Art and Design

Art and design form an important part of our curriculum. We believe art and design education stimulates creativity and imagination. Here at St James’ C of E infant and Nursery School, the learning journey for Art begins in The Early Years when children begin experimenting with different textures, colours and mark making. Through continuous provision, child led learning and adult directed activities providing opportunities and experiences, pupils will explore, experiment with and think about new and important concepts developing their artistic skills. In our Early Years we understand the importance of ‘the unique child’ and therefore understand that children will take individual journeys to reach these goals. Adults are aware of the journey that children in our Early Years embark on and use assessment of the children and in the moment planning to identify their next steps and ensure progression for each individual child.

In KS1 children are given the opportunity to use a range of materials and will encounter drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D and collage. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils can revisit key disciplines throughout their journey with increasing degrees of challenge and complexity. Children will be exposed to art from different times and cultures, developing their knowledge of famous pieces of art and artists. Children will become confident and proficient artists, making choices about which media to work in.

We believe that art and design is an essential part of our broad and balanced curriculum. We teach children the skills and techniques they need to master elements of art. We encourage them to pursue a creative process and create for a purpose. We show them how art is used in the world and push them to engage with varied works of art, to pass comment and develop an understanding of how art reflects and shapes the world’s history and culture.

The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum here at St James’ is based on the National Curriculum. It is supported by the CUSP Art and Design scheme of work. All children have the opportunity to learn art skills and techniques through this creative and exciting art curriculum.  We have mixed aged classes and follow a 2-year long-term curriculum plan.

The CUSP Art curriculum is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D and collage. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils can revisit key disciplines throughout their time at St James’ at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity. In addition to the core knowledge required to be successful within each discipline, the curriculum outlines key aspects of artistic development in the Working Artistically section. Each module will focus on developing different aspects of these competencies. This will support teachers in understanding pupils’ development as artists more broadly, as well as how successfully they are acquiring the taught knowledge and skills.

Our Art Subject Leader is Mrs Joanne Cocksedge.