Art
Subject Leader: Mrs Morris
Contact email: pennowetheyfs@croftymat.org
Our Art curriculum intent
‘Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else.’
— Sydney Gurewitz Clemens —
Art is a vital part of children’s education and has a significant and valuable role in the taught curriculum at Pennoweth. Our curriculum develops children’s critical abilities and understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritages through studying a diverse range of artists.
Through effective teaching and considered sequences of lessons and experiences, children develop their understanding of the visual language of art. Great importance is placed on developing children’s understanding of the visual elements of art and design, including line, tone, texture, colour, pattern, shape and 3D form. The processes used to emulate elements of an artist’s work, or to create specific effects, are documented throughout.
Art at Pennoweth is taught in blocks across a two-year cycle in years 2-6 in order that children achieve depth in their learning. Key knowledge, skills and associated vocabulary have been identified and these have been mapped across the school to ensure progression. At the start of each unit, teachers establish the starting point for each child and ensure that all lessons taught are relevant and developmental, and consideration is given to how greater depth will be reached within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion.
At the beginning of every year, each class collaborates to create a piece of art work based on a famous artist and linked strongly to developing communication skills and relationships within the classroom.
Where possible and appropriate, cross curricular outcomes in Art are specifically planned for, with strong links between the subject and English and Maths lessons identified, planned for and utilised. Links are made to Cornish art and artists where relevant to support teaching and learning across the subject.
DNA
The culture of our DNA at Pennoweth also aids and supports the teaching of Art.
We firmly believe that in order to achieve our best, all children need to feel safe and this is our starting point in Art. The way that we shape our curriculum; where Art is taught in specific blocks across a two-year cycle, helps children to achieve this. They know that for a period of up to 7 weeks, they will be able to focus on developing and deepening their Art skills and knowledge. As Art is an expressive subject, it is vitally important that we as practitioners create an encouraging environment where the children feel relaxed and loved, where mistakes always present an opportunity for growth. They are supported and encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning from the very youngest in Early Years to the oldest. Through initial direct teaching, children learn how to use a variety of Art materials, then as they become independent they are able to be responsible for their own progress. Through careful topic choices and well-planned lessons, children are quickly excited and engaged in their learning which is purposeful and often collaborative. Our curriculum ensures that Pennoweth children are ready to be highly creative, inventive and proficient artists equipped to be critical thinkers, with the knowledge of great artists and their cultural origins.
What will my child experience through Art at Pennoweth?
Here at Pennoweth, Art is taught through a project-based approach. During their time with us, children will cover every aspect of the art National Curriculum. This learning will be taught through immersive projects, such as, ‘Memory Box,’ ‘Paws, Claws, Whiskers,’ ‘Blue Abyss’ and Gallery Rebels. During these projects, children’s reading and writing learning will be purposefully linked with the art focus. This could be researching an artist, writing a newspaper article, or writing a story based on a famous painting.
Nursery
In Nursery, our children learn about a focused artist during each of their projects to help children explore different styles and medium to create with. This half term they have been looking at different works of art from Jackson Pollock, practising different art techniques such as, string painting, rolling balls, squirting with bottles, splatting, dribbling paint, and salad spinners. To celebrate the end of their project each child created their own piece of artwork using acrylic paint on a canvas choosing the style they enjoyed best.
Reception
In Reception, Art is part of the Early Years Learning Goal, Expressive Arts and Design. The children are exposed to different mediums of Art on a daily basis, such as paint, collage, charcoal, pastels, chalk, felt tips and pencils. They integrate the development of their fine and gross motor development by both small and large scale learning, inside the classroom as well as in our outside learning area. During each project, there is an Art focus where children learn about a particular artist and learn new skills. This term, the children have been learning about Autumn and after reading the ‘Leaf Man’ story, they went on a nature walk to collect interesting natural objects which they used to make their own leaf pictures.
