Art and Design

At Yardley Primary School we provide a high-quality art and design education which enables our pupils to develop an enthusiasm for art and design, whilst ensuring we fulfil the aims of the National Curriculum. This is achieved through using the Kapow Primary’s Art and Design scheme. 

Kapow Primary’s Art and design scheme of work aims to inspire pupils and develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art. Our scheme is written by experts in their field and designed to give pupils every opportunity to develop their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world, as well as learning about art and artists across cultures and through history.

Kapow Primary’s Art and design scheme of work supports pupils to meet the National Curriculum end of key stage attainment targets and has been written to fully cover the National Society for Education in Art and Design’s progression competencies. 

The Kapow Art scheme of work is designed with strands that run throughout. These are: 

• Generating ideas

• Using sketchbooks

• Makings skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)

• Knowledge of artists

• Evaluating and analysing

Units of lessons are sequential, allowing children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the national curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Units in each year group are organised into four core areas:

• Drawing

• Painting and mixed-media

• Sculpture and 3D

• Craft and design

The units fully scaffold and support age appropriate sequenced learning, and are flexible enough to be adapted to form cross-curricular links with your own school’s curriculum. Creativity and independent outcomes are robustly embedded into the units, supporting students in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich, are unique to the pupils.

Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils by providing a highly visual record of the key knowledge and techniques learned, encouraging recall of skills processes, key facts and vocabulary.

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary art and design scheme of work is that children will: 

• Produce creative work, exploring and recording their ideas and experiences.

• Be proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques.

• Evaluate and analyse creative works using subject-specific language.

• Know about great artists and the historical and cultural development of their art.

• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for Art and Design.

IIn EYFS, art and design is taught through the specific area of learning and development; expressive arts and design. This is delivered through using the Kapow Primary Art and Design scheme and through exploration and child-initiated play. Units within the Kapow scheme are organised into four core areas:

• Drawing

• Painting and mixed-media

• Sculpture and 3D

• Craft and design

Through each unit pupils will explore and be introduced to the keys areas that will continue to be built upon in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

To find out more about our early years curriculum, visit our E.Y.F.S. page here.

If you require any further information about this curriculum area or any other, please do not hesitate to contact us.