Art

Curriculum Intent

At St James’ Blackburn Church of England Primary School, we are all budding artists! Consequently, we want all of the children in our care to develop a passion and commitment for art, developing their independence, initiative and originality. Each child is exposed to the skills and experiences to allow them to think and act like a creative practitioner, whether that be a graphic designer, illustrator, curator or print maker. Children have the opportunity to build on their knowledge and understanding of art to inform, inspire and interpret their own, or other artist’s ideas, observations and feelings, whilst developing their own creativity along the way!

The art and design curriculum has been carefully designed so that our children develop their artistic capital. We want our children to remember their art and design lessons in school; to cherish these exciting memories and embrace the extraordinary opportunities they are presented with! Each year, our pupils take part in an Extra Learning Opportunities (ELO) Day, which enriches and extends our art curriculum. These days are planned around a specific theme or focus, such as relevant artists, spirituality or God’s world. Pupils also have the chance to enter competitions, including the ‘Spirited Arts Competition’, and to share their creativity with the wider community through displays at our local church and during school art exhibitions.

Art and Design is a way of children being able to express themselves. It allows all children the same experiences, regardless of their academic capabilities. Art and design has the ability to use visual language skilfully and convincingly to provide children with the opportunity to express their emotions, interpret observations and convey an insight into their individually. This provides children with a safe learning environment to promote their mental health and wellbeing.

As a school, we want to equip all children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the art and design National Curriculum, but also prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. We want children to use their local area to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, cooperate with one another and appreciate what they have. For example, pupils in Years 1 and 2, develop an awareness of influential local creatives, including fashion designers Bilal Patel from Blackburn and Henry Holland from Lancashire, as well as Blackburn sculptor Halima Cassel. Their work provides rich inspiration and helps pupils appreciate the artistic talent within their own community. In Year 3 pupils focus on the Manchurian artist L.S. Lowry during the Spring term to influence their mixed media paintings.

Curriculum Implementation

The Art curriculum has been created to ensure that high standards of teaching and learning are taking place across the school. Art is taught every other week throughout school, focussing on one topic every term, covering objectives stated in the National Curriculum. As a school, we find this teaching approach works well in comparison to teaching art in blocks, as it allows adequate time for the subject to be taught and ensures the children’s knowledge is secure and is being retained into their long-term memory.

The art curriculum is planned to demonstrate progression. Children will be able to access a curriculum which will allow them to gain a coherent understanding of each unit of work covered throughout the school. Key vocabulary and key learning is supported by a ‘sticky knowledge organiser,’ which supports multilingual children with their vocabulary acquisition and understanding to support their learning and understanding throughout each topic.

A scheme of work has been created for each topic which highlights and outlines the objectives for each art lesson. The schemes of work focus on providing all children with engaging activities and resources; to help children to achieve each national curriculum objective. Each lesson typically starts with an enquiry question followed by a previous knowledge quiz which is linked to the objective and the previous lessons learning, to ensure that the children understood the objective and are able to apply their learning and understanding in order to enhance their learning. Children have the opportunity to explore and practise the art skills and techniques involved in the topic in their own sketch books, where they record and evidence their own work. Children then have the opportunity to revisit ideas before producing their final piece. This sequence of learning is followed for each art and design topic. Plans are adapted regularly based on the children’s’ needs and the vast majority of art lessons are taught discretely, with meaningful links made across subjects where appropriate. For example, in Year Six the children focused on the English artist Paul Cummins, and created their own collaborative sculptures of poppies in his own style; this linked to their Spring History topic of World War II.

As a school, we believe that our pupils need to be actively involved in making sense of their own learning. Within each year group, art strands are revisited in a progressive manner to ensure that children have the opportunity to build upon previous skills and knowledge, especially during these unprecedented times.

Curriculum Impact

At St. James’ we measure the impact of our art curriculum by assessing the topics termly, with both a formative and summative approach. Staff will use this information to inform their short- term planning and tailor plans to meet the children’s specific needs and interests. These assessments are collected frequently and analysed as part of the monitoring cycle which informs future planning, so that provisions can be adapted accordingly. Continual assessment of art allows us to provide the best possible support and challenge for all children and ensures we have an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in art. Additional assessment tools include: Prior Learning quizzes, End of unit evaluations, Challenges, Pupil Voice, Marking of sketch books and Book scrutiny.

Art Engaging Learning Opportunities

KS1 Art Exhibition Summer 2025

The children have created pieces of artwork to exhibit. Please click on the link to view their masterpieces!