Art and Design at Firs Primary School

At Firs Primary School, we are dedicated to providing a high-quality Art and Design curriculum that engages, inspires and challenges all pupils. Through our curriculum, children are encouraged to experiment, create and express their ideas using a wide range of media, including drawing, painting and sculpture. They learn about artists, designers and artistic movements from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and develop the skills needed to discuss, analyse and evaluate creative work using appropriate artistic vocabulary. Art and Design at Firs supports children’s imagination and creativity and provides a meaningful outlet for personal expression. Children are also given opportunities to further develop their skills through after-school clubs such as craft, sewing and knitting.

 

How is Art and Design taught at Firs?

Children are encouraged to become independent learners in Art and Design and to use their sketchbooks purposefully as a space to explore ideas, practise skills and reflect on their learning.

At the start of a learning sequence, children are introduced to artists, designers or craft makers and explore their work in context. They identify similarities and differences between artists, movements and styles, and make meaningful links to their own work. Children record examples of artworks in their sketchbooks and annotate them using artistic vocabulary and their own personal responses.

Children then develop and practise a range of skills linked to the focus artist or movement. They explore different techniques, materials and processes, analyse key vocabulary and discuss what they like and dislike about a range of diverse artworks. This helps children to make informed decisions about the skills and approaches they will use in their own creative work.

Afterwards, children then apply these skills to create their own artwork, inspired by the style or techniques studied. Teachers model processes and outcomes to support learning, while allowing children the freedom to develop their own ideas and creative responses.

Finally, children evaluate their own work, identifying elements they are pleased with and areas they would improve. They also take part in peer evaluation, offering thoughtful feedback on each other’s work. This may be verbal or be recorded through speech bubbles, annotations or scribed comments in their sketchbooks, supporting both reflection and oracy.

Throughout the year, all children have the opportunity to work with our expert art teacher, Katie, who works alongside class teachers to inspire creativity and support high-quality Art and Design teaching across the school.

 

Art and Design Curriculum in the National Curriculum

Progression (KS1 to KS2)

Key Stage 1 Pupils should be taught:

• To use a range of materials creatively to design and make products.
• To use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.
• To develop a wide range of art and design techniques using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.
• About the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

Key Stage 2 Pupils should be taught:

• To develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
• To create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas.
• To improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials (e.g. pencil, charcoal, paint, clay).
• To learn about great artists, architects and designers in history.

 

Look at our art

Here is a selection of artwork from our school, showcasing the fantastic work of pupils from EYFS to Year 6. Children's artwork is also displayed proudly throughout the school in classrooms and on display boards to celebrate the creativity and achievements of our children.