Art

“My name is Miss Gilbert and I am the Art subject leader at Bidston Village CE Primary School. I believe art is a very important subject as it is effective at enhancing and improving the self esteem of all our pupils. We provide all pupils with the skills and knowledge to create pieces of work they can reflect on, refine and be proud of. Our annual art gallery has been a wonderful experience for all our pupils.”

Art is an integral part of our curriculum at Bidston Village Primary School. The areas are developed continuously throughout the school from Sunflowers to Year 6 through an exciting curriculum. The Kapow art and design scheme of work aims to inspire pupils and develop their love of art and design. We encourage the children to develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art. Every child is given the opportunity to progress their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world, as well as learning about art and artists across cultures and through history. We achieved the Artsmark Gold award in 2022 and we are now continuing this journey.

We have implemented the Kapow Art and design scheme. It is designed with five strands that run throughout. These are:

• Generating ideas

• Using sketch books

• Making skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)

• Knowledge of artists

• Evaluating and analysing. 

Units of lessons are sequential, allowing the children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the National Curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows children to revise and build on their previous learning. 

Units are focused into four core areas: 

• Drawing

• Painting and mixed media

• Sculpture and 3D 

• Craft and design. 

Each year group will focus on three of these units, alternating to ensure each Key Stage has covered all four units. Units are fully scaffolded to support, essential and age-appropriate, sequenced learning. Creativity and independent outcomes are robustly embedded into the units, supporting children in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich, are unique and personal to each child. Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with children using sketchbooks to document their ideas. Art is taught once a week alternating with design and technology each half term. At the end of the year, we invite parents into school for our annual art gallery where the children can showcase the artwork they have created throughout the year. We also hold after school art clubs throughout the year.

Our curriculum is designed in such a way that children are involved in evaluation, dialogue and decision making. By taking part in regular discussions and decision-making processes, children will not only know facts and key information, but they will be able to talk confidently about their own learning journey, have higher metacognitive skills and have a growing understanding of how to improve. The impact of the Kapow scheme will be monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Our aim is for the children to leave Bidston Village CE Primary School equipped with a range of techniques, confidence and creativity..

"I like painting with lots of colours. I made a picture of my house and my family. It’s fun to mix colours!"

"We used pencils and crayons to draw animals. I like colouring carefully inside the lines and choosing my favourite colours."

"We made clay pots and decorated them like Ancient Greeks. It was fun shaping the clay and painting patterns on them."

"I created a landscape painting using shading and different brush strokes. I like making it look like the sun is shining or the trees are moving."

"I painted a portrait of a person from history. I had to study their face carefully and use colours to show light and shadow. It felt like I was bringing history to life!"