Intent

At St John's Catholic Primary School, we believe the Art curriculum should engage, inspire and challenge pupils to equip them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. It should enable pupils to think critically and develop a rigorous understanding of art and to know how art and design has shaped our history by studying a range of artists, as well as their styles and techniques. 

We follow the United Learning Art Curriculum which has three strands:  

Implementation

The implementation of the United Curriculum for Art & Design reflects our broader teaching and learning principles:

For Art & Design in particular:

 Impact

The careful sequencing of the curriculum – and how concepts are gradually built over time – is the progression model. If pupils are keeping up with the curriculum, they are making progress. Formative assessment is prioritised and is focused on whether pupils are keeping up with the curriculum.

In general, this is done through:

Use of sketchbooks and pupil-conferencing

Unless it is unavoidable, pupils use the same sketchbook over multiple years, until it is complete. Sketchbooks contain a record of pupils’ progress over a significant period of time. Talking to pupils about their sketchbooks allows us to assess how much of the curriculum content is secure. These conversations are used to determine whether pupils have a good understanding of the vertical concepts (practical knowledge), and if they can link recently taught content to learning from previous units.

Formative assessment in lessons

There are opportunities for formative assessment in the lessons, and teachers continually adapt their lesson delivery to address misconceptions and ensure that pupils are keeping up with the content.

Low-stakes summative assessment

We also use low-stakes quizzes at the end of the unit to assess whether pupils have learned the core knowledge for that unit. These are also used formatively, and teachers plan to fill gaps and address misconceptions before moving on. 

Throughout the Art Curriculum at St John's, children will be introduced to a range of work produced by different artists, and develop knowledge of the styles of vocabulary used by them. These skills are applied to cross-curricular subjects across school, and will allow the children to use their Art skills to reflect on and explore topics in greater depth. Examples of this could be sketching a historical landmark in detail, researching geographical locations to support their work on landscapes and using Art to express emotion and enhance their personal, social and emotional development. 

In Art, children are expected to be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. This should be meaningful and continuous throughout the process, with evidence of age-related verbal and written refection.

The Art curriculum has been carefully structured to ensure a clear progression of skills across year groups and key stages. Children are introduced to age-appropriate artistic techniques, and are given regular opportunities to revisit and refine these skills over time. For example, in Key Stage One, pupils begin with foundational knowledge such as basic mark making. They are explicitly taught how to create a variety of lines using different media, building towards an understanding of form and shape. These core concepts are revisited in Years 2, 4 and 5, where students further develop their abilities in three-dimensional work, explore form in greater depth, and create more complex patterns. 

A Child's view of Art at St John's

"I can make something I'm proud of."

"I can use my creativity in Art. If I think of something good, then I use that - if  it's not so good then I can make it better. There are no wrong answers in Art, you just use your imagination."

"It's very expressive. Whether I'm feeling happy or sad I can always rely on Art - all you need is a pencil and paper."