ART

Art at Thurcroft Infant School

Our art curriculum encourages children to concentrate, persevere, be creative, explore and be proud of their achievements. In order to commit knowledge to children’s long-term memories, we plan time to teach new skills and knowledge, as well as time to revisit, rehearse and refine skills through directed and self-initiated art work.

What does the National Curriculum say we should teach our pupils?

National Curriculum aims for Art and Design:

Produce creative work, exploring ideas and recording experiences
Become proficient in 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

National curriculum for Key stage 1 states pupils should 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

William Morris said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” This is how we have divided our Art and Design curriculums, into beautiful (art) and useful (DT).

What are Visual Concepts and Visual Techniques?

The Key Visual Techniques and the Integral Concepts all combine as part of a web, coming together to create beauty and interest though development of skills and knowledge.

Key Visual Techniques

All artwork is made up of Key Visual Techniques. These are what make a piece of art attractive or interesting to the viewer. The key visual techniques of art are colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space and are the building blocks of all art work.

These key visual techniques can be used individually but have a strong 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 colour, tone and pattern
A shape can be rendered to create texture
A shape can be projected in to three dimensions to create form

The Key visual techniques are covered repeatedly and built upon each year to embed a deeper understanding of them.

Integral Concepts

A long side the Key Visual Techniques outlined above, we have our Integral Concepts which are observation, evaluation, source, style, themes and time period. These are taught and referred to each half term.

What artwork might the children get to study?

During their time at Thurcroft Infants, children will have the opportunity to see works of art by a variety of artists.