This year, Year 1 children will be learning to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products, to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination and to learn about the work of a range of artists.

Year 2 will be looking at the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and discipline, and making links to their own work.

The children are encouraged to be spontaneously creative, using a variety of media and techniques in art. An awareness of colour, shape and textures is developed through a variety of materials and techniques. The study of a range of artists, craftspeople and designers complements this work.

You can help your children understand the different techniques and skills they have been working on in school by talking to them about it. You can encourage them to explain to you how they created their art work, how  it started off, why they chose the colours they used and how their art work links to other areas of learning.

Colouring and drawing activities can be a lot of fun and keep your children quiet for hours! They help to develop good pencil control, an awareness of colour and different colouring techniques such as lines, shading and patterns. Why not get your child to draw different objects around the house – observational drawing can develop children’s concentration and given them an eye for detail.

Year R

In Year R, the Expressive Arts and Design curriculum is all about promoting children’s curiosity, creativity, imagination and confidence in expressing their ideas and feelings.  Children are encouraged to give meaning to the marks they make. They develop skills like joining materials using a variety of tools and techniques which promote experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Children become confident to use one handed tools and equipment and work on developing a comfortable grip with good control when holding pens and pencils. Children are encouraged and supported to perform songs, stories and poems with their peers and develop an awareness of music from other cultures.

Year 1 and Year 2

Children in Year 1 and 2 work on developing and sharing their ideas, experiences and imagination through drawing, painting and sculptures.  We continue promoting the development of a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. They learn about different tones of colour and look at the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers such as Henri Matisse and local artist Peter Hopper.   

Children continue to build on their skills and use a range of materials creatively to design and build products. Children learn about hot and cold colours, explore the works of modern artists and how they have used shades of colours and different media and artwork from the past. Children explore the similarities and differences between the works of different artists and evaluate pieces of artwork.  Children develop skills to recreate impressionism, pointillist, abstract and surrealist art using digital media.   

Artsmark Award June 2023

As a school we have been re-accredited with the Silver Artsmark Award by Arts Council England.  The Artsmark Award is a valuable tool for enriching the schools arts provision and ensuring the many benefits brought by the arts are infused across the curriculum and the school community.

We have successfully shown that the seven Quality principles set by the Arts Council England are reflected by our school:

1. Striving for excellence and innovation
2. Being authentic
3. Being exciting, inspiring and engaging
4. Ensuring a positive and inclusive experience
5. Actively involving children and young people
6. Enabling personal progression
7. Developing belonging and ownership

On achieving this award the assessment panel recognise that all children in our school are offered equal opportunity to participate in a broad range of arts and cultural experiences, and made the following comment:

'You are positively increasing the emphasis on arts and culture and engaging with the Arts is having tangible results on pupils, staff and parental engagement. The Arts feature in school planning and are supported by the art lead. There are progression-linked curriculums for arts, including Charanga for a cross curricular approach. Pupils access a consistent and relevant range of experiences in school and outside the classroom which leads to showcasing within school and the local community. It’s great to hear about the Primary Writing Project, partnership with Sign2Sing, pupils creating Mandalas and using Aboriginal art as inspiration and (of course) painting elephants! These give us a real flavour of what’s going on in school.'