Intent

At Crawley Ridge Junior School, we are committed to providing an art and design curriculum that stimulates creativity, imagination and inspiration for all pupils. We aim to equip pupils with the skills and knowledge they need to experiment confidently and to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas. As pupils progress, they develop the ability to think critically and gain a deeper, more rigorous understanding of art and design. Through exposure to a diverse range of artists, pupils learn to use art as a powerful means of communicating their learning and feelings.

Implementation

In all year groups, lessons follow and cover all aspects of the National Curriculum, through topic-based planning supplemented by the ‘KAPOW’ national scheme of work. This enables our teachers to deliver creative, inspiring and engaging lessons and provides a progression of skills and knowledge.

Our curriculum provides sequential lessons organised into four core strands which run through each year group:

• Drawing
• Painting and mixed media
• Sculpture and 3D
• Sketchbook development

At Crawley Ridge Junior School, our art curriculum is closely linked to our history and geography topics, ensuring continuity and progression across the school. Our Art and Design units are further enriched through school trips and visiting workshops that connect directly to the current theme or topic

Children generate ideas, make and evaluate throughout each unit applying and building on their subject knowledge and vocabulary. This is recorded in their sketchbooks, which are a working journal of their explorations throughout the sequence of lessons. The children are taught the skills and knowledge they need to be able to make informed choices and become their own artist. They work together and learn from each other during each stage of their learning journey.

Over the course of their time at Crawley Ridge, pupils are exposed to a rich and diverse selection of significant artists. They explore elements that appeal to their own artistic style and incorporate these into the making process, continually evaluating their work as they go. Pupils then use these evaluations to adapt and refine their ideas, the processes they use and their artistic intentions. 

Impact

Pupils’ sketch books are used to demonstrate skills and control and technique with a range of media alongside their final pieces which are celebrated on our displays. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
• Images of the children’s practical learning.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
• Foundation formative assessments for each unit.

Pupils are confident in expressing themselves through a wide variety of media. Pupil’s exposure to a wide range of artists and techniques enables them to have the confidence to become their own artist.