance.
Students will leave English Martyrs with various art techniques, confidence, and creativity, ready for Key Stage 3 and beyond. They will:
- Create and explore their ideas and experiences.
- Be skilled in drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art techniques.
- Evaluate and analyze art using specific language.
- Know about great artists and the cultural history of art.
- Meet the national curriculum expectations for Art and Design.
Related Blog Posts
Year 2 Art & Design
The children looked at images of waves and then listened to Fingal’s Cave by Mendelssohn. They used a range of tools to create their own waves picture using curves, curls, dots, specks and flecks.
Viewfinders
Today the children have been using viewfinders to recreate parts of Hundertwasser’s artwork.
They looked at a range of his paintings and selected parts of each to copy into their sketchbooks.
Year 2: Art & Design
The children used a range of media to express their emotions to different pieces of classical music, through mark- making.