Art and Design Overview

At Throckley Primary School, we are passionate about the arts and our art curriculum reflects this in its approach to the teaching and learning in the subject. Our aim is to enable children to communicate through the arts, giving children a voice through self-expression and individual creativity. Our art curriculum is designed in a way that enables children to think, work and communicate like an artist. As a school, we are ambitious in our approach to teaching art by allowing children an opportunity to acquire and develop knowledge and skills associated with art and represent their learning during the creative process.

Art can be a very personal experience, and our art curriculum is designed to embody our school values and the drivers that underpin our learning throughout the school. We use our school drivers to ensure our children, and their community, are represented in our art curriculum by;

Understanding our place in the world

Art has been used across the world as a means of communication before language began. Children at Throckley Primary School are taught from the very start of their education that every child can be an artist, and that their artwork can have an impact in the wider world. Children will learn about local artists and those artists whose work has spanned generations and is considered important to this date.

Aspiring to achieve

The creative arts are an integral part of our society and our countries economy. Children understand that the knowledge and skills they acquire through our art curriculum can lead to job opportunities and successful careers in the industry. Children know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Broadening horizons

Art is an integral part of developing a child’s creativity and self-expression. It can be a way to communicate their own understanding about the world around them. Each piece of artwork that a child creates can inspire questions and answers, emotions and response. Children are not bound by any one discipline and can explore ways of creating truly unique pieces of artwork that highlights their learning.

Throughout their work in art, children will develop a sense of themselves as an artist, and begin to learn about other artists and their message to the wider world.

National Curriculum Aims

At Throckley Primary School, we follow the National Curriculum, which aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Produce creative work, exploring ideas and recording experiences.
• To explore and develop understanding of 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.

Throughout their time at Throckley Primary School, pupils will be taught about significant artists and designers throughout history. They will be given opportunities to share in rich stories that will develop their understanding of key skills and knowledge such as colour mixing and art movements.

Key stage 1 pupils will 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 in 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 will 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 [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
• about great artists, architects and designers in history. 

At Throckley Primary school, we take pride in our creativity. Children can develop their art skills in lunchtime and afterschool clubs, such as sewing and textiles club, and whole-school art weeks give children a chance to dedicate time to mastering skills they have learned. We are proud to share our artwork in the community through projects such as ‘Great Exhibition of the North’ and each year group has an art ambassador to share our wonderful learning.