Art Department

Head of Art:  Mr A. Clements

Art staff:  Mrs H Almond
                Mrs C.White
                Mrs C Symonds
                Miss J. Roberts

Aims

“much primary work is lively and expressive, too often skills, knowledge and understanding are not developed systematically”.
OFSTED (1993/94)

I have made it my aim to offer the pupils at Moulsford an art course that is broad, balanced, continuous and progressive.

A BROAD course should:

a)     Ensure that pupils are offered a wide range of artistic experiences, in both two and three dimensions;
b)     Develop pupils observational skills;
c)     Extend their imaginative powers;
d)     Develop their capacity to evaluate their own and others' artistic endeavours;
e)     Equip pupils with an art vocabulary – the visual elements of colour, texture, line, tone, pattern, shape and form;
f)     Develop mastery of a range of tools, media and processes – the latter being conveniently broken down into drawing, painting, printing, collage, modelling and constructing.

A BALANCED course ensures that the strands identified in the BROAD course are appropriately weighted.

CONTINUITY relates to the need to ensure that artistic experiences are regular, and consistent throughout the pupil's time at Moulsford.

A PROGRESSIVE course is planned systematically to ensure that experiences are suited to the age and ability of the pupil, and that one experience builds on another progressively. Artistic activities do not have the linear progression that can be identified as in a strand of mathematical activity. However, I believe that a simple progressive programme in art is possible, and progression can be broken down, to assist in understanding into:

i)     Materials
ii)    Processes
iii)   Tools
iv)    Concepts
v)     Knowledge

MATERIALS: some materials are easier to use than others. For instance, ready-mix paints are easier to handle than oil paints.

PROCESSES: some processes are more complicated than others. ‘Press-print' is a simpler process than lino printing.

TOOLS: some tools are easier to control than others, and decisions need to be made about when they are introduced, as in printmaking, when a simple press-print is easy for a young child to use, but a lino-cutting tool on lino would be inappropriate.

CONCEPTS: an example of a concept that is more likely to be focused on with older pupils is perspective. Most teachers of young children would regard this concept as too abstract to feature in the taught art programme, but during Key Stage 2 its incidental introduction, where appropriate, is likely to occur.

KNOWLEDGE: progression in terms of artistic knowledge is clearly evident in relation to the development of the language of art, the visual elements of colour, texture, line, tone, pattern, shape and form.