Art and Design

‘All children are born artists.’

Pablo Picasso

Art and design embodies some of the highest forms of human creativity. At St Nicolas Primary School art and design engages, inspires and challenges the children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to create their own art.

We are ambitious in the skills and techniques children will master, and we talk frequently about the process of art: experimenting, evaluating and improving. This is recorded in their sketch book which is used to collect and record ideas and practise the artistic skills they become increasingly proficient in: including drawing, painting and sculpture.

What you will see:

• Children using their sketch books to experiment with ideas and to develop artistic techniques.
• Children developing and refining artistic skills, and using different media as they move through the school.
• Children working individually or in groups to produce and evaluate work.
• Children learning about great artists and great works of art.

What you will hear:

• Children describing what they think a piece of artwork might be communicating to them or to others. 
• Children giving sensitive, specific and constructive feedback to each other to support redrafting, using the technical language of art and design.

Children will explore the beauty created by famous artists and designers, such as Andy Goldsworthy, Jackson Pollock, Henri Rousseau and Peter Thorpe, and use it as inspiration for their own creations. As they move through the school, they explore a diverse range of artists and artistic movements and the historical and cultural contexts within which they have developed such as Ancient Greek clay work and cave art from the Stone Age. They will also learn the language of art to allow them to analyse and evaluate artistic creations with their peers and teachers, and making connections with their community.