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Art at Blakehill

Art at Blakehill

 

Intent

At Blakehill Primary School we believe that all children should be given the opportunity to express themselves creatively through art and design. We believe that all children should be to be confidently creative and explore a wide range of media to create imaginative and exciting pieces of art work of which they are proud.  We want children to be confident to explore techniques and to be able to transfer the skills that they have been taught previously to their independent artwork. We believe that all children should be taught a wide range of artistic skills and show confidence in painting, drawing and sculpture.

The children at Blakehill should be given the chance to explore the work of a range of famous artists, both contemporary and also artists from the past. They should be able to talk with confidence about famous artists and be able to use their knowledge to influence their own pieces of art work. Children should be able to form their own artistic preferences and be able to talk about these with confidence.

Most importantly we aim to give all learners an appreciation of art. We hope that children at Blakehill are proud of their art work and enjoy working creatively.

Implementation

Children at Blakehill are taught art weekly during a whole class session. Children are taught the skills in line with the national curriculum in Art and Design. Links are often made with other subjects so that the pieces of art created are meaningful and enhance learning in other subject areas. Most classes have the opportunity to be taught art by an art specialist. We welcome local artists into school to work alongside the children and class teachers. This gives children and teachers the opportunity to further their knowledge and ask questions to support their understanding. Local artists work closely with teachers to ensure that there is a clear progression of art skills through each year group. 

 Children in years five and six access additional art opportunities through a carousel system, each class rotates through four activities. One of the activities is linked to art. Art work produced by children in school is kept in a sketch book which follows the child through school from year 1 to year 6. Larger pieces of work are collected in a folder. This allows us to see progression of artistic skills clearly for each individual child. Some work is displayed in classrooms or in corridors around our school as we are proud to show the children's artistic achievements.

We hold an exhibition of art yearly to showcase the work of each class in art and design. Parents are invited to this and children are proud to show their work.

Children will have other opportunities to develop their artistic skills through visiting artists and whole school art challenges such as the mini canvas project and Christmas card design project. 

Arts Council: Pupil Voice

Children are listened to at Blakehill and their thoughts and opinions are valued. We ensure that children support our planning and are able to contribute to the development of the arts in school. At Blakehill we have an arts council. Our arts council support arts leaders in improving and developing opportunities within the arts. There is an arts council representative in every class. 

Additionally, pupil surveys help to inform leaders of any areas where children may need further support or teaching opportunities. Leaders use the information gathered in surveys to improve the teaching of the arts at Blakehill. 

Assessment

Art assessments are completed termly by class teachers with support from the art specialist where needed. Teachers will use the school assessment criteria to determine whether a child is working within age-related expectations, above or below. The assessments are used to inform future planning and show teachers where support may be needed.

Impact

Children at Blakehill speak about art with passion and enthusiasm. They are able to make links in their learning to famous artists and are interested to find out about new materials and techniques. The children's sketch books tell a story about each child's journey of art throughout their time at Blakehill and are a pleasure to look at and see how each child has grown artistically. Children at Blakehill are bold, creative and excited to 'have a go' at any artistic challenge given to them. 

  • Children enjoy art and design and show pride in their work.
  • All children have the opportunity to work with a range of different artistic media and materials within painting, drawing and sculpture.
  • Children show a clear progression in their artistic skills each year.
  • Artistic terms and vocabulary are confidently used by children when talking about pieces of art work.
  • Children are be able to talk confidently about a range of famous artists and begin to form their own artistic preferences.
Mrs Marsden
Mrs Marsden teaches art at Blakehill Primary School.