At Ashbrook Junior School, our Art curriculum is central to our vision of developing independent, creative and expressive individuals within Borrowash, Derbyshire and beyond. Through Art, children learn to understand and respond to the world around them, express their ideas and emotions, and appreciate how artists, craftspeople and designers use creativity to communicate, challenge and shape the world.

Our Art curriculum is rooted in our Ashbrook curriculum principles: We Know, We Connect and We Grow.

We Know

We believe creativity is strengthened by knowledge. Our carefully sequenced curriculum develops children's artistic knowledge, artistic practice and artistic language, alongside their disciplinary understanding of how artists create, explore, refine, interpret and evaluate their work.

Children develop a rich and diverse knowledge of artists, artworks and artistic practice, exploring different cultures, time periods, styles and perspectives. They progressively develop their knowledge and skills across drawing, painting, sculpture and a range of other media and techniques, learning how materials, processes and artistic choices influence outcomes.

Children use sketchbooks as part of their creative process: generating ideas, recording observations, experimenting with materials and techniques, developing and refining ideas, and reflecting on their learning. Across the curriculum, children develop the vocabulary to discuss, analyse and evaluate art with increasing confidence and precision.

We Connect

Art enables children to make meaningful connections between themselves, their community and the wider world. We value the creativity and artistic heritage of Borrowash and Derbyshire, providing opportunities for children to engage with local artists, artwork and creative experiences and to share and celebrate their own work within the community.

Children encounter artists, artworks and artistic traditions from across the UK and the wider world, developing an understanding of how art reflects different cultures, identities, experiences and perspectives. They make meaningful connections between Art, other areas of the curriculum and the world around them, understanding the role of creativity in culture, design, architecture and the world of work.

We Grow

Through Art, children grow as confident, resilient, reflective and independent artists. Our creative process encourages children to experiment, take creative risks, make mistakes, respond to feedback and refine their ideas.

Children develop their own artistic voice, making increasingly purposeful choices about materials, techniques and processes. They learn to observe carefully, ask questions, interpret artworks and use artistic language to explain and evaluate their choices.

Through exposure to diverse artists and artistic approaches, children become curious, imaginative and open-minded, recognising that there are many ways to create, communicate and see the world.

Our Art curriculum develops:

• Artistic Practice – increasing proficiency and control in drawing, painting, sculpture and a range of artistic techniques, materials and processes.

• Creative Process – generating, exploring, recording, developing, refining and evaluating ideas through sketchbooks and practical work.

• Artists, Artworks and Artistic Practice – knowledge of diverse artists, craftspeople, designers, artistic movements, cultures and the purposes and contexts of art.

• Artistic Knowledge – understanding materials, techniques, processes, concepts and the influence of time, place and context on artistic practice.

• Artistic Language – developing the vocabulary and confidence to describe, discuss, analyse, interpret and evaluate art.

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced so that knowledge, skills and vocabulary are revisited and developed over time. Children build on what they already know, increasing their technical control, independence, confidence and ability to make purposeful artistic choices.

By the end of their time at Ashbrook, we want children to have developed a secure body of artistic knowledge, a broad range of practical skills and the confidence to develop and communicate their own ideas creatively. Most importantly, we want them to leave us with a lifelong appreciation of art, an understanding of the diverse ways people see and experience the world, and the belief that their creativity has value and a place within their community and beyond.

 

We are delighted to share with you that we are on a journey and working towards being awarded the Artsmark accredited by Arts Council England.