Learning & Curriculum
Art & Design
The Art curriculum at Masefield is rooted in the belief that art provides a medium for pupils to understand and evaluate the thoughts, feelings and ideas of others and to express their own. Art and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity and we believe that it is our duty to develop cultural appreciation of art and to develop knowledge of key individuals and their contributions in this field. It is through these key principles that we engage, inspire and challenge pupils whilst equipping them with knowledge and skills to explore, invent and create their own works of art and craft.
At Masefield, Art is taught as a discrete subject in order that the development of knowledge and skills is taught meaningfully and explicitly. Naturally, links are made to other areas of the curriculum but this does not dilute the quality and entitlement of high quality Art teaching.
The school’s long term plan for Art sets out the content of teaching within in each year group. This is supported by the school’s Art progression document which demonstrates learning outcomes within each strand of development within an Art unit. Short term planning details how this content is developed over a series of lessons within the unit of work. The organisation of the Art curriculum provides structured opportunities for pupils to:
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record responses, including observations of the natural and made environment;
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gather resources and materials, using them to stimulate and develop ideas;
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explore and use two and three-dimensional media, working on a variety of scales;
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review and modify their work as it progresses;
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develop understanding of the work of artists, craftspeople and designers from a range of times and cultures, applying knowledge to their own work;
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respond to and evaluate art and craft including their own and others’ work;
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show development in their ability to create images;
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understand and apply the basic principles of art and craft to include: Line, tone, texture, shape, form, space, pattern, colour, contrast, composition, proportion and perspective;
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realise their ideas and sustain a level of working from start to the completion of a project or a piece of work.
Our Award Winning Art Provision
Since 2019
Masefield holds the Silver status for Artsmark. Artsmark is Arts Council England’s flagship programme to enable schools and other organisations to evaluate, strengthen and celebrate their arts and cultural provision
Art Curriculum
Art at Masefield Primary School, inspires all children to have the freedom to explore and experiment with their own creativity. We have passion for our high-quality, bespoke art curriculum that ensures our children have the opportunity to use a variety of materials and mediums to thrive, creating their own pieces of art work to be passionate about.
Our children will develop knowledge about the art strands and techniques (substantive) and knowledge about how artists apply these skills to create pieces of art (disciplinary). The children discover and develop new skills and techniques which they can apply to their own unique styles, developing their own creative flair. Our ambition through our art curriculum equips our children with the ability to explore, experiment, reflect and refine their own works of art.
We aspire to stimulate a love for art through exploring a range of diverse local and historical artists and techniques from different cultures, to influence their own work. We provide high quality art & design enrichment, including specialist workshops, trips and gallery visits, which engage and challenge critical thinking. We aim to increase the children’s cultural capital and provide them with experiences and opportunities to make sense of an ever-changing world.
Our ambition includes those who are disadvantaged, or have special educational needs, which ensures that their achievement is related to our high expectations. We pride ourselves with our innovative environment which runs throughout our school, and this is at the heart of what we do. We hope that all our children will aspire to use their own imaginative skills to become artists and crafts people of the future.
Workshops and Trips – first hand experiences beyond our school
At Masefield Primary School, all year groups, including EYFS, take part in exciting and inspiring art showcases where parents and carers can celebrate their child/children’s achievements. We have a wide range of local Artists and art specialists who come in to work alongside the teachers and children to model and develop on year group specific art knowledge, skills and techniques.
Professional artist Rachel Hyde is also a regular visitor at Masefield Primary School; she carries out whole class workshops with Year 5 to produce a collaborative piece to be displayed within the school.
Art school trips are planned throughout the year to enrich our curriculum, and create exciting, authentic experiences for our children. These trips are valuable learning experiences, giving the children opportunities to see artists work first hand and appreciate different forms of art and culture.
The children in Year 4 visit the Lowry Art Gallery in Manchester. They are taken on a guided tour to find out about Lowry and his work, before sketching from some of his famous paintings and creating small sculpture models of Lowry’s famous match stick men.
Alongside learning about Van Gogh in Year 5, children visited the Van Gogh live experience at the Media City in Salford. Children were immersed in the famous works of this artist in a multi-sensory environment. During this visit, children also explored the sunflower fields and starry night.
They take their sketchbooks along with them and use a range of HB, 2B and 4B pencils to sketch and shade some of these pieces of work from first-hand experience.
All children at Masefield Primary School are provided with the opportunity to take part in Art Enrichment sessions that are led by high quality educators. This sits alongside the national curriculum objectives and children are given the opportunity during these sessions to practise and embed their skills.
Class Artists, Crafts-makers, Designers & Architects – finding out about the industry professionals
EYFS – Frank Bowling, Henri Rousseau, Brendan Jamison, Joan Miro
Year 1 – Wassily Kandinsky, Anni Albars and David Hockney
Year 2 – Paul Klee, Andy Goldsworthy, Iris Scott and Jesse Treece
Year 3 – Georgia O’Keefe, Henry Matisse and Salvador Dali
Year 4 – Claude Monet, Beatriz Milhazes, L.S Lowry and Thutmose
Year 5 – Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol
Year 6 – Picasso, Freda Kahlo, David Oliveira and Sonia King