At Cronton CE Primary School our KEYS Curriculum is built around the National Curriculum, enriched to reflect the children and community we teach in. As a church school our Christian ethos and school values are the heart of everything we do.

We believe every child can be their BEST with our Vision statement reflecting this.

“I can do everything through God who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13

“Every child is an artist.” Pablo Picasso

At Cronton C.E. Primary School we believe that every child is indeed an artist and this underpins our Christian Vision: “I can do everything, through God who gives me strength.” The study of Art and Design is important in developing our core learning attitudes. Studying Art and Design encourages the curiosity of children. Through learning about artists both contemporary and past, the children can explore their personal responses to works and understand that different perspectives are equally as valid and there is not a right or wrong response to what they see and feel. The exploration of different media and techniques in designing and preparatory work encourages independence and perseverance. Children learn responsibility when handling medium, looking after tools and equipment and understand that effort and application are as important as the finished result or piece of work.

How Art and Design Links with our KEYS Curriculum

Art is a vital part of our KEYS curriculum (Knowledge and Skills Empower You to Succeed). It has a significant and valuable role in both the taught curriculum, and in the enrichment opportunities we offer our pupils. These have included activities such as working collaboratively with other schools, working with artists to create work for our school environment and focused art weeks. 

Key Attributes of an Artist and Designer at Cronton

• Curiosity about different media and a willingness to explore the effects they can create with them.
• Confidence to draw adventurously from observation, memory and imagination.
• Knowledge and skills to select and use materials, processes and techniques they have learned and develop them further.
• Independence, initiative and originality in their approach to their work.
• Knowledge and understanding of  other artists, craft makers and designers, including those from our heritage, from periods of history and those that are contemporary.
• Reflective, analytic and able to critically evaluate their own work and that of others.

To develop:

• Children’s critical abilities
• Children’s understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritages through studying a range of artists and art forms both contemporary and from other periods in history.
• Children’s ability to use a range of materials in drawing, painting and sculpture creatively to design and make products and develop and share their ideas.
• Children’s understanding of the visual elements of art and design (line, tone, texture, colour, pattern, shape, 3D form and space) with effective teaching and considered sequences of lessons and experiences.

It builds from the exploratory experiences in the Early Years Foundation Stage to enable the children to develop and refine their skills, knowledge of media and of Art and Design as they progress through their primary education. 

Implementation

Skills and knowledge are developed throughout each art topic and are mapped across the school to ensure progression. Across Key Stage One, Lower Key Stage Two and Upper Key Stage Two, the children will have the opportunity to develop their creative knowledge and skills across a variety of art disciplines: drawing, painting, textiles, printing, collage and sculpture. The sequence of lessons will include:

• An introduction to the artist or art form to be studied.
• Key knowledge on the background of the artist or art form to be studied, which provides context of the artwork, as well as the artists and times that they are learning about and being inspired by. This enables links to other curriculum areas, such as history and geography, with children developing their knowledge of art from different historical periods and individual artists as well as individual works and art movements.
• Key vocabulary related to the art forms studied.
• The use of a range of materials and media to develop art and design techniques and skills necessary for the art forms.
• Production of a piece of children’s own work in the style of the art form studied
• Evaluating work, making links and comparisons between their own and others’ work.

The children practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and sculpture and develop their confidence in the use of different media.

Lesson Structure

Art lessons have a set format that is followed to maintain consistency, progression and allow for all the knowledge and skills being implemented.

The lesson structure has been designed to ensure the children learn more and remember more, combining recapping with learning new knowledge and allowing children to make links across skills and knowledge. 

Classroom displays reflect the children’s sense of pride in their artwork and this is also demonstrated by creative outcomes across the wider curriculum. The school environment also celebrates children’s achievements in art and demonstrates the subject’s high status in the school, with outcomes, including sculptures, enhancing the environment.

The Art and design curriculum at Cronton C.E. contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection.