At Altrincham CE Primary School, we want all our children to love art, craft and design. We want them to have no limits to their ambitions and to grow up wanting to be part of the creative industries or follow the subject as an enriching activity. We offer a high quality art curriculum that will engage, inspire and challenge pupils, whilst equipping them with the knowledge and skills to be able to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. We believe our children should be able to look at an image or piece of art and to have a deep understanding of it, not just react to it. We ensure our pupils have strong understanding of art and design by developing a rich vocabulary which enables them to describe what they see in detail and to provide evidence for their observations.

Aims (desired outcomes)

At Altrincham CE Primary School, art and design should be fully inclusive of every child, fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for art and design, provide a broad and balanced cross-curriculum offer which ensures the progressive development of knowledge and skills.

• Observe and record from first-hand experience and from imagination.
• Competence in controlling materials and tools.
• Knowledge and proficiency in various art and design techniques and processes including; drawing, painting and sculpture.
• Awareness and understanding of the visual and tactile elements of art and design including; colour, pattern and texture, line and tone, shape, form and space.
• Enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts
• Knowledge of significant artists, crafts people and designers.
• Critical awareness of the roles and purposes of art and design in different times and cultures.
• Communicate confidently using the language of art and design.
• Understand key art and design threshold concepts and use them to think critically, develop a rigorous understanding, analyse genres, frame valid questions to understand how art and design has shaped our history and invent and create their own high quality work

These are:

• Developing ideas – Understanding how ideas develop through an artistic process.
• Mastering techniques – Developing procedural knowledge so that ideas may be communicated
• Taking inspiration from the greats – learning from both the artistic process and techniques of great artists, craft makers and designers.