Art and Design Curriculum Purpose

For more information about Art and Design at Priestsic Primary and Nursery School, please read through our curriculum purpose.

Art and Design at Priestsic

At Priestsic School , we develop children’s skills, knowledge and talents by recording what they have experienced, seen, felt and imagined. We do this using a range of materials, techniques and tools through studying a rich variety of artists, crafts people and designers. We deliberately make links with other curriculum subjects, at times, to enable art and design to be both studied for joy, freedom of expression and creativity but also purposefully through exploration of links in learning to other subjects such as; Maths, English and History.

Henri Matisse

In Foundation Two, we have studied 'The Snail' by Henri Matisse. This is a collage picture that he created. We practised placing our collage pieces on our design before sticking them on our paper. Just like Henri Matisse!

Year One

In Year One we have read the story 'The Bog Baby'. We used our drawing skills to draw a bog baby. We mixed paints to the right colour by adding white. 

Year 2

In Year 2, we have been exploring, practising and applying our art skills in our ‘Create’ continuous provision areas. We have been sketching plants with graded pencils, as well as, creating self-portraits, using water colours to colour mix to paint them. We also made our own colour monsters using blending of pastels. 

Year Two children have been working in the style of the contemporary artist and printmaker, Carol Lander. They explored how she takes inspiration from the natural world around her by studying her piece called 'Summer Moon'. 

The children explored colour mixing with water colours, and used the stencilling technique to create the moon. The children explored different wooden objects to then print over the moon using printing ink, using the pieces in different ways to create stunning effects. 

Year 3

In Year 3, the children have been exploring the work of Vincent Van Gogh and how he used colours in his self-portraits to express his mood. They began practising their skills of sketching a self-portrait before creating their final piece. They also developed their skill of mixing colours, mixing primary colours to make secondary colours and then adding black or white to make these into tertiary colours. When they had developed their skills, they mixed the colours necessary for their portrait including the colour they felt best reflected their mood. 

Year 3

We have been looking at the artist Andy Goldsworthy who creates sculptures from natural materials in the places he finds them. On our trip to Sherwood Forest we created our own pieces inspired by him!

Year 5

In Year 5, the children have been recapping their colour mixing skills, using primary colours to create secondary colours for their colour wheels. This is in preparation for creating their own piece of pop art! They have also begun to practise their sketching skills for their pop art self-portrait. 

The children have begun to look at contrasting colours for their pop art for emphasis.

Year 6

In Year 6, the children have been studying the work of Frieda Kahlo, who is best known for her self-portraits. They have delved into the portrait that they are imitating and discussed the colours used and the emotions they portray. They have begun their work by using tutorials to practise drawing different flowers and leaves, which will be used in their portraits.

In their studies of World War Two, Year Six have been researching the artist Eric William Ravilious. They used their sketchbooks to study the artist to learn more about his life and his famous works. Year Six used their sketchbooks to record their thoughts and feelings about his art pieces depicting the war. 

To begin their own development of their Artwork in the style of Eric Ravilious, Year Six thought about the lines they would need to draw World War Two Spitfires by studying instructions, images and practising their drawing techniques.

Focussing on the background of their art work, using watercolours, Year Six experimented and practised watercolour techniques in isolation such as dry brushing, blending, and dashing. They then experimented with these techniques to produce backgrounds as to achieve their most effective combination of techniques for their final piece.

Whole School

As a school, we have developed our range of sketching skills to create our own self-portraits. From working on the proportion and shapes to using different sketching techniques, such as hatching and stippling, to create different effects. 

Early Years Foundation Stage

Art in the Early Years is an exploration of thoughts, feelings and ideas. We look to ourselves, our imagination, the world and artists as inspiration for our artwork. We use paint, crayons, natural objects, clay, dough, shapes, building blocks and even mud...the list of what we can use and how we use it is endless!

Year 6 Art

Year 6 have been looking at artwork from South and Central America - in line with their current topic The Maya Civilisation. They have been finding out about Joaquin Torres Garcia. Torres Garcia was famous for using symbols in his artworks. He made toys, paintings and sculptures. His biggest influences were the artist, Mondrian and ancient people such as the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Ancient people used symbols to tell stories and record information. Torres Garcia used this as a way of communicating his ideas too. He preferred earthy colours and used symbols from music, religion, horoscopes, traffic, technology and ancient cultures. Our children have been recreating a piece of work created by Garcia that was hugely influenced by Mondrian. They have made their artwork personal to them by creating their own symbols for things that are important to them. Watch this space for our finished masterpieces.