Our art and design curriculum is designed to help students build a strong “art and design schema” — a way of connecting and organising artistic knowledge in their long-term memory. It also supports students in achieving the goals set out in our Art and Design Milestone Progression document (see below). Our approach follows a simple model:
- Breadth of study
The range of topics students will explore.
- Threshold concepts
The “big ideas” that run through every art and design topic. These include:
- Develop ideas – understanding how ideas develop through an artistic process
- Master techniques – developing procedural knowledge so that ideas may be communicated
- Take inspiration from the greats – learning from both the artistic process and techniques of great artists and artisans throughout history.
- Milestones
The key goals that show students are meeting the expectations of our curriculum.
We believe that children learn best when they develop a secure schema built on knowledge, vocabulary, and meaningful tasks, helping them to confidently reach these milestones.
