Art

The Art curriculum at Our Lady's Catholic Primary School has three distinct strands:

 

Practical Knowledge (Substantive/Vertical Concepts)

Practical knowledge includes all the things that pupils need to know in order to produce art. It includes:

•Formal elements (colour, form, line, pattern, shape, texture, tone).

•Control of Materials (drawing, painting, printmaking, 3D sculpture, textiles and photography/digital art)

These have each been sequenced so that pupils are explicitly taught aspects in small steps, allowing pupils to gradually build their understanding and mastery of practical knowledge. 

Theoretical Knowledge (Substantive)

Theoretical knowledge includes the history of art. In the Primary Art & Design Curriculum, a range of artists have been selected to not only illustrate quality examples of the practical knowledge outline above, but to build pupils’ knowledge of the diversity of artists (their backgrounds, inspiration, and approaches). They will also examine how artists have inspired each other, and how artists are connected within the paradigms of Traditional, Modern and Contemporary art.

Disciplinary Knowledge

Disciplinary knowledge asks the questions that are at the heart of the subject:

•What is art? Pupils learn about the diversity of artistic outcomes, the purpose and the meaning of art, and how it has been part of much of human history.

•What do artists do? Pupils learn about how artists are influenced by their own contexts and worldviews, and present this worldview through their art; they can choose to accurately represent the world around them, choose to express themselves and/or challenge others’ worldviews through their art

•What inspires artists? Pupils learn about the range of ways that artists – and that pupils as artists – can be inspired.