Rationale

At Jericho Primary School, we are artists! We want our children to love art. We want them to have no limits to their ambitions and see art as a root to a future career be that an architect, graphic designer, ceramicist, printer, illustrator or sculptor. We want our core values to be represented in our children: achievement, adventure, respect, and creativity. We all believe that: “we are growing the hearts and minds of today to build the communities of tomorrow” and the ambition of our children embodies this ideal.

Our high-quality art and design curriculum engages, inspires and challenges pupils, while ensuring that they develop the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. Children also learn how art and design both reflect and shape our history, contribute to culture, creativity and wealth.

We want our children to remember their art learning in our school, to cherish these memories and embrace the creative opportunities they are presented with in their lives and future careers!

Curriculum Intentions

  • The art and design curriculum promotes curiosity and a love for learning. It is ambitious and empowers our children to become independent and resilient. 
  • We want our children to produce creative work, confidently exploring their ideas and recording their experiences without any fear of failure. Within a carefully considered, bespoke and detailed scheme of work that supports children journeying from novice to expert in drawing, painting, sculpture and collage.
  • We aim to provide children with the opportunities to develop and extend their proficiency and skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, textiles and printing. Our children will develop their skills progressively, over their time at Jericho, and will be encouraged to think critically about art, be reflective, and evaluate their own work and that of others.
  • We aspire for all of your children to become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and to have experiences and knowledge of other art, craft and design techniques. For example, children build on their sculpture and clay skills by working with this medium in years 1, 3 and 6. This allows them to retrieve and refine both their knowledge and skills to become expert ceramicists. 
  • We believe that through the teaching of Art and Design, our children can acquire a range of knowledge and skills, which can be applied to enhance and enrich the learning that takes place in other curriculum subjects. For instance in Year 5 children study the life and works of Henry Moor alongside their History unit WW2.
  • Vocabulary is a key element of our art lessons where it is explicitly taught and modelled. We evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.
  • We enrich children’s time in our school with memorable experiences and provide opportunities which are normally out of reach.  We want our children to know about great artists, craft makers and designers, to understand the historical and cultural development of art and to be familiar with local and modern day artists. 
  • We firmly believe that it is not just about what happens in the classroom, it is about the added value we offer to really inspire our children.
  • Art and Design is a subject of study that is highly valued and celebrated at Jericho. Through this celebration, children gain an understanding of how art shapes our history and contributes to our culture, on both local, national and international levels.