"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

Pablo Picasso

Art Intent at Wootey Infant School

The Wootey Art and Design curriculum engages, inspires and challenges children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of Art and Design. A Wootey child will encounter many different art skills units such as; sculpture, textiles, collage, clay, digital art and printing all with the underpinning skills of drawing and painting running through them.

We value Art and Design as an important part of our children's learning. Art and Design encourages our children to develop and extend their creative skills along with an opportunity for self-expression and a chance to develop resilience, confidence and critical thinking skills through individual or collaborative activities.

There are no mistakes in art!

Implementation

Through carefully selected artists and craftspeople, each half term a Wootey artist has the opportunity to explore a new Art and Design skill. The artists and craftspeople have been selected to reflect old masters and contemporary artists, different periods and cultures and ethnicity and genders. This gives the Wootey artist an understanding of how Art and Design both reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. Comparing two artists or craftspeople each half term floods the children with many examples of great art happening all around them and gives them varied view points and opinions helping  shape their own responses to art. 

In Key Stage 1, the Wootey artist begins their sketch book journey, building a collection of skills and ideas to return to and develop their art techniques and ideas. Sketch books aren't formally marked by a teacher as there are no rights or wrongs in art. But at the end of every unit and artist studied, the Wootey artist analyses and evaluates their own and others works of art, always striving to improve or to not be afraid of change.

There are no mistakes in art, only things that we can choose to embrace or change.

Year R

The Early Learning Goals are organised across seven areas of learning. Many of the relevant early outcomes for art are taken from Expressive Arts and Design but all have art as a thread running throughout them.

Physical development includes focus on fine motor development, beginning to show accuracy when drawing, using a range of tools including scissors and paintbrushes.

Art can be used as an aid to safely explore emotions and talking about their feelings within Personal, Social and Emotional as well as being confident to try new activities, showing independence, resilience and perseverance.

Communication and Language skills are developed through discussions, offering their own ideas and using specific introduced art vocabulary.

In mathematics, they explore pattern and shapes and in Literacy, retelling stories through drawing and painting 

Understanding the World; being able to explore past and present, people, cultures and communities and the natural world.

Key Stage 1

Purpose of study

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education will engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they are able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They will also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Aims

The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:

• produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences

• become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques

• evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design

• know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.