Art

Art Curriculum Statement

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

Art plays a vital part in our creative curriculum. We believe that art stimulates creativity, imagination and inventiveness, while providing children with the opportunities to develop intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially. Therefore, we believe that it should be taught as an individual subject as well as incorporated into other curriculum areas.

“Art is not just a subject to learn, but an activity that you can practise with your hands, your eyes, your whole personality.”  – Quentin Blake

Our Art curriculum enables our children to communicate what they see, feel and think. It allows them to experiment with their ideas, their use of colour, texture, form and pattern, and a range of different materials and processes. Children are encouraged to self-evaluate their creations and are taught how to be resilient to achieve their goals. We aim for children to reflect upon the work of both modern and historical artists and upon art from a variety of different cultures.

The Art Leaders

The Art Leaders at Middlestown Primary Academy are an integral part of our leadership team.

They work alongside Mrs Hunter to drive forward improvements in the teaching and learning of Art, and they ensure that Art has a high profile in school.

Furthermore, they help Mrs Hunter monitor Art by observing lessons, supporting with pupil voice interviews and looking at learning in sketchbooks. They hold assemblies and competitions and are just all round Art enthusiasts!

We look forward to sharing some of their achievements over the course of this year.

Key Stage One knowledge organisers

Year 1 –

Year 2 – Y2 craft,

Key Stage Two knowledge organisers

Year 3 – Y3 painting,

Year 4 –

Year 5 –

Year 6 –

Key Stage One

Year 1

• Drawing – Make your mark
• Painting – Paper play
• Sculpture – Colour splash

Year 2

• Painting – Beside the seaside
• Sculpture – Clay houses
• Craft and design – Map it out

Key Stage Two

Year 3

• Drawing – Growing artists
• Painting – Prehistoric art
• Sculpture – Abstract shape and space

Year 4

• Drawing – Power prints
• Painting – Light and dark
• Craft and Design – Ancient Egyptian scrolls

Year 5

• Drawing – Portraits
• Painting – I need space
• Sculpture – Interactive installations

Year 6

• Drawing – Make my voice heard
• Painting – Artist study
• Craft and design – Photo opportunity

Here is the long term plan for Art.

Art overview 2023-24

Every half term we learn about and celebrate an artist. We aim to choose a variety of artists, craft makers and designers from different times, cultures and backgrounds. The art leaders share these with the school in assembly and a display is created. The art leaders also set challenges and competitions based on our chosen artists.

Our artists of this half term are ... the cartoonists, Bob Kane, Matt Groening and Jeff Kinney

Cartoonists are artists who draw pictures to amuse, entertain, educate and persuade people. A cartoon is usually a simple drawing that tells a short, funny story. Cartoons can be used in comics, newspapers, books and even on television.

Bob Kane was an American comic book writer and animator who co-created Batman with Bill Finger.

Matt Groening created The Simpsons in 1989 and it is the longest running animated series ever. He created his characters so they could be recognised as silhouettes.

Jeff Kinney is the author and illustrator of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. His cartoons are simple line drawings. He used to use pen and paper but now creates his cartoons using an electronic tablet.

The art leaders set a challenge for children in school to create their own cartoons in the style of our chosen cartoonists. Once these are completed they should be handed in to the art leaders so they can be displayed.

If you would like to create your own ‘Wimpy family’, follow this link. https://wimpykid.com/wimpyourself/

Previous artists of the half term

Norma Merrick Sklarek (1926-2012) Black American architect

J.M.W. Turner  (1775 – 1851) British painter

Alma Thomas (1891 – 1978) African-American abstract artist

Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989)  Spanish surrealist artist

Banksy (1990s – present)  English street artist

Stephen Wiltshire (1974 – present) British architectural artist

Year 2 - printing repeating patterns (Autumn 2021)

Year 2 have been learning about repeating patterns. They looked at those that can be found in nature and those that are man-made. They used printing to create their own repeating patterns and experimented with over-printing.

Year 2 - Painting (Autumn 2020)

Year 5 - Packaging collage (Autumn 2020)

Remembrance Day 2023

The children from Y1 to Y6 did various activities to teach them about the importance of remembering those who sacrificed themselves by serving in the wars. In art, we looked a various soldiers uniforms from over the years and the children then designed and made their own remembrance peg soldiers.

Whole School Outdoor Art Display (September 2021)

The whole school worked together to create this amazing rainbow self-portrait display. Each child, from Lower foundation to Year 6, drew a picture of themselves using a given rainbow colour and these were then displayed together. The idea behind it was based on the NHS rainbow. The children have spent so much time apart during the lockdowns and then in their bubbles, that we thought it would be nice for their work to all come together to create a whole. It certainly makes us all smile!

Take One Picture (transition week - July 2021)

For transition week, the whole school studied the painting ‘Owl Lovebirds in a Totem Pole Forest’ by the Canadian artist Sandra Silberzweig. We used the painting as inspiration for learning in all of our subjects. The children created their own artwork using simple shapes, bold colours and patterns.

Autumn 2020