Art

Art is taught either weekly or in blocks depending on the topic being covered. The topics are cross-curricular and have clear links to the creative curriculum. Skills are taught and refined explicitly.

The children start school with different levels of prior knowledge and experiences. EYFS allows them to play and experiment with materials in a child led manner. They then develop their understanding of colour, materials and artistic techniques. Children are provided with a rich variety of art based experiences.

As a school, we endeavour to provide an education that inspires and is well rounded. The teaching of art offers a diverse range of experiences and ensures that their education is well rounded.

The Journey

At Shepherd Primary our interest in Art begins in Early years with Nursery and Reception. Art is broken down into several different areas.

First is painting and Nursery will be working towards painting faces using a variety to colours that show emotion. In Reception they will be working towards painting self-portraits and the children using different colours to express different emotions. The next area is drawing and in Nursery will be developing the skills needed to create a portrait of themselves. In Reception they will be working towards producing a drawing of their family which include the different features by drawing different shapes and straight lines.  The next area is Sculpture and in Early years both Nursery and Reception will have the opportunity to use their hands to shape and craft their own sculptures as a part of continuous provision and in Reception the children will be working towards making their own Diva lamps.

Next the area is Textiles and in Nursery they will have the opportunity to explore a range of materials and work towards using a pincer grip to pick up materials. In Reception they will use this area in their Forest school activities and work towards the children making their own weaving grid of natural materials by practising the up and under technique of weaving

When the children move into Year 1 they will cover a wide range of areas in art that build upon what they were taught in the Early years.  They first area is drawing, and they will all produce a firework picture showing they can mix primary colours using different brushes. The next area is drawing and in Year 1 they will be learning about the artist Van Gogh and will be asked to produce a line drawing in the style of Van Gogh. The next area is print and in Year 1 this will link to the firework topic because they will use a rang of objects to create their own firework print artwork.  In Year 1 they will develop a number of skills so they can create a sculpture of a superheroes cape.  The next area in Art Year 1 will focus on is textiles and they will study the artist, Maximo Laura and they will practise all the skills needed so they can weave together a blanket for Paddington Bear.

In Year 2 children will learn about the artist Pablo Picasso when looking at the area of painting and they will learn to mix colours to create a number of paintings.  Year 2 will create a collage in the style of Pablo Picasso. The next area for Year 2 will be drawing, and they will learn the skills needed to create a London skyline, one from 1666 and one from the present day. Year 2 will then create an animal sculpture using clay based on a painting by Henri Rousseau.

In Year 3 they will develop the skills needed to draw and paint pictures of plants in the style of the artist Joan Miro.  Year 3 will then develop the drawing skills needed to create silhouettes of Stonehenge. Next, Year 3 will move onto creating their own mosaics though collage.

Year 4 will learn how to create a painting of a Viking longboat using water colours and they will use the artist Claude Monet for inspiration.  Year 4 will then develop their drawing skills by learning how to sketch European Architecture whilst learning about a number of different Architects.

Year 5 will create a sculpture of a Greek urn using clay. Then they will develop their drawing skills so they can draw canal roses. Next Year 5 will create some African art in the style of the artist Gakonga.

Year 6 will learn how to sketch poppies in detail and will make their own sculpture of a poppy.  Next Year 6 will create some Caribbean art using paint in the style of Gaugin.  Then Year 6 will look closely at the artist Andy Warhol to create their own portraits.