At Firs Farm, we believe that every child can be creative, imaginative and expressive through Art and Design.  We understand the importance of how it allows children to make choices; learning how to make decisions when choosing colour, media and texture and take ownership of their work. Our pupils are provided with many opportunities to become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and design techniques.

We want the pupils to develop as critical and creative thinkers and enrich, extend and consolidate learning in a variety of contexts. Through systematic and progressive planning, we intend to encourage the children to express, explore and celebrate ideas, feelings, attitudes and values. We aim to foster originality and creativity using Art as a means of communication; innovation and sensitivity to personal feelings and attitudes permeates the school environment.

Art in our school, becomes unique for every child as we engage, inspire and challenge all pupils to explore and reach their full potential.  Pupils develop their practical knowledge of how to create art by learning the methods and techniques used by artists, craft-makers and designers. They learn the theoretical knowledge of the tools, materials and history of the subject. Pupils are taught the disciplinary knowledge of art, such as the ways in which it is judged, valued and evaluated. The art and design curriculum in our school sets out how pupils can ‘get better’ at the subject. We show how proud we are of our pupils’ hard work by displaying it around the school in various ways. At Firs Farm, children are offered further opportunities to thrive and progress through attending after school enrichment activities as well as enter external competitions.  We also have yearly art weeks or fortnights. 

Art and Design is taught through the Early Years Foundation Stage (for Reception children) and the National Curriculum (2014) for Year 1 to 6 and we are proud of our high quality teaching. We recognise that for pupils to aspire and be successful in their learning they need to be given rich and sustained opportunities to develop their cultural capital. To achieve this, we follow and incorporate cross-curricular art teaching which include, Take One Picture, Artist of the week and other whole school Art projects. 

Early Years Foundation Stage

We believe creativity is fundamental to successful learning and give all children the best opportunity for  effective, creative development.  We provide a stimulating environment to ensure our areas of learning,  include art, music, dance, role play and imaginative play (Expressive Arts and Design).

Key stage 1

Our pupils are inspired to explore drawing, painting and sculpture.  They are encouraged to develop their  skills using a wide range of techniques including colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.  Children learn about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

Key stage 2

Our pupils are taught to develop and experiment with a range of Art and Design Techniques which show clear progression from KS1.

They are provided with opportunities to develop personal control of their own materials and learn about good role models from history including artists, architects and designers. Children review and revisit particular techniques throughout the years including drawing, painting and sculpture through the use of various resources including pencil, charcoal, paint and clay.