Art & Design

Our Vision for Art & Design:

Our Art and Design curriculum is built around the principles of evidence-led practice and ensures that pupils are equipped to successfully think, work and communicate like an artist. The curriculum is ambitious, which reflects the ethos of Totley All Saints, with exceptional teacher instruction which inspires pupils to acquire knowledge, as an artist, and enable them to skilfully attempt and apply their understanding.

It is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, 3D and collage. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils can revisit key disciplines throughout their Primary journey at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity. The incorporation of retrieval activities has also contributed to an Art and Design spiral curriculum and ensures that previous learning is revisited and built upon further.

In addition to the core knowledge required to be successful within each discipline, the curriculum outlines key aspects of artistic development within a ‘Working Artistically’ section. Each module focuses on developing different aspects of these competencies. This supports teachers in understanding pupils’ development as artists more broadly, as well as how successfully they are acquiring the taught knowledge and skills so that they know and remember more.

Sketchbooks are at the centre of pupils’ creativity and are used in an exploratory way that reflects each child individually.

The best form of assessment in Art is in-action, while pupils are working. 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.