Art and Design 

Access our Art Skills Progression chart HERE

Access our EYFS Art Skills Progression chart HERE

Access details of our Gold Arts Award HERE

Wilby Primary School holds the Gold Artsmark awarded by the Arts Council England.

In line with the National Curriculum for Art and Design, Wilby Primary sets out to ‘engage, inspire and challenge’ our pupils; to provide a rich, broad and creative Art and Design curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced to suit the specific context of our rural small school - and that is ambitious for all our pupils.

We have chosen to use ‘Access Art’ as the main basis for our unit planning in this subject as the  planning and resources provided enable teachers to deliver a diverse and engaging art curriculum which builds skills sequentially, through repeated exposure, to the core formal elements in art. This ensures that all pupils can make progress and express themselves with confidence and enjoyment.

Throughout the Key Stages, our pupils are encouraged to engage with and critique the art of others;  they become exposed to a range of art, craft and design, spanning genres, styles and including culturally and ethnically diverse art and artists which they might otherwise not encounter. We also try to illustrate some of the links between art, creativity and industry - so that our pupils can understand how art is used in and is relevant to the ‘real world’. 

Art, Craft and Design are valuable. They are ultimately about creativity and we believe passionately at Wilby that we should foster each pupil’s individual creative learning journey.

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The skills and knowledge requirements of the national curriculum for Art & Design are delivered through half term units (alternated with Design & Technology). Art is taught as a separate subject for 1 hour a week from Y1-Y6

We aim to remain open and flexible in our teaching of art so that we can make the most of relevant opportunities that may arise. We try to forge links with local artists and arts organisations and invite visiting artists, authors / illustrators into school when possible; some of our enhancement activities or school trips may be art, craft and design based. In doing this, we hope to promote an awareness of the broader links between art and design and the wider world.

As all classes at Wilby are mixed year-groups, we plan a rolling art curriculum that provides good coverage and allows for learning, practice, consolidation and progression to build up over time.

From KS1 each child has their own sketchbook where they can record, explore ideas and reflect on their own artwork and that of others. Pupils are encouraged to annotate these to convey learning, ideas and self-expression in art; we differentiate as appropriate and adapt materials and outcome expectations to suit pupil needs. Children reflect and evaluate on their own (and their peers’) learning in this subject.  

Art and Design units may sometimes be linked to other curriculum areas or topics; however, these links are not forced and are made only where positive authentic learning can take place. Skills and vocabulary may also be further embedded through other subject areas at other times throughout the year. Examples include = drawing / storyboarding as a means to support reading, writing or oracy; drawing diagrams /designing adverts / posters / visuals to convey learning in other subjects; observational drawing and scientific labelled diagrams to record and show understanding in science; digital drawing in IT and drawing in RE or in PSE so pupils can express themselves, their ideas or to convey feelings and emotions.

Drawing is, importantly, also used to help SEMH  / SEND / all pupils self-express and communicate (e.g Draw & Talk / worry books / busy books) and we may also use drawing as a means to aid communication or reconciliation between peers

Some of the Art & Design and Design & Technology projects at Wilby are linked with other areas of the curriculum - for example, a whole school project on ‘Keen to be Green’ inspired pupils to create a junk modelling fashion show.

We like to celebrate children’s creative work by displaying it within the classrooms and school hall, as well as encouraging pupils to take part in regional art shows and competitions, such as Young Artist East Anglia.