Intent

At Co-op Academy Nightingale we are covering the full National Curriculum in Art and Design. We study art and design through 4 main concepts:

• Materials – all our pupils will have the opportunities to explore and create with a wide range of malleable and non-malleable materials. They will develop their knowledge on using and creating colour in different mediums, as well as experimenting with techniques and tools when using clay, wire and print. 
• Creation – all pupils will have the opportunity to create a wide range of artistic items, developing their use of lines and shading in drawing in their own sketchbooks and focusing on the detail of an item in observational drawing techniques. 
• Significant people, artwork and movements – our children will study the common themes throughout different artistic movements throughout history. They will study individual artists, including Georgia O’Keeffe and Salvador Dali, and recreate pieces in the style of these artists. They will also study artistic movements such as surrealism, imperialism, and expressionism, comparing the similarities and differences of these eras and replicating the style using their own creative ideas. 
• Evaluating – our pupils will be reflective artists. They will be able to articulate their own opinions on pieces of art and give constructive feedback to their peers. They will have the opportunity to display their work to others and develop their ability to ask questions about intent and purpose from other artists. 

Art and Design is effectively planned and sequenced to maximise children’s knowledge and skills to embed in their long term memory. We will teach children powerful, culturally rich knowledge in a way that ensures they are most likely to remember and apply these skills to the circumstances of their lives. The art and design curriculum is successfully adapted to meet the needs of all children by ensuring practical, immersive and hands-on teaching that promotes independence and fluency. 

Implementation

We deliver our art and design curriculum through projects and the online software ‘Curriculum Maestro’ from Cornerstones to support our sequential planning and teacher subject knowledge.

Art and Design is taught through projects from Reception – Year 6 in our school. Through the projects, the curriculum for history, geography, art & design, design & technology and music are delivered to all pupils. Projects can range to a half term in length (6 weeks) to 8-9 weeks depending on the amount of knowledge that must be covered and consolidated before moving onto the next. Every project has a driver subject that will remain the constant focus throughout. In Reception, the projects focus on an area of learning and development from Development Matters’. In Reception the children will explore colours and materials such as clay and sand using tools that are appropriate for the purpose. They will also begin to talk about their own artwork, what they like about it and begin to form opinions on the work of their peers and significant artists. In key stage 1, the children will develop their understanding of patterns in the natural world and use colours and techniques to recreate these. They will also study significant artists such as Berndnaut Smilde and L S Lowry and identify common themes within pieces. In key stage 2, the children will develop their experiences and skills of using different materials for purpose. For example, when creating jewellery during ‘Mighty Metals’ in Year 3. They will also study in-depth artistic movements and significant artists, recreate what they observe and develop their skills on forming constructive feedback on their own work and the work of their peers. Throughout all year groups, there is a focus on key vocabulary that is revisited throughout different year groups. This is displayed in the classrooms as well as taught explicitly to all pupils through art and design lessons. 

On our journey on implementing our art and design curriculum, we have developed detailed project overviews that support the teachers in planning sequentially and knowing the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that the children must know by the end of the project. The Rosenshine Principles are a key part of our planning for projects ensuring that, for example, previously taught knowledge is continually reviewed and recapped so that links can be made to new knowledge. Every project from Reception to Year 6 begins with a memorable experience. This may include an external educational visit, inviting a guest into school or a debate within the classroom. The focus of this is to identify the previous knowledge of the pupils and make immediate links to other art and design driverl projects taught in previous years. Every project finishes with an innovate week. Throughout this week the pupils will create something – a gallery, a play, an informative magazine – that demonstrates the knowledge that they have acquired from the previous week’s teaching. 

To ensure the quality of art and design teaching is at it’s best at Co-op Academy Nightingale, moderation of workbooks/sketchbooks, lesson visits and pupil voice learning parties take place regularly throughout each half term. This is led by our curriculum team, particularly our art and design subject leader, and overseen by SLT. 

Impact

On leaving our school our children will have developed skills in 4 key areas within Art and Design. They will be able to discuss the benefits and downfalls of using specific materials for specific purposes, as well as using their experiences in using different mediums of art in their everyday lives. They will have developed an enjoyment for creating artwork through different mediums and be able to explain their preferred medium based on theory experiences. Our children will explain and recognise artwork from different significant people as well as art movements throughout history. They will use this knowledge in their key stage 3 experiences and build upon it by explaining their opinions on the work of others and their own work. Our children will be confident and passionate when  evaluating their pieces and the pieces created by their peers as well as using artistic vocabulary to develop questioning of the intent and purpose of pieces of artwork. 

They will be able to apply these skills and knowledge based on their understanding of the world around them. They will use experiences to apply to new challenges in the context of drawing on experiences at our school to apply to their future learning and lives.