ART

3 I's Statement

Our School Definition of Art:

Products created with imagination and skill

Intent Statement - Art and Design 

At St Joseph’s we are artists, we want our children to develop a love for art, craft and design! We want them to have boundless limits to what their ambitions are and to grow up wanting to become book illustrators, costume designers, conservators, curators, architects or web designers. Our Art curriculum is designed to engage, encourage and challenge pupils, whilst providing them with the knowledge and skills to be able to experiment, design and create their own works of art. Through the Commando Joe curriculum, we link artists to our topic themes and cover the objectives of the National Curriculum thoroughly at each key stage, as can be seen on our whole school topic tracker document.   

As our pupils progress, they will gain a greater understanding of how Art and Design reflects and shapes our culture and our history, and how it contributes to the creativity and wealth of our vast and ever changing world. At St Joseph’s we will provide our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the Art and Design National Curriculum but will aid them to be more confident and assertive in the subject of art that this in turn will prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences that they will experience in later life. We want our children to use their local area as a base to explore their environment and engage with, in addition to being able to learn from other cultures from within our community and further afield and to always respect diversity.  

Implementation Statement - Art and Design 

At St Joseph’s, Art is embedded from the early years through to Year 6. 

• Every child is given the opportunity to express their art in various ways using their knowledge through teaching. Key vocabulary is reinforced and becomes familiar to our children as they progress through school. 
• Each child records Art in their topic books. We give the children ownership of their art book in order to foster their sense of individuality and creativity.  
• Throughout their St Joseph’s journey, every child is given the opportunity to learn the skills of drawing, painting, collage, clay sculptures as well as digital art through the exploration of an initial key artist, craft maker or designer and their work.  
• Taking part in in-depth class discussion, the pupils can explore how their art can share their mutual understanding with famous art from around the world and use key vocabulary to discuss artworks including their own art creations. 
• Our pupils share their opinions, in effect becoming art critics and through informed discussions and observations, talking about what will improve their own practical work. 

• Cross-curricular links allow all our children to deepen their understanding across the curriculum, including the use of technology, in addition to the artworks from year group specific historical, geographical and scientific contexts. 
• Opportunities are welcomed and encouraged for children to visit local art galleries and museums are planned for, as well as visits from the local community artists. Please see our curriculum portfolio for further information. 
• Teachers follow a clear progression of skills, using our school topic tracker and our rainbow continuum, which ensures all pupils are challenged in line with their year group expectations and are given the opportunity to build on their prior knowledge. 

Impact Statement - Art and Design  

The impact of the art curriculum will in turn lead to outstanding progress over time across the school which will be relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Children will therefore be expected to leave St Joseph’s reaching at least age-related expectations for Art and Design. Our Art and Design curriculum will also lead pupils to have a passion for creativity. This will be evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice, children’s final creations and their art books. We will ensure that data is closely monitored each term so that we can identify which children are working at age related expectation, which children may need to be challenged to achieve greater depth, and which children may need additional support or differentiated activities. Subject leaders have regular conversations with teachers to ensure all children are being supported to meet their individual needs. Achievements are celebrated in classrooms as well as during celebration assembly and in the school corridor displays. We would love for you to come and take a look! As a school, we aim to develop our future artists and their appreciation of the art around them.