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

"I can make something I'm proud of," - Ava, Year 1 

"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," - Joey, Year 5 

"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," - Millie-Mai, Year 6

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:  

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. 

Implementation