Year 1
Our Year 1 children have Art as a focus in their Autumn projects, Memory Box; where they learn about self-portraits and portraits, running stitches and fabric decoration, and Enchanted Woodland; where they learn about the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy, developing their own transient art using natural objects, as well as local artist, Claire Stockings-Baker where they are given rich visual prompts then create their own prints using acrylic paint. In Spring term, their project, Paws, Claws and Whiskers, children learn pencil techniques and explore collage and they learn that ideas can be created through observation (looking closely), imagination (creating pictures in the mind) and memory (remembering experiences from the past). Art is again in focus in their Summer project, Splendid Skies. Here children learn that the best way to record transient art is by taking a photograph, different types of line include zigzag, wavy, curved, thick and thin, texture is the feel or appearance of a surface and a print is a shape or pattern made by pressing ink or paint from one surface to another
Year 2
Our Year 2 children have Art as a focus in their Autumn project, Bounce, where they learn that poster paints, large brushes and thicker paper are used for large, vibrant paintings; that clay, plasticine and salt dough are malleable materials and are easy to shape; that Michael Kalish is a famous artist who creates sculptures from everyday objects. He lives and works in the United States. In Spring term, Art has a core focus in their project, Muck, Mess and Mixtures. The children learn that red and yellow = orange, red and blue = purple, blue and yellow = green, that a sketch is a quickly produced or unfinished drawing which helps artists develop their ideas and that Henri Matisse was born in France in 1859. He was part of the Fauvist group of artists known for using really bold and vivid colours. Art then has a light touch in the subsequent projects, Beachcombers and Wriggle and Crawl.
Year 3
Our Year 3 children have Art as a focus in their Autumn project, Tribal Tales, where they learn that coiling is a method of creating pottery and has been used for thousands of years, clay coils are created when the clay is rolled gently and evenly until it forms a long roll. By placing one coil on top of the other, different shapes can be formed, slip is a slurry of clay and water which can be used to join coils of clay, Bell Beaker pottery was often highly decorated, and objects such as fingernails, stones, shells, twigs, rope and cord were used to create a range of patterns and marks. During their next project, Predator, the children learn that nature and natural forms can be used as a starting point for creating artwork, preliminary sketches are quick drawings that can be used to inspire a final piece of artwork, early sketches are often line drawings that are done in pencil and one way to make a 2 colour print is by inking a roller with two different colours before transferring it onto a block, creating a full print then masking areas of the printing block before printing again with a different colour. Art has a light touch in their projects, Tremors, Wriggle and Crawl and Mighty Pioneers. In their Spring project, Urban Pioneers, Art is in focus and the children learn that an urban landscape is a piece of artwork that shows a view of a town or city, graffiti is a form of urban art mainly made up of words but can include pictures too, graffiti artists use spray paint to create words and pictures that usually show the feelings of the artist or give a political message, Banksy is a famous-but secret – British graffiti artist. He keeps his identity a secret. He produces works that ‘appear’ in public places such as on the walls of buildings. His work is easily recognised, ‘Balloon girl’ by Banksy was created in 2002 and is a significant famous graffiti art mural, pencil techniques include linear and cross-hatching, scumbling and stippling. Artists use them to add texture and form, and suggestions for improving or adapting artwork could include the subject, structure and composition, use of colour, line, texture, tone, shadow and shading.
Year 4
Our Year 4 children have Art as a focus in their Autumn project, Misty Mountain Sierra, where they learn that Adi weaving is a traditional weaving technique from the Adi tribe in India and weaving is when you interlace two sets of threads or yarns usually at right angles. Art has a core focus in the Spring term project, Blue Abyss, where the children learn that techniques used to create a 3D form from clay include coiling, pinching, slab construction and sculpting, carving, slip and scoring can be used to attach extra pieces of clay, mark making can be used to add detail to 3D forms, Anthony Gormley’s sculpture, Another place, on Crosby Beach, Merseyside, is an installation of 100 cast iron sculptures of the artist’s own body looking out to sea, Batik is a method of producing coloured designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts that won’t be dyed, natural patterns from weather, water or animal skins can often be used as a subject for artwork, Artists use sketching to develop an idea over time, famous seascape paintings and drawings include: ‘Birds eye view of the sea coast’ by Leonardo Da Vinci, ‘The Monk by the Sea’ by Caspar David Friedrich, ‘The Great Wave’ by Winslow, warm colours include orange, yellow and red. They remind the viewer of heat, fire and sunlight, cool colours include blue, green and magenta. They remind the viewer of water, ice, snow and the sky. Art is again in focus in their Summer term project, 1066 where the children learn that frequently used stitches include running stitch, cross stitch and blanket stitch, the Bayeux Tapestry is not actually a tapestry but an embroidered textile which is 70m long and
historical works of art are significant because they give the viewer clues about the past through the symbolism, colours and materials used.
historical works of art are significant because they give the viewer clues about the past through the symbolism, colours and materials used.
