Intent

At St. Kentigern’s Catholic Primary School, we endeavour to develop children’s appreciation of art and artists from a range of cultures, backgrounds and time periods. We seek to develop all children’s enjoyment and passion for art while studying significant artists who also shared and communicated their passions through their creativity and artwork. Our aim is to develop the cultural awareness of learners through the subject of art as well as developing skills and knowledge of working with a range of different media.

Our ambitious curriculum aims to develop children’s skills of drawing & sketching, colour, pattern, texture, sculpture, three-dimensional construction, printing and digital media. Artwork is linked into our Gospel values curriculum in order to make links with the children’s artwork and other curriculum areas. We want to ensure all of our learners have the experience to find success through both their understanding of art and through their own artistic expression. Our curriculum is designed to immerse children in learning of the great diversity of artists and their artistic styles, allowing our children’s cultural capital to grow; developing their awareness of art as a valued and necessary way to communicate, represent and express the beauty of creation and the relationships with other in life. It is a chance for enjoyment whilst learning about humans throughout time, from the earliest cave paintings, to modern artists still alive today, communicate their experience and understanding of God’s world around them.

Implementation

Our Art & Design curriculum seeks to provide children with a broad understanding of what art is and what it means to be an artist. From their start in Reception, children become familiar with a range of tools, artists and media. Beginning in Year 1, children begin to develop greater mastery of their skills, which they continue to build on through to Year 6. Children complete a sketchbook, where they gather thoughts, ideas and understanding of the artists, art forms or genre/style they study. This is carried through school with them for children to develop and reflect upon as they progress with their artistic abilities.

In each year group, Art & Design is taught through discreet art lessons, linked to our Gospel values curriculum and connected with other areas of learning such as Science, History or P.S.H.E. At the heart of each topic is a great artist, designer or craftsperson whose artwork forms the centre of the learning. The artists’ work and their unique significance are used as introduction for learning, before children develop their skills in a range of different media, drawing inspiration from both the style and on occasion from the messages behind an artist’s creation. Each child creates their own work, drawing upon their learning and mastering their newly acquired techniques and knowledge.

Impact

Art and Design is a subject which allows all children to showcase and express their understanding of the world around them. Throughout their primary school journey, the children’s progress as artists is celebrated through their independent work; their journey as creators is followed through their sketchbooks, which highlights the development of their artistic skill with each passing topic. Teachers at St. Kentigern’s have high expectations of our pupils to develop their cultural understanding and appreciation of art in all its wide-ranging styles. Our children progress with their knowledge of using technical and artistic vocabulary accurately and develop their reflective qualities about their own artwork and the creations of peers alike. The children at St. Kentigern’s develop a modern understanding of who can be an artist and what art is, whilst developing the patience, resilience and other transferable life-long skills.

Art Year 3

In Year 3, we seek to develop children's understanding and skills further by studying the following artists.

The Caves at Lascaux - Drawing and Prehistoric Art

Being inspired by nature and linking to Year 3 History about the Stone Age, children will study how to draw more representational shapes and study how simple lines with different tools can show meaning. The simple dot and line artwork of Aboriginal people along with cave paintings such as the caves at Lascaux provide inspiration.

Useful link: The Lascaux Caves

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Fernand Léger - Painting and Cityscapes

Linking with the Y3 topic on preserving the local area and its History, children take elements from the local area and build upon their painting skills by learning about the bold and flat colours of Fernand Léger. Inspired by his work, they create a cityscape piece of artwork.

Useful link: The City - Fernand Léger at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Henri Matisse - Brush Skills and Collage

Creating watercolour washes, developing brush skills and tearing to create collage are key skills in this unit. Children are inspired by the work of Matisse and create materials to tear and arrange into an abstract collage.

Useful links: The Snail - Henri Matisse at The Tate 

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Mini Project: Yayoi Kusama - 3D Vessel

The bold and bright colours and patterns of Yayoi Kusama are the focus for this project. Known for sculptures of bright and bold pumpkin shaped objects, Children learn to create a 3D vessel with clay and then paint and decorate it inspired by the shapes and colours of Kusama's work.

