Art

At the Synergy Schools Federation, our Art and Design scheme of work aims to inspire pupils, nurture their creativity and develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art.

Our curriculum has been designed to provide a comprehensive, motivating, and progressive scheme of learning, and has been supported by a mixture of the Kapow Primary and Grammarsaurus schemes of work.

Our art and design curriculum is taught through blocked art days and weeks each term. This allows the children to build their skills in more depth, learn about a range of artists and apply their skills thoroughly while creating their work. Key skills are revisited in a spiral curriculum model which promotes memory retention and allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Creativity and independent outcomes are embedded into the units, which support children in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions. The children are also involved in the evaluation, dialogue and decision making about the quality of their outcomes and improvements they need to make.

Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning, with pupils using their sketchbooks to document their ideas. Sketchbooks follow the children through school to show their journey in art and the children’s art is displayed throughout the schools.

We also plan a yearly art day, where the children are given the opportunity to further express their creativity against a given theme by using their knowledge of art disciplines and inspiration from a wide variety of artists to create their own piece of work. Our federations yearly celebration of art further allows the children’s creativity to shine and encourages their independence to apply their learning. Work is then displayed in an exhibition, both in person and online.

Our curriculum has key strands that run throughout. These are:

Generating ideas
Using sketchbooks
Formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)
Knowledge of artists from different periods:

Traditional– Art that was produced before 1860s.
Modern - Modern art is defined as artworks produced between the 1860s to the 1970s.
Contemporary- Art that is current. It describes work after the 1970s

Evaluating and analysing

Units are organised into three core areas:

Drawing
Painting
Sculpture

Our overall intent is that pupils when they leave Y6 they are equipped with the knowledge, skills and wisdom to experiment, invent and create their own works of art and are ready to progress to Key Stage 3.