Vision

We want our art curriculum at Greasbrough to promote a passion for creativity. The curriculum will enable our learners to be confident to produce and discuss individual pieces of artwork.  We are eager for children to have the chance to appreciate art both inside and out of the classroom. Learning is developed from our core principles which are colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.

When developing our art curriculum, we wanted to focus on embedding a skills based curriculum that would develop skills in a wide range of artistic outcomes. We are aware that our children need to develop their exposure to a range of art (both classical and modern) and we worked to include a wide range of artists from various countries and backgrounds.

Art at Greasbrough

In Foundation Stage, children are taught a range of basic art resources that includes pencils, pastels, glue and rubbers. Children are encouraged to represent their own experiences in their artwork and complete topics on self-portrait and nature that surrounds us. Children are encouraged to work with a range of materials (paint, clay and various paper types) to broaden fine motor skills. Children are taught focus vocabulary that they can they use to describe their artwork.  Children also begin to appreciate Art from different artists such as Van Gogh and Kandinsky.

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 we focus on 3 key units to broaden skills and exposure to a range of art. Our units are: 3D art (sculpture), printing and textiles. The skills of drawing, painting and collage are planned within each unit to ensure these skills are constantly repeated.  Within these units we focus on a broad range of artists (such as LS Lowry, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Hans Holbein, Pete McKee, and Hokusai) to allow our children exposure to both classical and modern art. We felt it imperative that children are immersed in the artists’ work to ensure that they are inspired to go on to recreate what they have witnessed within their own artwork.

All children are exposed to our key concepts throughout lessons and we build on them as children progress through school. It is vital that these concepts are built upon year on year as all elements have a relationship to one another:

• Most images begin their life as line drawings.
• Lines cross over one another to form shapes.
• Shapes can be filled with tone and colour, or repeated to create pattern.
• A shape may be rendered with a rough surface to create a texture.
• A shape may be projected into three dimensions to create form.

Sketchbooks are an integral part of our Art curriculum and these are used within every unit of work to allow children to practise skills and express their opinions about artwork studied.

Resources

All children have access to a wide variety of art resources. Children have access to drawing pencils, paints, papers, clay, mod roc and a range of tools. All of these resources will be used within lessons throughout KS1 and KS2 to ensure exposure to a range of tools.

Showcase

Unlike other subjects it has been difficult to find suitable trips to take children on to discover art. With that in mind, we have started to bring art to Greasbrough! We aim to exhibit the artwork we produce in a gallery style showcase to allow children to take pride in the exceptional art that they produce. We love to invite artists in to show children that art is accessible for all.  All of our classroom and central space displays celebrate children’s outcomes in Art.

Picture This!

Every year Greasbrough takes part in the Rotherham Picture This project. Last year’s theme was ‘Light’.  We made our own interpretation of lighthouses linked to our Coasts topic. We also linked this to World War 2 and the Blitz and incorporated this into our paintings. We proudly showcased at the Picture This exhibition at Gullivers World