At St Joseph’s, we value Art as a subject, to inspire and develop our children’s creative thinking and to develop their spiritual, cultural and moral understanding. We believe that art empowers all children including those with SEND to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them, and we aim to cultivate this by providing a rich, diverse, and stimulating curriculum for all pupils that builds on children's interests and experiences. We encourage all children at St Joseph’s to express their thoughts and emotions in a safe and appropriate way. Art is a fantastic medium which can support and empower our children to do this. We teach our children to be reflective of their work and respectful of others. Our school motto, ‘United We Excel’, creates a safe space for our children to explore, experiment and take risks without the fear of getting it wrong which is the basic essence of what art is and what it can offer to our children.

We take inspiration from learning about different artists, learning more about them and their style, which we then apply to our own work. We plan and teach sequenced art lessons based on skills, using a range of media and give the children opportunities to apply the skills learned in other areas of the curriculum, making the lessons relevant and meaningful.

We plan to enhance our Art curriculum further by inviting local artists into school to lead workshops and by providing our children with the opportunity to display their artwork in The Piece Hall, the library and throughout our school.

 At St Joseph’s we teach Art through a skills based curriculum. The skills will be developed and built upon each year so that pupil progression can be seen clearly across the school. Pupils with SEND are well supported in Art lessons. Art provides opportunities for enjoyment and achievement that can be missing from other areas of the curriculum. The development of the senses is central to art and design using sight, touch, emotional response and intellect to learn about different elements of visual language: line, colour, texture, shape, form and space. Direct handling and manipulation of materials build on a child's natural interest in shape, colour, rhythm and movement and can lead naturally into developing skills and confidence. Lessons are planned to ensure that there is success in all activities, matching each pupil's level of ability. All children are exposed to a range of media each year giving them the opportunity to explore, develop and embed their skills and understanding of that media, from our youngest children in Early Years to our eldest in Year 6. During each lesson progress will be assessed in a range of ways. The children will be aware of the skills they are developing and will be able to look back on what they achieved before. Through self and peer evaluation the children will discuss what they have done well and what they will need to continue to practise and develop in order to continue to improve their skills in that particular area. Teachers will also make suggestions and refer back to previous modelling to support the children. It is also incredibly important that children feel empowered and open to making mistakes. In Art there is no right or wrong as it is all a matter of interpretation. While drawing, for example, may not be a strong area for one pupil, they may find sculpture easier to grasp. It is this openness and acceptance that will allow children to take risks in Art and develop their skills.

At the end of each year the children will have been exposed to a variety of different media, giving them the opportunity to use it in a different way or for a different purpose and develop a range of skills. This will build upon their prior knowledge of what they can do when using this media. Our lessons are accessible and inclusive for all of our pupils and children are proud of what they have achieved. They will be able to look back at their earliest work in their sketch books and see the progress they have made.  

As they move up through the school the children will begin to develop their own preferences of media and styles as they will have been exposed to them frequently throughout their time in school.

Our approach of being open and accepting of mistakes will not only help to develop the children’s creativity within Art but will extend to other areas of their lives. Our Art provision also provides support for our students' mental health and well-being, providing them with a safe and inclusive space where they can express themselves, explore their emotions and build resilience. There are many key life skills that will be developed through our attitude and teaching of Art which will support the children as they move on to different schools after St Joseph’s, such as respecting others and their work even if we don’t like it personally or carrying on after something goes wrong or when things do not turn out how we planned. This resilience is a key skill which our children will need throughout their lives and reflects the virtues that are at the heart of our school.

Art & Design Progression of Skills