Art & Design

Introduction to Art at Furzeham Primary

At Furzeham we want our children to access fully the experiences recommended in the New National Curriculum for Art. We aim to give children the opportunity of exploring a range of materials, tools and techniques that will enable the development of their personal creativity, imagination and skills while encouraging confidence in expression through art.

We also aim to provide children with opportunities to observe and record their world thus communicating through art. Art is an integral part of the development of the childas a whole and we want to provide opportunities to develop art through creating an exciting and stimulating learning environment.

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Specific Curricular Aim

We recognise that in Early Years children's work in painting and drawing supports and extends their development of language and, consequently, we place a great deal of importance upon helping children to express their view of the world and their reaction to it through this very personalised visual "language".  Through the handling of a wide variety of materials, work in art facilitates fine motor skills development in addition to the development of creativity and imagination.  The high expectation generated by enjoyment, awareness and learning where everyone succeeds makes it a potent tool for building confidence in the individual child.  Art education plays an important part in our work as it can be integrated with other parts of the curriculum.  It is therefore difficult to distinguish where one starts and the other ends.  However, we must make sure that art is not confined as an illustrative tool for thematic work - it is a powerful activity on its own even when it's thematically based.

Provision

The teaching of art at Furzeham will be facilitated through the creative curriculum and extra-curricular activities including after school clubs, links with the community and art partnerships.

Equal Opportunities and SEN

We ensure equal opportunities for access to, and the development of, art skills for all children in the school regardless of their gender, physical or individual needs and are particularly aware of the sense of achievement our less able children can experience through art based activities.  In addition we provide tasks that will challenge the artistically able child and give opportunities for the development of their own ideas and higher level of skills.  

We will strive to adopt an all-encompassing approach, ensuring that our resources, strategies and planned activities promote a positive image of all groups of people, recognising and celebrating the richness of diversity throughout humankind.

Assessment and Monitoring

Assessment in Art is ongoing throughout the Year Groups with emphasis on the development of skills.  In upper Key Stage 2 the children complete self/peer assessment sheets to monitor and discuss their own progress.  Art work is on display throughout the school year in all classes and photographs are used to record the breadth of Art activities. Teachers include their assessments for Art in the annual report to parents in the Summer Term.  General evaluation and feedback is ongoing with the pupils throughout art lessons. The provision for art is monitored by the Art coordinator.

Responsibilities

Teaching staff are responsible for the implementation of the Art Curriculum.

 The Art coordinator is responsible for the strategic development and management of Art across the school by:

  • taking the lead in policy development and helping produce schemes of work in collaboration with colleagues to ensure continuity and progression in Art throughout the school.
  • Supporting colleagues in the implementation of schemes of work when appropriate.
  • Monitoring progress in Art.
  • Being responsible for the purchase of specialised Art resources.
  • Keep up to date with developments in Art Education and disseminate information to colleagues as appropriate.