Art and Design at Co-op Medlock 

'Art Makes Children Powerful' 

Bob and Roberta Smith

Intent 

Art and Design is an integral part of the broad and balanced curriculum provided for all pupils at Co-op Academy Medlock.  We believe that all children should have the opportunity to express themselves and creatively develop their knowledge and understanding of the world around them and their place in it. 

All children have opportunities to develop their knowledge in Art and Design through a carefully structured and progressive curriculum which enables pupils to learn about great artists, craftspeople and designers while becoming masters of art themselves. Our curriculum closely follows guidance from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework and the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. 

We also believe that it is important we recognise the diversity of our school community and that this diversity is present in our art and design curriculum. This enables pupils to learn about artists, craftspeople and designers from around the world and through different points in history but also allows our pupils and community to see themselves in what they learn. Art provides opportunities for children to see, experience and understand a different medium in which humans have interpreted and communicated their ideas about key events and how they might give us insights into the past as sources of knowledge. 

Implementation 

Art and design is taught by class teachers, of which the delivery is supported by a specialist art teacher and subject lead. 

In Early Years, pupils follow a holistic approach to creating with materials which includes guided, adult led and child initiated opportunities.  The children are provided with planned opportunities to respond creatively as well as refine and develop key skills (including fine and gross motor skills) in order to be  ready for the next stage in their learning. The environment is structured at each stage (including provocations) in order for children to develop, explore and investigate these new skills freely with adults carefully skilled at intervening and moving learning forward. In both nursery rooms, children are taught Art and Design specific vocabulary within High Focus activities. During these activities, they have the opportunity to explore techniques, resources and materials that are practical and relevant to their learning.  Children would then have the opportunity to explore what they have learnt further in their learning environment, supported (where appropriate) by an adult to make sure understanding is secure. As pupils move towards Key Stage One, this approach is complemented by EAD guided ‘projects’, where children are given more explicit class and small group instruction; these ‘projects’ are closely linked to their overarching themes.In years 1-6, the curriculum builds on our foundational learning in the Early Years. Following progressive and carefully written medium term planning developed by the subject leader. These have been structured  so that pupils revisit and further develop their understanding; constantly building on the learning that has come before. This includes practical knowledge of how to create art by learning methods and techniques artists and craftspeople use as well as theoretical knowledge including art history. Further to this, they support and enhance the learning in other curriculum areas, where appropriate, in particular humanities and give pupils opportunities to transfer and apply their knowledge from other curriculum areas. 

Each unit of work has drawing and a key foundation in which the children explore the key elements of art and design: colour, line, shape, tone, texture and pattern. In each year, the children revisit and encounter new aspects of 3D sculpture and painting. There are also opportunities for pupils to visit mixed media and printmaking at spaced intervals.

Each unit is planned to follow a specific cycle to support the acquisition and development of substantive and disciplinary knowledge which are taken from our progression documents.  Each lesson is planned according to the pedagogy outlined in our ‘Teaching and Learning Principles’. Both of these have been implemented based upon current educational research. 

Within each unit of work, pupils will encounter a diverse range of artists, craftspeople and designers from a range of backgrounds and historical time periods. Artists such as Joyce Kozlof, Kehinde Wiley, William Morris and John Piper enable the children to see how art has been used as a way of responding to the world around them and the impact that they (and others) have on it. The pupils also re-encounter artists so that they can compare their work (how they have responded to different themes) and see how their work might span across different styles, media and materials. Alongside this, year groups have set paintings which are carefully mapped out in our paintings long term plan that are used as a stimulus for history, geography, RE, reading, writing or philosophy. 

Evaluation and critical thinking are key aspects of the art curriculum and at the end of each lesson pupils engage in evaluation activities where they evaluate their own, each other's and the work of artists, craftspeople and designers in order to inform their next steps. This might be done informally through discussion and through sketchbook annotations which are encouraged as the pupils move through school. At the end of a unit, pupils' final pieces will be photographed and added to the children's sketchbooks. 

Reading  and vocabulary development is of utmost importance at Co-op Academy Medlock and as such this is reflected in the way that art and design is taught. Pupils have opportunities to read a range of texts including poems and non-fiction texts such as newspaper reports and artist biographies as starting points for their work. 

Children from years 1-6 use sketchbooks to record their responses to a range of starting points. These will move with the children through school so that the progression can be clearly measured and so that children can refer back to prior learning. A sketchbook policy provides teachers with clear guidance as to what should be included in a sketchbook and how they should be presented. The sketchbook is central to our school approach. 

Due to our location near the city centre we are fortunate to have a number of Galleries on our doorstep. We actively encourage pupils to visit local art galleries such as the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Art Gallery with their families and children have the opportunities to visit these galleries regularly throughout their time at Co-op Academy Medlock.

Impact 

Teachers use the progression documents and examples of pupils' work to assess the pupils as they move through each teaching unit and they will use this to inform summative judgement at the end of the year. Teachers will have opportunities to use both exemplification and moderation activities with the subject leader and other teachers to quality assure these judgements. 

As the art curriculum is rooted within the context of the wider curriculum this gives a greater purpose to the artwork that pupils encounter and produce. The knowledge and skills they develop within these sessions are transferable to other areas of the curriculum including history, geography, science and maths. 

Pupils positively engage with art and design, make good progress and produce work of a high standard. This work is celebrated through our school website gallery pages and our stairway gallery spaces.