Art and design

At Carden Nursery and Primary School we believe in providing high quality, active, purposeful and experiential learning opportunities in Art and Design. Our aim is to engage and equip pupils with the skills, knowledge and understanding they require to be successful learners.

Our Core Values and Learning Journey Skills underpin our Art and Design curriculum by developing a language rich curriculum by becoming ‘painting detectives’ to find clues, develop their visual literacy skills by making  inferences and ‘read’ the stories that paintings tell.

It is mapped to include coverage of the national curriculum as well as numerous outdoor and collaborative learning opportunities and using the expertise of professional artists both in order to offer children chances to use a variety of techniques and materials that are valued and celebrated.

Our art curriculum challenges all pupils; engages their imagination by giving pupils the freedom of choice  and the chance to explore and be creative across the curriculum.  Art will encourage pupils’  curiosity by exposing them to rich and diverse  works of art that develops a desire to want to discover more about our locality and the wider world and motivate them to take the next steps in their learning.

Our ultimate goal is for learners to see themselves as successful artists  who enjoy being creative and having the confidence to take risks.

At Carden, our design and technology curriculum is supported by the comprehensive scheme of work Projects on a Page developed by the Design and Technology Association to support primary teachers in delivering the national curriculum for design and technology in a manageable and inspiring way. It comprises 23 project planners covering a wide range of topics, including mechanisms, structures, textiles, food, and electrical systems, tailored for Years 1 through 6. The subject is taught by a specialist teacher who also has responsibility for art and design.

Each planner includes step-by-step guidance, teacher tips, glossaries, and examples of iterative design processes, all aimed at making planning and delivery straightforward and effective.

The scheme enables a strategic sequence of study that builds content and concepts over time, with skills and vocabulary comprehensively structured and sequenced across year groups with progression in knowledge. Where possible, units are matched and/or adapted to fit with topics making the learning more meaningful and relevant to pupils.

By the end of Y6, pupils will have the knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users. They will have the ability to demonstrate creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. Pupils will be able to critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others. They will be able to apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet and be aware of a range of cooking techniques and understand seasonality and the origins of a variety of ingredients.