Art | Welsh House Farm

Art & Design

Overview Statement

At Welsh House Farm Community School, we aim to develop every child’s creativity and artistic expression and appreciation of the arts through the teaching of a broad, imaginative art and design curriculum. We want our children to love art, craft and design! We want them to be unlimited in their ambitions, and to understand that they can grow up to work in the animation industry or be illustrators, graphic designers, fashion designers, architects or printmakers. Our art curriculum is designed to equip our children with the skills and knowledge that they need to understand and create art whilst stimulating, engaging and challenging them. We aim to inspire all pupils and develop their confidence to experiment and develop their own works of art. We are a fully inclusive school and our curriculum reflects the true variety of art and aims to inspire all pupils, regardless of their background or ability, to be brave and creative. We want our children to use the local area as inspiration, to learn from other cultures and to embrace diversity. As our pupils progress, we want them to gain a greater understanding of how art and design contributes to their history and to the culture, creativity, and wealth of the world. We aim to not only equip our children with the minimum statutory requirements of the Art and Design National Curriculum, but to nurture their talents and interests, to enable them to think critically, to express their thoughts and ideas about the world around them and to inspire them to appreciate the arts throughout their whole lives.

WHFCS is a Rights Respecting School.

"We have the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities"

Article 31, UNCRC

“Art is not just a subject to learn, but an activity that you can practise with your hands, your eyes, your whole personality,” Quentin Blake

Within school, we use the National Scheme of Work as the basis for our curriculum planning.

In Early Years Foundation Stage, the teaching of Art and Design follows the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, alongside guidance from Development Matters. Expressive arts and design is a specific learning area which encourages our youngest artists to create original responses, not just to copy or imitate existing artworks. It fosters imagination, curiosity, creativity, cognition, critical thinking and experimentation. Expressive arts and design is broken down into two aspects: ‘Being Creative with Materials’ and ‘Being Imaginative and Expressive’. The children in the foundation stage at WHF have daily access to the creative areas and develop their skills and imagination through child initiated learning.

Teaching in Key Stage 1 and 2 is based on the National Curriculum (2014) Expectations

Art and Design is taught across the whole school through seven strands: drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, 3d sculpture and digital media. It is taught weekly, by class teachers, as an important part of the wider broad and balanced curriculum, and often links directly to the topic being taught in class.

All children across the school are given the opportunity and resources to produce creative work, explore their ideas and express themselves imaginatively. They are also taught about great artists and designers and the rich historical and cultural importance of their works.

Our art work is celebrated through vibrant displays within classrooms and across the whole school. Each child also has an individual ‘Art and Design Profile’, which showcases the progression of their skills across the seven strands, from Year 1 through to Year 6. The children are encouraged to evaluate their own work and the work of others, progressively developing the confidence to voice their personal opinions about a range of art.

We regularly hold art whole school competitions to encourage our children to engage in creative projects outside school. The children are given the freedom to submit entries in a wide variety of forms, including 3D models, drawings, paintings – even puddings! We have been seriously impressed by the entries for our recent competitions which celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Coronation of King Charles III.

Whilst at Welsh House Farm, children are also given the opportunity to work with professional artists and to view works of art in the wider world. The school enjoys being involved in arts based community projects.

"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."

National Curriculum 2014 – Art and Design Purpose of Study