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Art & Design

Art & Design Aims

There is no MUST in art because art is FREE – Wassily Kandinsky

Our intention is to engage, inspire and challenge all our children to invent, create and evaluate their own works of art, craft and design. At Steyning C of E Primary, we teach art as a subject, but it is also delivered across the curriculum to enrich other subjects. Through our thorough progression map and a rich and varied curriculum we aim to equip our children with the skills, knowledge and confidence to experiment with a range of materials and methods.

Art & Design Values

LOVE – We show love by investing time and effort in the process of creating our art, craft and design. We show love by developing our skills and knowledge of art materials and mediums when creating something new. By learning about other artists and their art, we develop and deeper appreciation of different art styles and can begin to develop our own style with love and gratitude. We show love to our peers through praising them for their wonderful creations.

What is done in love is done well - Vincent van Gogh

HAPPY Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of HAPPINESS – Anni Albers
Art can improve mood and wellbeing and can be instrumental in allowing children to communicate emotions and feelings. We show happiness through freedom of expression together with a conscious focus of intention to improve our skills and gain knowledge in art, craft and design. We remind ourselves and encourage others to remember that art is free and that there are no mistakes – we continue to work through a problem because that’s where wonderful things are created.

RESPECT – We show respect by celebrating the work and achievements of our peers, as well as our own successes. We learn about-and gain respect for-many great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms. We learn to share, look after and respect our art materials and resources so that everyone can enjoy them.

COLLABORATIVE – We show that we are collaborative by discussing artists and artworks together; listening to the opinions of others and by accepting that we may feel differently. Together we can share ideas, design, create and critique our artwork using the language of art, craft and design. We aim to see the best in others whilst feeling supported developing our own skills and knowledge in art, craft and design.

CURIOUS – We develop our curiosity by observing and experiencing the world around us and using this to inspire our ideas and artwork. Wanting to find out about new things drives our learning and helps us make connections, become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques. We feed our curiosity for art by experimenting with different art materials and methods; developing our skills and knowledge; expressing our emotions and feelings through our creations and by learning about other artists and their work.

BRAVECreativity takes courage – Henri Matisse
We show bravery by experimenting with different art materials and methods and through striving to build upon our skills and knowledge of art. At Steyning C of E Primary, we adopt a ‘can do’ attitude to help encourage children to be BRAVE to create something that they are proud of to share with the world.  We understand art is subjective and opinions or preferences differ widely – we know that we will not like everything and not everyone will appreciate our work, and that is OK! We consider how accepting critique and using it as part of our development process can support our journey to becoming the best artist we can possibly be.

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity - National Curriculum.

Click here to view whole school Vision & Values.