Art and Design

Art and Design plays a large role in all aspects of learning throughout the Pre-Prep years. The children’s learning is made as hands-on as possible throughout all subjects, and practicing the creative arts is the perfect way for children to spark conversations, make connections in their learning and to experiment with different media types.

Children in the Junior years learn Art and Design in a stimulating and inspiring environment in which pupils’ confidence and creativity are promoted. In these year groups, pupils are introduced to different materials and encouraged to experiment and take risks. Our specialist teachers ensure that pupils are engaged with their own learning and that their ideas are facilitated, encouraging them to make informed opinions and confidently communicate their ideas.

Alongside developing an aesthetic sense by describing artifacts and images, children are encouraged to evaluate their own and others’ work. Throughout Years 1 and 2, pupils become visually literate and able to understand art as a form of visual and tactile communication. Pupils’ aesthetic sensibilities are developed, as is their ability to make informed judgements about art and design.

Art is an important field that encourages pupils to enjoy and value the visual, tactile, and other sensory dimensions of the natural and made environment. Through the study of the subject, pupils gain the ability to articulate and communicate ideas, opinions and feelings about their own work and the work of others, as well as to respond thoughtfully and critically to ideas, images and varied objects from a range of cultures.

What skills will my child develop?

• Experimenting with different mixed media

• Communication skills using the appropriate vocabulary

• Identifying the 2D and 3D shapes

• Learning about primary and secondary colours and mixing paint

• Variations of mark making

• Space awareness

• Confidence to express personal artistic styles

• Development of fine moto skills. (small paint brushes, detailed drawings, observational drawing)

• Knowledge of influential artists

Hints & Tips for Home

• Towner Art Gallery www.townereastbourne.org.uk

• National Gallery www.nationalgallery.org.uk

• Peggy Guggenheim Collection www.guggenheim-venice.it/inglese/default.html

• Washington D.C National Gallery www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/education/kids.htm

• The National Portrait Gallery www.About.com/NationalPortraitGallery

• The Tate Online www.tate.org.uk

• Young at Art www.youngatart.co.uk

Rachael Armitage Head of Art & Design

Throughout Years 1 and 2, children enjoy termly workshops engaged with cross-curricular development. Pupils have the opportunity to work with a range of different mediums, including clay, and to enter their artwork into local art and design competitions. In recent years, pupils have submitted pieces to the ‘Festival of Flowers’ art exhibition at Chichester Cathedral, the ‘Eastbourne Sunshine Carnival’ poster design competition and the ‘Explorer in Bloom’ competition.

In Year 1, we often use a wide range of mixed media to explore 2D and 3D shapes, looking at their properties and how they can lend themselves to art projects -culminating in the creation of three-dimensional story characters. We also explore a range of different textures and consider different creations in which they can be used. Projects could include bear puppets created from felt, cotton and buttons (inspired by ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’); rocket ships made out of recycled washing up liquid bottles; and dolls houses created from upcycled shoe boxes. All of these projects are carefully designed and planned before making, and the children evaluate their finished products.

We also talk about the colour wheel and explore primary and secondary colours. The children always enjoy mixing the paints and discovering what colours can be made. We explore the properties of warm and cold colours, and how and when these can be used. We take full advantage of the beach and South Downs being right on our doorstep by enjoying regular seasonal walks, where the children gain inspiration for their pictures and learn how to identify the colours required to suit. On these seasonal walks, the children are also given the opportunity to sit and sketch the landscapes around them.

In Year 2, pupils begin their introduction to the main art rooms with a range of workshops. Through a variety of topic-based learning, Year 2 learn:

• to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products, including clay pieces such as fossil imprints and Christmas decorations.

• to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.

• to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.

• 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.

We have explored a range of artists in recent years, including Paul Klee, Claude Monet, Andy Goldsworthy, L. S. Lowry and Edward Hopper.