Intent
Art and Design is a core part of our curricular and wider provision at Deer Park School. It is our intention to offer all pupils an exceptional quality of art and design education that engages, inspires and challenges our children, equipping them with the knowledge required to experiment, invent and create their own work, and express themselves as individuals. Through our purpose built art-studio, inspiring Artist in Residence, and rigorous curricular offer, we aim to embed both a love of creative expression and the practical knowledge to manifest this enjoyment in high quality work. As pupils make progress across our curriculum, they are able to think critically, evaluate artwork and artists from a wide range of genres, mediums and influences. We encourage high achievement through our provision of quality teaching and learning experiences. Through exploration our pupils will know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation and the impact it has on contemporary life and that of different times.
Implementation
Art and Design at Deer Park School is taught using an ambitious and broad curriculum from the Early Years through to the end of Key Stage Two. Our curricular offer aims to ensure that all our pupils remember long-term art content, including a wide range of domain-specific knowledge, and integrate this new knowledge into larger themes across the subject. Pupils benefit from a range of rich and memorable experiences, including modelling from our Artist in Residence. Leaders provide effective support in subject knowledge and skill development for those teaching outside their main areas of expertise and as a result, teachers have good knowledge of the Art and Design curriculum, including the focus artists and skills contained in each unit. The skills and knowledge taught to pupils are challenging and ambitious, and are coherently planned and sequenced to build an excellent range of understanding over time. Oracy, evaluation and appropriate discussion are promoted consistently, ensuring pupils can evaluate the work of an eclectic range of artists and designers they have studied. Teachers check pupils’ understanding of how to use art and design as a means of self-expression, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear feedback while adapt their art teaching as necessary.
Impact
Across Deer Park School, teachers use a variety of strategies such as regular and consistent feedback, coherently planned and demanding learning experiences, and the use of individual sketchbook work to evaluate the knowledge, skills and understanding that our pupils have gained in art and design during each half-termly unit. As a result, pupils develop detailed knowledge and skills across the art and design curriculum and achieve the best possible outcomes producing work of a high quality in each specific genre and skillset. Our pupils are equipped with the essential art and design knowledge needed for the next stage in their education and, where relevant, they gain qualifications that allow them to go on to destinations that meet their interests and aspirations.