Intent

At the Queens’ Federation we aim to foster ‘Learning for Life.’

We will provide a rich, relevant and inspirational curriculum that promotes a lifelong love of learning and equips our pupils with the key knowledge and understanding, skills and personal qualities that they will need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Our curriculum is designed to be relevant to our children and is linked to the context of our school and the local community.

At the Queens’ Federation, we believe that art is a valuable part of a child’s education. Our art curriculum aims to develop creativity, engage and inspire pupils and equip them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they will develop their critical abilities and their understanding of the visual language of art and design including line, tone, texture, colour, pattern, shape and 3D form.

Implementation

Our art curriculum, is designed to support pupils to develop an understanding of their own cultural heritages and the cultural heritages of others through the study of a diverse range of artwork and artists, both locally, nationally and internationally. Pupils will experience a wide range of media and tools and will have the opportunity to apply their understanding of this media in a range of contexts. Skills and knowledge are built upon year by year and are sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all pupils. Lessons offer opportunities for experimentation and exploration in addition to the production of finished piece of work.

Our art curriculum is enriched through careful links to other areas of the curriculum and is further enhanced through the study of inspirational artists and renowned pieces of work. Alongside this exploration, first hand experiences such as visits, trips, use of the local area and workshops with local artists provide pupils with a real life context on which to base their artwork.

We view assessment as a holistic process, which takes place in every lesson through observation of, in questioning and in conversation with pupils and in the production of art and design outcomes. Art assessment criteria set out the key knowledge and skills that a pupil should achieve at the end of each unit of work.

Impact

Pupils leave the Queens’ Federation with an appreciation and understanding of art in the world around them. They are equipped with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design and view themselves as artists, whose art style is important and valued. Pupils have a clear understanding of how art and design both reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture and creativity of our locality, nation and world. Pupil outcomes evidence a broad and balanced art curriculum and at the end of each year, pupils achieve age related expectations and retain the knowledge and skills learnt from each unit of work.

The yearly overview for A&D in stages throughout Queen Emma is expressed below:

 

For more information please click on the link to view our Art Policy on our Policies page.

Examples of Learning

Year 1 have been experimenting with different paintbrushes to see the range of brushstrokes we can create. As well painting in our sketch books, we also painted on fabric, coloured paper and textured paper to see the different results we can get. 

In Year 3 we have been practising our printmaking.  With clear instructions and modelling from the class adult, we then: designed our print-block using foam and string, made the print-block and finally created the print in our sketchbook.  Some even went on to create a "repeating pattern" with the designs. Well done!

Year 2 had a wonderful Art day! We explored colour mixing, how cool and warm colours can make you feel, and mark making with paints using a variety of brushes and tools. 

We looked at the work of Andre Derain, Vincent Van Gogh and then Erin Hansen in more detail. Linking to our Fire! fire! topic, we then painted the background for a Great Fire of London scene using warm colours and mixing paints. 

Finally, we found out about the work of collage artist Laura Shabazz and used collaging techniques to add buildings and flames to our artwork... it was great fun! 

The Year Fives have been looking at sketching in art.  We have reviewed some techniques previously taught, and have extended our skills in preparation for the upcoming week. Amazing work! 

Displays

Throughout Queen Emma, we have taken time to focus on developing our understanding of different artists.  This has allowed us to display our curricular learning creatively.  Here are some school display boards highlighting how we have done it. 

 

cLAY dAY

Clay Day was a hit in Autumn 2!  Year 6 created clay heads in the style of David Shillinglaw and then painted them. 

Year 2 were inspired by the work of Georgia O'Keeffe and created beautiful floral artwork using oil pastels. 

Reception classes have been celebrating Diwali. We have been making rangoli patterns, Diwali cards, making diva lamps out of clay and even had a visit from some of our families that celebrate Diwali. We are excited to share everything we have made with our parents during our Diwali afternoon.

Here Year 4 children are showing their amazing self portraits inspired by Picasso. We learnt about Pablo Picasso and his style of drawing and painting. Then we used that style to create our own self portraits using pencil for the realistic portrait and oil pastel for our Picasso inspired portraits.