Art & Design

Intent

Art, craft and design are some of the most engaging and inspiring forms of creativity. At Riversdale, we aim to provide a high-quality art and design curriculum that equips our pupils with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. Our enriching curriculum encompasses a range of skills including drawing, painting, sculpture and collage, and it encourages the pupils to think critically about their work and the work of others, developing a more rigorous understanding of art and design over time.

We believe strongly in the importance of building pupil confidence and supporting them to develop their own expression and style. As such, our teachers place emphasis on the concept of progress and aspiration through reflection, rather than completion and perfection. To further explore personal style, we aim to expose pupils to a wide range of artists from varying backgrounds, developing an understanding of how both art and design reflect and shape our history and contribute to our modern-day culture.

Implementation

The art and design curriculum at Riversdale is based on the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for Key Stages 1 and 2, as well as Development Matters in EYFS. However, to provide context to each unit of learning and ensure that real-world examples of artistic skills are used as models, teaching is rooted in the work of artists, craft makers, architects and designers that epitomise the specific concepts that we wish our pupils to learn.

We believe that modelling and experimentation are the keys to making progress and achieving high-quality outcomes. As such pupils develop their skills and techniques in a way that is appropriate to them, through supportive, active and purposeful experiences, and using a variety of materials and teaching strategies to engage them in the art making process.

Every child is provided with a sketchbook in Year 1. This is used to evidence their learning journey through to Year 6, capturing their progress over time. The books highlight the pupils’ knowledge acquisition and vocabulary development, their ability to collect ideas, think and communicate like an artist, their experimentation and mastery of skills, and their ability to self-assess and evaluate artwork, including their own.

Outside of lessons, we develop the pupils' art skills, through several in-house art events and competitions. We also share the pupils' artwork by taking part in local and national competitions and community events and displaying examples in our school gallery. There is an art club that pupils can attend, and pupils often help with activities such as set design for a range of school productions, including the Drama Club end of year show and the Year 6 Leavers’ Production. Where relevant, we organise educational visits to galleries and exhibitions, and invite artists to visit the school to collaborate with our pupils.

Curriculum Progression

At Riversdale Primary School we believe in the importance of all children developing a deep understanding of Art and Design and in embedding the substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills into their long-term memory. As such, the progression of Art and Design has been carefully mapped, with a consideration to connected subject matter and opportunities to revisit specific concepts over time.

You can find a copy of the 2024-25 Art and Design Progression Document here.

Lesson Delivery

All children are taught by a specialist art teacher, in dedicated art lessons once a week. They are given the opportunity to experiment with a range of media and techniques, specialising in drawing, painting and sculpture, as well as alternating between printing and collage each year. Pupils develop a wide range of domain specific knowledge and skills, including concepts such as colour theory and composition, making links to the work of various artists.

Pupils are provided with a Knowledge Organiser that:

outlines prior learning that they will be building upon,
lists the sequence of lessons so that pupils know what they are studying,
identifies the most significant knowledge that they should gain
includes images of key concepts, or significant examples to provide additional context for the pupils
defines the subject specific terminology that they are expected to learn and use.

You can find the Autumn 2024-25 Knowledge Organisers for Art and Design below:

Autumn 1:

Autumn 2:

Curriculum Policies

Please find our Art and Design policy below: