Art

Rationale for Topic Teaching

At St Mary's we teach Art through our Topics. Each Topic has a Geography or History focus and then Art or DT are woven throughout. 

Our Topic Curriculum is a creative and thematic approach to learning, that is mapped to the 2015 Primary National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. Our curriculum is delivered through a journey of both skills and knowledge which provides a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of our children’s learning and cultural understanding. 

Topic Curriculum Intent

Our Topic lessons provide a rigorous essential skills framework that outlines the end of year expectations in all subjects. These essential skills are tied to activities and are age related to enable staff to track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs. The children follow an engage, develop/secure and apply set of lessons which results in a Global Investigation at the end of each Topic. Children will be able to express their newly learnt knowledge through discussions around a global question at the end of each topic. The Global Investigation ties together the newly learnt skills and adapts their new knowledge to a current global question or affair. This can look like an end piece of art or design product, a debate or presentation. This is done either as an individual or as part of a team, so that the teacher can thoroughly assess each child.

Celebrating through Art.

During specific celebrations throughout the year, Christian and otherwise, we turn to art to help understand the celebration and reflect on the message it offered. Whether it is the creation of Mother's Day cards or Christmas tree decorations, art is an opportunity for children to express themselves using taught skills in the classroom.

Therapeutic Art.

We use Art in school therapeutically as well as academically. Cartwheel Arts have provided us with two key interventions to allow children to communicate emotions and problems through artwork:

• Art for Induction: Art for Induction is a therapeutic arts based resource specifically designed to support schools with settling new arrivals. St. Mary's CE was part of the creation process for this document.
• Wellbeing Dominoes: A group-based intervention where children take it in turns to move around a game board. At each stop, a therapeutic art activity is introduced and delivered.

Key Documents

Topic Policy

Art Progression of Skills

Art Progression of Vocabulary