Art and DT at the Federation

Art Curriculum Intent

Art is a foundation subject of the National Curriculum and an important part of developing our children’s ability to develop their individual creativity, express their ideas, understanding and to work both individually and collaboratively with others.  

Each year group plans art lessons, which aim to ensure that children are able to develop key skills using specific media.  They are taught to work with and progress in skills using: drawing, colour, paint, clay, textiles, collage, printing, sculpture and design. 

We aim to encourage confidence when approaching an art work and use sketch books from Years 1 to 6 to support exploration.  The sketch book ethos is to create a safe place to invent, learn and try out ideas.  Basic skills are introduced and then built upon, including drawing, printmaking, sketchbooks, painting and making.  Skills are revisited.  Children are encouraged to evaluate, discuss and decide on the next step.  Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.

A high-quality art and design education engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and produce individual works of art.   As pupils progress, they are encouraged to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of different medium.  Children are taught to develop, review and discuss their works, those of their peers and those of artists both from the past and present. 

All year groups are given the opportunity to take part in The National Gallery’s Take One Picture scheme. The approach aims to encourage using one chosen piece as a stimulus to inspire and explore a line of enquiry.  Each class’s final pieces can be submitted to the Gallery for appraisal and the chance to exhibit in their Summer Exhibition which celebrates open and creative expression. 

Design and Technology Curriculum Intent

Design and Technology prepares children to deal with tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. It encourages children to become independent, creative problem solvers and thinkers.  It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond to them by developing a range of ideas and by making products and systems.

Through the study of Design and Technology, they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industry. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate past and present technology, its uses and impacts.  We encourage Year groups to use Design and Technology in a cross curricular approach, covering specific areas in History and Geography alongside skills progression in building, making, manipulating and construction skills. 

In addition, each year group will incorporate units on food and cooking.

Children learn to build and apply a repertoire of knowledge and careful evaluation and discussion of works helps to ensure all designs are valued and learnt from.  

The Key objectives in Design and Technology are:

• Products are to be made for a purpose.
• Individuality should be ensured in children’s design and construction of products.
• Delivery of the two strands: Designing and Making and Cooking and Nutrition.
• More emphasis to be given on creating ‘innovative’ products in KS2.
• Teaching the importance of making on-going changes and improvements during making stages.
• Looking into seasonality of ingredients and how they are grown, caught or reared.
• The introduction of computing and coding of products in KS2.
• Researching key events and individual designers in the History of Technology in KS2