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Art

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

At Wesley Methodist Primary School, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas - supporting all of our children to Shine like stars through our talents.  Our Art and Design curriculum engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of Art and Design. They should also know how Art and Design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. 

The long term plan for Art and Design ensures that the requirements of the National Curriculum are met in full and ensures progression in all areas of art and design - painting, collage, printing, textiles, drawing and sculpting are taught across a 2-year cycle with digital art interwoven into the art curriculum. Drawing is taught every year along with a textiles unit linked to Christmas. Artists, sculptors and designers have been chosen specifically for our children based upon artists they need to know about and that enhance our cultural and diversity understanding of the world.

At Wesley Methodist Primary School, we try to widen the children’s awareness of art and throughout the year we have art days that the whole school from Reception to Year 6 joins in with. The art day may have a theme, be linked to an artist or focussed skill. At Christmas, each class created a textile piece using the objectives set out for each Key Stage, created portraits, had a winter theme art day and looked at local artists from in and around Manchester. Progression is evident in the children’s sketchbooks and one piece of artwork each term is chosen from each class to feature in our very own Art Gallery.

Teaching and learning in Art and Design is important because it stimulates creativity, imagination and inventiveness. The purpose of art education is to give pupils the skills, concepts and knowledge necessary for them to express responses to ideas and experiences in a visual or tactile form. It fires their imagination and is a fundamental means of personal expression. Personal expression can be shown through the art competitions children have taken part in to show their creativity and it was evident in the Lockdown -Through a Child’s Eyes competition and also the Epworth Trust joint collaboration, Do All You Can.