The Art Curriculum at Parochial
'Parochial Cares', our mission is to prepare children for the future by living, learning and growing together in God.
To live life... life in all its fullness (John 10:10)
Vision:
At Parochial, we aim to inspire children’s artistic skills; passion for art and understanding of the people who work within this field. The curriculum is planned in a way, which their skills are progressed of the years at Parochial, they will learn a range of skills, technical vocabulary and understanding of the artists influencing them. The Art curriculum at Parochial develops the whole child, building skills and knowledge that can be used across the whole curriculum and within the community.
Implementation:
At Parochial we are:
Educating for wisdom, knowledge and skills in Art through the development of a clear progression in skills and knowledge that builds upon strong foundations. Art is present in the Early Years where they begin to develop a spontaneous attitude towards art and the act of making and creating, they can experiment with tools and materials confidently.
In Key Stage 1, children expand on their enjoyment of making and creating by building their mark making and drawing skills, learning different techniques and styles, and using 2D shapes in their drawings. This progression of skills can be identified by their use of sketchbooks, which show simple annotations, and remarks that make their understanding of their new skill apparent.
In Key Stage 2, Children continue to develop their wisdom, knowledge and skills using different resources to draw and paint with, expanding their use of geometric design and mathematical drawings developing their use of 2D shapes in their work to 3D. Similarly, to KS1, this can be found through their ever developing use of sketchbooks, taking ownership over their work; displaying it in a way which allows them to harness the skills they have developed.
Educating for hope and aspiration through Art by learning about career paths, which rely on artistic skills and knowledge of artists who inspire. During the course of each year, the children are exposed to a wide range of artists such as; Carl Giles (cartoons), Luz Perez Ojeda (optical illusions), Andy Warhol and Banksy (modern day) and a wide range of photographers once in Year 6. These artists are weaved into the lessons through teaching skills inspired by their work, from this allow opportunity for discussion and an exploration of how they link to future career paths through theme, science, writing and maths.
Educating for community and living well together by understanding the different artists within the community and the structural inspiration, which surrounds them. The children explore the local area by observing local structures, nature and history within the town of Ashton-Under-Lyne, using their sketchbooks. They have the opportunity to develop sketching and painting techniques, using monuments within the town such as; churches, markets, cenotaphs, rivers/canals and hills. Whilst the children can use their surroundings as inspiration, they gain an appreciation of different background and circumstances, which make up their locality; they compare the local areas with studies of India, the African continent, Spain and our capital city, London. Whilst having the opportunity to delve into the landmarks, they can gain a cultural appreciation of artists and community art throughout history, through a focus of Prehistoric art and sculptures.
Educating for dignity and respect by the development of a clear progression in dignity and respect for the work of artists; their own work and the work of their peers. Art is present in the Early Years where they begin to learn that artists create with care and skill and can acquire the ability to explain what they are doing.
In Key Stage 1, children begin to be able to describe the work of others using basic language expressing how the history of art can create a wealth of culture. They use this by annotating their work in the sketchbook using key vocabulary and expanding upon stem sentences set by the teacher.
In Key Stage 2, Children continue to develop their wisdom for art by deepening their evaluation skills and knowledge of artist throughout history and of different cultures to their own. Using their vocabulary skills, they can form opinions of their own work and that of others to identify what is necessary to improve. Over time, they will build a more complex range of vocabulary; being able to enjoy a sophisticated discussion of art. The annotations in their sketchbooks with be ever evolving across LKS2 to UKS2, moving from stem sentences to detailed independent annotations.
Impact:
Our explorative and diverse Art curriculum enables our children to have the skills and ‘open minded’ attitude needed to use in other subjects. The children have a secure and progressive foundation for the art subject to take with them into secondary school. They are able to annotate their work eloquently and suggest appropriate improvements of others, using technical vocabulary; understanding techniques used and how to improve their work and move it on. They gain a resilience when trying new techniques and can self-assess and reflect on their work through the freedom of how they use their sketchbooks. These skills are transferable to making a positive impact on their future with an attitude that ‘they can tackle anything’.