Art & Design
At St Paul’s, we want to enable all pupils to feel able to think and act creatively. That means exploring all aspects of creativity: personal and social, exploring art for a variety of reasons, in a variety of contexts. Most importantly, it means enjoying the journey, so that pupils want to engage in creative activities, and so that they can grow to appreciate and value the importance of art as a highly subjective and individual experience, but one which is capable of bringing people together.
What our children say about art
In a pupil voice there was a resounding response to, ‘Yay it’s art now!’
Children at St Paul's say, 'In art there is no right or wrong. Art is a lesson to feel free! '
I like that it is a break from writing which allows us to express how we feel.
Our intent for art and design at St Paul’s
Children will be resilient, able to persevere and learn from their mistakes when creating art work. Pupils will take risks in their experimentation and see mistakes as part of their artistic journey and as a road to creativity and individuality in their artwork.
Children will record their artistic journeys in a sketchbook of their thoughts, in turn producing a creative journey.
To communicate effectively and confidently when discussing and critiquing their own work and their peers, as well as when conversing or challenging a famous artist’s work.
To be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. This should be meaningful and continuous throughout the process.
To foster a deep respect for beliefs, cultures, different world views and all that makes us unique through the study of artists from all walks of life.
For pupils to have a rich culture capital by arranging trips to museums and galleries.
For pupils to have an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.
To foster pupils who are appreciative of art and design in how it both reflects and shaped our history, and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
What our children say about art
We get to use lots of different mediums and we love how we can use/learn different styles
We are able to look at diverse art from all around the world
It is a way for me to express myself without using words. Art lessons send you to your own world of imagination
Overview showing the diversity of the artists we study
Our art and design end points
By the end of KS1:
To begin to annotate sketchbook work.
To know a variety of artists.
By the end of KS2:
To use sketchbooks confidently.
To not be afraid to make mistakes.
To be able to talk about a variety of artists - their work /influence etc.
By the end of primary to have visited an art gallery.
How and what do we teach in art and design?
All classes at St Paul’s enjoy regular art lessons. Children are 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 and design. Basic skills are introduced and then built upon, including: drawing and sketchbook; paint, surface and texture; print, collage and colour and working in three dimensions. Skills are revisited throughout the years and the use of sketchbooks underpins this process. Children use sketchbooks to record their artistic journeys and they become a working document, not a journal of finished pieces. By creating a safe and nurturing environment, pupils are encouraged to take creative risks and to learn from the journey, rather than head towards a pre-defined end result.
What our children say about art
When we feel stressed, we find art lessons to be calm and relaxing
We love that art takes us on a journey; how lots of little things build up the bigger picture
What our children say about art
Y6 children express how they like that they follow what they need to in the lessons but are then given the freedom to be individual. They enjoy being given all the information and skills to include and they can see it all come together in one masterpiece at the end.
How is art and design taught in the Early Years?
In the Early Years, we recognise that all areas of learning and development are interconnected. However, Art and Design primarily sits with the ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ area within the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. The children’s progress and development is therefore monitored against the Early Learning Goals for ‘Exploring and Using Media and Materials’ and ‘Being Imaginative’. Foundation Stage staff use observations as the basis for planning. These observations will identify their achievements, interests and next steps for learning and then lead the direction of the planning. We deliver learning for all of the areas through purposeful play and learning experiences, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities.
Children have daily opportunities to develop their Art and Design skills and free access to a variety of carefully planned materials and resources. Children are encouraged to draw inspiration from a range of sources and to create and think critically.
We value the individuality of children’s learning and the process as well as the outcome.
Art and Design across the school
At St Paul’s, we aim to encourage and enable a high quality exploration of the visual arts. Throughout different year groups, our activities and projects help build skills, knowledge and experience, and help nurture independent, explorative learners right from Reception all the way to Year 6.
We place great value on the journey, knowing that the outcome will follow.
Art Curriculum at St Paul's 2023-24 v1.pdfArt Curriculum at St Paul's 2023-24 v2.pdfYear 1
Year 1 learnt about the concept of nature sculpture. The children had an opportunity to learn about different kinds of nature sculptures and to explore the work of Andy Goldsworthy and other environmental artists. They focused on different techniques using natural materials, model making, observational drawing and collecting materials.
Year 2
Year 2 use the book 'Black Artists Shaping the World' by Sharna Jackson as inspiration for a unit of work. Over the course of the unit the children look at different artists and create artwork in response to it.
Amber in Year 2 - 'I enjoy realising there is different art as I thought there was just painting but now I realise there is collaging to!'
Year 3
Year 3 complete relief printing in conjunction with their Egyptian topic as well as using their observational skills for still life drawings.
Year 4
Children in Year 4 have produced work inspired by the artist William Johnson. They have carefully considered their colour choices and used a blending technique with oil pastels to produce these striking pieces.
Year 5
Investigating the built environment through drawing and printmaking, Year 5 learn about the work of architect Zaha Hadid, creatively presenting research on artist Hundertwasser and exploring the symbolism of monument design.
Year 6
Year 6 create sculptural 'wave bowls' based on Islamic art. Their initial work is to research the art from the Islamic work, recording their ideas in their sketchbooks. We visit the V and A to inspire us more. Next step was to design and plan how each tile will be decorated, from there the children create a sculpure out of the triangluar tiles. The challenging part came with having to connect the tiles. It’s been a great project to see progression from initial research to final outcome.
Events
Young Artists' Summer Show website.pdfYoung Artist's Summer Show
Thank you to those who took part in the Young Artists’ Summer Show 2023. The judges have now made their final selection for this year's exhibitions. The Royal Academy received over 21,000 submissions and were been blown away by all of the entries this year, as was I! Unfortunately, none of our submissions were accepted this year and I’m sure it was incredibly difficult for all of the judges to choose winners.
Thank you for sharing your creativity! I was thoroughly impressed by your imaginative artwork and think our whole school community should see your creative pieces. Please take a look to see our submissions. I particularly liked reading your artwork titles :)
Exhibition
The children at St Paul’s were very excited to invite their families to an exhibition of their artwork held at St Paul’s Church.
This special event was one of the highlights of the school year and we know the children were extremely happy and proud to show off their work. The pictures were professionally mounted, framed and catalogued, and were displayed on special boards, allowing parents, children and staff to stroll around our real “art gallery”.
A special thank you to St Paul’s Church for allowing us to use the church as an exhibition space. It was a lovely occasion to strengthen our ties with the community and the church.
