what is the intent of the art curriculum at Springfield?

At Springfield, we understand the importance of art objectively, to develop explicit subject specific skills but also as a safe space for personal expression as well as a rich and stimulating reinforcement of learning across the curriculum. At our school our pupils learn both in and through art which ensures its privileged position in our curriculum. 

By the end of Year Six, we hope that children will have experienced a wealth of art materials and the processes involved in using them. Pupils will leave Springfield Junior School with a solid knowledge and understanding of the formal elements of Art - line, tone, shape, space, value and colour and they will have encountered a breadth of art and design, multiculturally and historically so that they have schema to draw upon to create their own artwork. 

 

One of the fundamental principles of our art curriculum is developing children's confidence and bravery and to feel ready to take risks, try new things and understand that 'mistakes' are an integral part of a creative journey. In our art sessions we emphasise that the journey is sometimes more important than the destination. 

 

How is art taught? (implementation)

In school, we follow the CUSP Art curriculum which is organised into blocks.  Each year group has a taught weekly block, every half-term, which equates to six art blocks or units that punctuate the year.  Each block covers a particular set of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D and collage, alongside the six afore-mentioned elements of 'working artistically'. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils can revisit key disciplines throughout their journey at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity.  Each unit is built around a key artist study and vocabulary is explicitly taught and practised during each lesson. 

Within each lesson there are four structural elements:  

• Revisit prior learning
• Taught content 
• Point of practice 
• Point of reflection

As part of the planning and preparation for the delivery of each block, teachers consider how specific activities or the delivery may need to be adjusted to ensure that pupils with SEND are able to access the materials and participate fully in the lesson. Pupils with language and communication difficulties (including those with ASD) may need additional visual prompts to help them understand what is expected of them. Some pupils may have sensory sensitivities. For those pupils, adjustments may need to be made in order for them to access art and design materials. 

 

For further information on the way art units are sequenced at Springfield Junior school, please access the long term plan attached at the bottom of the page. 

How do we measure the impact of our art curriculum?

We are able to assess the impact of our art curriculum and inform our subject development plan through a range of formative methods. Teacher assessment when pupils are working and in action can be used to assess pupils’ knowledge and application of artistic techniques and their understanding and use of artistic vocabulary.  This helps us to understand pupils’ development as artists, rather than their ability to produce a prescribed end outcome. By encouraging pupils to articulate their thinking and reflections, we can understand which aspects of artistic development they may require additional teaching in and reshape teaching to support this.

Additional processes including pupil book studies, planning scrutinies, lesson observations as well as discussions with staff, allow the subject leader to have a broader picture of provision across the school. These opportunities to measure impact are used to inform future planning, teaching and assessment as well as targeted support for teachers and whole school CPD opportunities. 

 

To find out more about how we hope to develop our art curriculum offer this year, please find our art action plan attached below.