Year 5
Art has a light touch in the projects, Pharaohs, Allotment and Off With Her Head. However, in the Spring term, Art has a core focus in the project, Time Traveller. Here the children learn that Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist artist. He lived from 1904 to 1969. He was known for his use of clock imagery, the ‘Persistence of Memory’ was a work completed by Dali in 1931 and is one of the most recognisable Surrealist paintings, a portrait is a picture of a person. Examples of famous portraits include Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, Girl with Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer and Whistler’s Mother by James McNeill Whistler, Artistic movements include Expressionism, Realism, Pop Art, Renaissance, Surrealism and Abstract and preliminary sketches and models are usually line drawings or trial pieces of sculpture created to explore ideas and techniques and help plan a final piece.
Year 6
Art is in focus for four of the projects during Year 6 and a core focus in one. In the Autumn project, Revolution, the children learn that, William Morris was a British textile designer born in 1834. He was a major contributor to the revival of British textile arts and methods of production, Pre-Raphaelite artists felt that industrial life was uninspiring. They believed that art should convey a moral message, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti founded the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood in 1848. He was born in London in 1828. During their next project, Darwin’s Delights, they learn that, a mood board is an arrangement of images, materials, texts and pictures that can show ideas or concepts, a montage is a set of separate images that are related to each other and placed together to create a single image, different artistic movements often use colours in a distinctive way. Expressionist artists use intense non-naturalistic colours. Impressionist artists use complementary colours. Fauvist artists use flat areas or patches of colour. Naturalist artists are realistic colours, line is the most basic element of drawing and can be used to create outlines, contour lines to make images three dimensional and for shading in the form of cross hatching, different qualities of materials can be used to add texture to a piece of artwork, and in visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material is used. Materials used to create mixed media art include paint, paper, fabric, wood and found or decorated objects. In the Spring term their project, Frozen Kingdom, the children learn that, significant Inuit artists include Jessie Oonark, Karoo Ashevak and David Rubel Piqtoukun, Inuits have been expert carvers for thousands of years. They carve art objects from materials such as bone, ivory and wood., a stencil is a sheet of paper, card, plastic or metal with a pattern, shapes or letters cut out of it, the ‘Enchanted Owl’ is a significant example of an Inuit print, created by Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak in 1960, and in 1970 Canada Post put ‘The Enchanted Owl’ print on a postage stamp. The stamp commemorated the centennial of the NorthWest Territories.
Their next Spring project, Gallery Reels has a core focus and the children learn that, abstraction refers to art that doesn’t depict the world realistically and exaggeration is the depiction of something that is larger than in real life, Monet is a famous impressionist artist. ‘Water lilies’ and ‘Artist’s Garden’ are example of Monet’s work, on a colour wheel, complementary colours are those directly opposite each other on the wheel eg red and green. Harmonious colours are those next to each other on the wheel eg green and yellow, which please the eye, works of art can be significant for many reasons. For example, they are created by key artists of an artistic movement, have influenced other artists, have a new or unique concept or technique or have a famous or important subject, different artistic movements often use colour in a distinctive way, Expressionist artists use intense, non-naturalistic colours, Impressionist artists use complementary colours, Fauvist artists use flat areas or patches of colour, Naturalist artists use realistic colours, Perspective is the representation of 3D objects on a 2D surface. Abstraction refers to art that doesn’t depict the world realistically. Figurative art is modern art that shows a strong connection to the real world, especially people. Conceptual art is where the idea or concept behind the piece is more important than the look of the final piece, and strategies used to provide constructive feedback and reflection in art include using positive statements relating to how the learning intentions have been achieved; asking questions about intent, concepts and techniques used and providing points for improvement relating to the learning intention.
