Art & Design

Legal Framework

The Expressive Arts and Design sections of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2017) and the National Curriculum Art and Design Programmes of Study (2014) form the roots of Huttoft Primary School’s art and design curriculum. At Huttoft, we have adopted the Cornerstones Curriculum 22 for art and design which ensures that our curriculum is fully sequenced and connected.

Our art curriculum is underpinned by the national curriculum statement for art:

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should 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 should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Intent

We understand that high-quality art and design education teaches children a specific set of skills, many of which are exclusive to the art curriculum, namely: imagination and creativity; expression; visual thinking; observational skills; problem solving; analytical skills, individuality and autonomy. Engaging with art is essential to the human experience and one of the most natural forms of expression, which humans begin to develop early on in life. We endeavour to continue our learners’ art education by:

• Encouraging children’s natural expression of self through a range of different medium and experiences;
• Developing children’s proficiency in the building blocks of art;
• Developing children’s knowledge and understanding of the arts through exposure to contemporary, classic and diverse artists and designers and their contributions to art across time periods and cultures;
• Encouraging children to find inspiration from unlimited and undefined sources and guiding learners to explore and develop their own ideas, developing as artists in their own right.

We aim for all Huttoft artists to:

• Be fluent in the fundamentals of art, namely observational drawing and colour work;  
• Be confident, creative and curious in using a range of skills to achieve desired outcomes and effects;
• Be adept at finding inspiration from a variety of sources;
• Have an extensive art-related vocabulary;
• Be knowledgeable about key works of a contemporary, classic and diverse range of art, artists, designers and craftspeople;
• Be knowledgeable about the contribution of art over periods in history and across cultures;
• Be courageous and positive when solving problems, reflecting on prior knowledge and past successes and failures, and adopting a systematic approach where possible;
• Be resilient, adaptable leaders within their own their learning, understanding that struggle is often a necessary step in learning;
• Work both independently and collaboratively – demonstrating respect and teamwork – within a safe, secure learning environment.