Useful links: Yayoi Kusama at Tate Kids

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Gallery - coming soon...

 

Mini Project: Katsushika Hokusai - Printing

Known for his famous picture of 'The Wave', Hokusai used traditional printing techniques to show the power of waves. Linked to children's Geography work, children create a printing block inspired by this artist.

Useful links: Hokusai at The MET 

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Art Year 5

In Year 5, we seek to develop children's understanding and skills further by studying the following artists.

 

William Morris - Designs with Natural Forms

The artist William Morris was a significant British designer, working as part of the Arts and Crafts Movement. We find inspiration in looking at his designs for furniture, textiles and wall tiles, such as 'The Strawberry Thief'. Being inspired by nature and linking to Year 5 Science, children will study natural objects, building upon their observational drawing skills and learn to accurately replicate their designs. 

Useful link: William Morris at the Victoria and Albert museum

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Antoni Gaudí - Architecture with Natural Forms

Gaudí was a Spanish architect who took inspiration from natural shapes and forms. Linking to Year 5 Geography skills, children get to practise their observational drawing before learning to apply their sketches to redesign a new building from our local area in the imaginative colours and shapes of Gaudí's work. 

Useful link: The official website of the Sagrada Familia

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Maria Sibylla Merian - Scientific Observational Drawing and Painting

Merian was an artist, scientist and botanist. She studied the life cycles of many plants and animals and brought them to life using her technical and scientific drawing skills. Linking to Year 5 Science, children get to practise their observational drawing before learning to get to grips with watercolour paints and brushes to bring a range of species to life.

Useful links: The Royal Collection Trust and Botanical Artists Website

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Henry Moore - sculpture

We study the simplified sculptural forms of Henry Moore and bring to life a humans in their simplest shapes. Our sculptural work is supported by History and Geography and the journeys, families and communities of the world. By thinking of their own place in the world and their own families and communities, children create their own clay sculpted figures.

Useful links: Henry Moore at The Tate and The Henry Moore Foundation

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Elizabeth Catlett - Portraits and Printing

Useful links: Elizabeth Catlett at the MoMA

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Gallery - coming soon...

 

Art Year 6

In Year 6, we seek to develop children's understanding and skills further by studying the following artists.

 

Pacita Abad - Mixed Media Portraits

The Filipina artist Pacita Abad brings colour into her work as she represents people in portraits surrounded by what makes them unique. Her work focuses upon reflection upon life. This subject fits perfectly into the Year 6 topic where pupils reflect upon themselves and their identity as they prepare for their journey to high school.

Useful link: Pacita Abad's Mixed Media portraits at PacitaAbad.com

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Coming soon...

 

Chris Ofili - Conceptual Art

Chris Ofili makes Art with a message. His pieces take a concept which he then represents. Based upon the social message of 'No Woman, No Cry', children create artwork with a message based upon a real life events which they feel need to be shared. This work acts as a culmination to much of the work Year 6 on topics such as social justice, inequalities, prejudice, pollution, the environment and war.

Useful link: Chris Ofili at Tate Kids

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Paul Nash - Drawing and Painting with Perspective

Nash chose to represent war. Linking with the History work in Year 6, children get a chance to represent the bleak battlefields while learning a better understanding of perspective in their work and creating foregrounds, middlegrounds and a background.

Useful links: 'We Are Making A New World' by Paul Nash at the Imperial War Museum and Paul Nash at Tate Kids

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Mini Project: Michelle Reader - Sculpture

Taking old junk and turning it into art is the focus of this topic. Michelle Reader's aim is to create art reminding us that we are very wasteful. This theme matches well with the Geography work Year 6 study to learn about protecting our environment.

Useful links: Michelle Reader's Website

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Mini Project: Margaret Mee - Watercolour Botanicals

Building upon their Year 5 work with watercolours, Year 6 put their botanical drawing and painting skills to use. Linking with the Geography topic all about the Amazon, children imagine they are adventurous botanists in South America painting a range of different plant life.

Useful links: Margaret Mee at Botanical Art and Artists

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Gallery - coming soon...