"Every child is an artist."

Pablo Picasso

"Creativity is contagious.  Pass it on."

Albert Einstein

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. At Woodstock CE Primary School, our high-quality art and design curriculum engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They are taught how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity, and wealth of our nation.  We encourage children to develop their creative and imaginative talents through learning skills and techniques and using a variety of materials and tools. Pupils have opportunities to work with professional artists and crafts people and visit galleries and exhibitions. They learn to appreciate works of art and use subject specific vocabulary to describe paintings, sculptures, and other artefacts.

Topics linked to artists, architects and designers (from around the world) gives pupils the opportunity, over time, to investigate and evaluate a wide range of creative outcomes from the past and present to develop rigorous understanding of the many disciplines within art, craft, and design and how they shape our history and future.  Pupils experience working from a range of starting points and explore the use of various media as they move through school. In EYFS, they explore the use of paints, pencils, chalks, pastels, clay, and collage materials.  Within Key Stage One and Two, children develop their ideas through focussed lessons and by exploring art linked to other areas of the curriculum. Children work in 2D and 3D and have opportunities to work on individual and group activities, on both small and large scale.  Within the curriculum for art and design, children think about pattern, colour, texture, shape and form using various media. They learn to evaluate their work and consider how they might change their work in future. This enables pupils to contribute as confident citizens and future professionals to the culture, creativity, economic success, leisure, material and emotional wellbeing of our society within both national and global contexts. Art and design is taught half-termly alternating with Design and Technology.

Each year we hold a Culture and Creative Arts Week which focuses on an aspect of the Arts. The success of Woodstock CE Primary School’s commitment to the teaching of the ‘Arts’ is recognised in the Arts Mark Accreditation that we hold.

Assessment in Art & Design: Assessment is ongoing and informs future teaching building a picture of the child’s attainment and progress over time. There are also ‘check-in’ points throughout, and at the end of each unit against the objectives being taught. This gives teachers the information that they need to build a holistic picture of each individual child and enables them to plan further support and opportunities for retrieval; direct teaching and/or adaptation in future units. The subject leader monitors pupil outcomes to identify trends and patterns that inform future curriculum alterations and CPD opportunities.