In their final Summer project, ID, Art is again in focus. The children learn that, sketchbooks are a significant tool for artists to generate and reflect upon their ideas about their own work and the work of others, sketchbooks can contain drawings, written work and personal thoughts and ideas about pieces of art, sketching and preliminary colour studies are a necessary part of the artistic process and can help to develop a more refined and polished piece of artwork, significant artworks by black artists include Forever Free (1867) by Edmonia Lewis, The Banjo Lesson (1893) by Henry Ossawa Tanner and No Woman, No Cry (1998) by Chris Ofili. Each tells a story about aspects of Black history and social issues.
What Art skills and knowledge will my child learn at Pennoweth?
What sort of Art language will my child learn at Pennoweth?
What do Pennoweth’s children think about Art?
Reception children have commented that:-
“Art makes me happy… Art is great because you can paint nice pictures and draw things and make things and bring them home to show your mummy and daddy them and make your house look nice.”
Year 1 children have said the following about art:-
“I get to add detail to my paintings…It’s a fun activity and art is the best thing I can do… I love painting and being creative… I like art because I can do anything with it, you can make art with anything you have.”
Some comments from Year 2 children include:-
“I liked learning techniques such as collage, painting and pencil drawing…I enjoyed learning new techniques about different types of pencils and different ways to sketch and get different effects… Painting makes me feel calm and happy.”
Year 3 children comment:-
“I like mixing colours to get different shades…I liked doing sketches of the pottery because I liked using the pastels and charcoal…I liked drawing the pottery with the charcoal. I also liked designing the pattern for my pebble.”
Year 4 children have commented:-
“I liked creating the clay, sea animal models because you could easily bend the clay into shape.. I really liked using the modelling tools to make my clay sea creature because they helped me with the detail and form the right shape.. it was very creative…we can be calm while we paint and have fun.’
Some comments from Year 5 children include:-
“Learning about Impressionism has been great; I liked learning how to blend bright colours and layer the paint – although it was tricky at first! Monet is my favourite artist so far…It was really satisfying to see all the colours come together – blending on to the paper made a really cool effect… Art is where a home is… Surrealist Art happens at night in your dreams. If you know what a real master piece is, you know it can be abstract; Expressionist, Impressionist or Surrealist. No matter what kind of art, no matter who paints it; it can be world famous… Art in school is so much fun.”
Year 6 children have commented:-
‘I love Art at school – especially painting! Maths and English can be quite tricky but Art is something that I am really really good at. It gives me confidence and makes me feel free.. I like that I’m learning different styles of Art, the impressionist art has taught me that you don’t always have to have defined lines to produce a great picture. I also really like learning about the artists themselves – it’s so interesting!”
Local Artists and Events
This term, we invited Krowji-based artist, Claire Stockings-Baker to deliver printing workshops to our Years 1 and 2 children. They were excited to learn a variety of techniques using gelli plates, acrylic paint, stencils and rollers to create beautiful prints around Cornish autumnal landscapes, working in our newly equipped Creative Lab.
Christmas Lantern Parade
Useful Art websites and links
https://www.krowji.org.uk/
A website detailing the local artists in Redruth and the various events, including regular Art workshops for children.
A really useful website with links to famous artists and games and fun quizzes.
The resources on this website are targeted at different ages from 4 to adult, for use at home and schools. Subject areas include, sculpture, colour, installation, art, drawing and photography.
This is the online home of every UK public art collection. The site is fully searchable and you can search by topic, such as ‘Dreams.’
A fun website from the BBC. It has interactive games, facts about famous artists, things to make and do. You can send in your questions.
A very interesting site if you want to find out about Impressionist painters and their paintings.
You can experiment here with space and colour in accordance with the theories of Piet Mondrian.
Discover everything you would like to find out about the famous art gallery in Paris.
Discover everything about this famous London art gallery.
Offers dozens of cartoons to print and colour, and colouring books with pictures that you can colour online. Also includes graphic step-by-step instructions on how to draw cartoons, online games you can play, and crafts.