Art

In order to help every pupil to flourish in Art it is our vision to act justly and support each child by valuing their God given uniqueness. We give our pupils the opportunity to explore a range of processes and techniques through experimentation and creativity in order to increase their love of Art and also their wider appreciation for love and respect in the widest context. This in turn helps pupils grow their confidence and competence in Art and in life. We help pupils to value and appreciate all, regardless of their faith or absence of and work hard to support other curriculum areas such as RE where pupils look at expressing the spiritual through Art.

Spirituality by its definition will be found in many ways and forms. Below are just some typical examples of where it may be found in our Art curriculum:

• The work of creative artists from a variety of times and places.
• Beauty, truth and goodness.
• Expressing, interpreting and exploring deep feelings and profound beliefs.
• Artistic creativity.
• The effects of the arts on emotions and senses.
• The arts as means of expressing mood.
• Skill in creation and performance, and particularly in personal reflection upon their own creativity using various art forms.
• Effects on the emotions and senses.
• Personal response and preference.

We believe that a high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire, and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft, and design. We support pupils to endeavour that their work illustrates their progress we want them to make.

At St Egwin’s we introduce our pupils to a wide range of art materials and skills, such as sculpture, drawing, painting, and printing. Students work with traditional and new media, learning to appreciate the appropriateness of each. This not only ensures our pupils receive an informative and exciting art curriculum, but also aligns with the National Curriculum guidelines for Art and Design, which for Key Stage 2 (Year 6) are for pupils to:

• to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
• to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting, and sculpture with a range of materials (for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay)
• about great artists, architects, and designers in history.

For Key Stage 3 (Years 7 and 8) the National Curriculum aims for pupils to:

• produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
• become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft, and design techniques
• evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft, and design
• know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms

• Natural Forms
• Colour Theory
• Pop Art

• Graphic Art
• Animals 
• Perspective

• Surrealism
• Gargoyles
• Public Art

We value academic endeavour and support students to think critically so that they are able to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of art and design. Throughout their learning they will study a range of artists from different key periods of art history and alongside their practical lessons, students develop their understanding of historical and cultural art forms and learn how to apply methods to their own practice.

The art department works hard to ensure that our pupils feel confident with the materials and processes that they use. On entry in year 6 our pupils often arrive with limited exposure to specialised teaching in art and design. Each module of learning has been carefully planned to ensure that pupils skills and abilities are built upon throughout their time at St Egwin’s. Upon leaving we endeavour to ensure that our pupils feel confident with the skills they have learnt and feel ready to for the next step in their art education.