Art and Design
At Woodchester Endowed Church of England Primary School, we strongly believe that our children should develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. Art and Design is an important means of doing this and underpins our Christian beliefs in cherishing the beautiful world in which we live.
We want children and adults to thrive in God's gift of creativity. Art is a wonderful means of expression and one of life's joys bringing time to think, reflect, renew and flourish in an ever busy world.
'God has filled him with his power and given him skill, ability and undertanding for every kind of artistic work, for planning skilful designs and working them,' Exodus 35:31-32
We ensure that the children's knowledge and learning in art and design is carefully planned and links to other areas of the curriculum, successfully enabling a deepening of learning. Teaching in art is carefully sequenced and equips our children with opportuntities to develop as artists, enabling them to communicate what they see, feel and think. This is key to all aspects of their personal development: academic, social, cultural, moral and spiritual development, and of course, their emotional and creative development.
At Woodchester Endowed Church of England Primary School, we:
- Teach children to be 'artists'; we want children to experiment with their ideas, their use of colour, texture, form, pattern and diffferent materials and processes to produce unique pieces of work incorporating a progression of artistic skills.
- Give children access to knowledge that develops their skills in drawing, painting, sculture and other art, craft and design techniques.
- Believe that art and design should engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
- Provide rich, engaging learning opportunities in art and design that enthuse, engage, and motivate children to learn and foster a sense of curiosity and wonder at the beauty of the world around them. We refer to these as our 'wow', 'now' and 'ow' moments.
- Want art and design to be relevant to other curriculum areas such as Literacy, Religious Education, History and Geography, where possible.
- Encourage children to develop their ability to think critically and develop a rigorous understanding of art and design.
- Stimulate an appreciation of how art and design both reflects and shapes our history, and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
- Give children the opportunity to increase their knowledge of other cultures and, in so doing, teach a respect and understanding of what it means to be a positive citizen in a multi-cultural country.
- Value the uniqueness of all our children's art and design work and celebrate their achievements and creativity with child-centred displays.
- Ensure there are opportunities to develop important life skills such as independence and resilience through the completion and self-evaluation of their creative work.