Art elevation group reflections
At Deanshanger Primary, the children have access to a wide and broad Art curriculum through their year group IPC (International Primary Curriculum) units, visitors, and various whole school events celebrating the children’s developing art skills such as armistice, Christmas crafts and end of year whole school collaborations, although Covid 19 has put end of year collaborations on hold but we are planning to be up and running with this again next year.
The elevation group met with each year group in turn from Foundation Stage to Year 6. It was lovely to meet with the children and discuss their understanding of art and sharing in their learning. This meeting was very informative and there is a lot to celebrate.
The children in Foundation Stage receive a good grounding in art, looking at and discussing famous artwork and recreating it or creating artwork using a range of media such as paints, pastels and paper.
The children in KS1 were able to talk confidently about art skills such as colour mixing, lines and reasoning their choice of mediums in which to create their artwork. The artwork is linked to their topics, such as from A to B, where the children had studied the work of L.S Lowry and industry. The children also shared their sketchbooks which although a KS2 requirement of the National Curriculum, we introduce the children to in KS1. The children talked about pieces of work they were proud of and had worked hard on. Annotations were also visible demonstrating the children’s ability to reflect on their artwork.
In KS2 the children were able to explain and reason what, in their opinion, art was. They discussed a range of pictures presented to them explaining how they were art and how they felt some may or may not have been more artistic or skill-based than others. This included sculptures and crafts as well as paintings. The sketchbooks continued to demonstrate annotated reflections. It was clear that all children from FS to Year 6 have access to a range of artistic mediums.
The children also explored a range of presented items such as charcoals, paint pallets, ink rollers etc. The children were able to talk about which ones they had used and how they had used them including making use of correct names and some strong art vocabulary. Children throughout the school were also able to link their forest school sessions to their art learning, recalling artwork they had created during or as a result of forest school sessions.
Moving forward, we will now be focusing on building projects within the sketchbooks, beginning with researching a particular artist or artistic technique, through trialling, developing and reflecting upon art skills before working to create a final piece. We will also be looking at fine-tuning skills as the children progress through the school ensuring the children are regularly looking back at previous work and understanding how they could develop it further. For instance, when learning to shade with sketching pencils the children could look back at their work exploring the spectrum of sketching pencils to refresh their knowledge and begin to consider which pencils will create the best shading effects.
DT elevation group reflections
At Deanshanger Primary, the children have access to a wide and broad Design and Technology curriculum through their year group IPC (International History Curriculum) units and forest school sessions.
The elevation group met with each year group in turn from Year 1 to Year 5. It quickly became clear that the children access a range of Design and Technology both in school and at home.
Initially, the children discussed their Design and Technology work, explaining what they thought Design and Technology was and how Design and Technology has impacted our lives. The children were able to make links between Design and Technology and a range of inventions that have made our lives easier. They were also able to recognise how Technology such as 3D printers is further improving life as we know it. The children talked about Design and Technology pieces they have created such as junk-modelling or making transport and the older children were beginning to make links between science and design and technology.
Following this discussion, the children then looked at and discussed a range of design and technology resources from kitchen equipment to hardware tools such as saws and drills. The children were able to identify and name many of the items and explain how to use them safely or recognise them as potentially dangerous. The children have had opportunities to use tools such as hammers and saws at forest school and through project work in the upper part of the school. The children have also made use of the school kitchens to create and bake a range of tasty treats.
Moving forward we’ll be working to create documented Design and Technology projects beginning with researching a product, looking for potential design flaws or areas for development before beginning an annotated design stage and finally the making part. We’ll also be ensuring the children’s cookery is a balance between sweet and savoury creations.
Miss Cookson, Art and DT Champion
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