4 minute read
Art
KPS ART
It has been a wonderful year in the Art Department, returning to the creative and lively atmosphere that we all love!
Each Year group from Nursery to Year 6 have had a full experience of ambitious projects and we have been able to collaborate with the wider foundation, giving Year 6 workshops with the Nursery children and holding a joint exhibition with the Senior School.
OUR VISION FOR THE ARTS AT KINGSWOOD PREP All abilities and interests are warmly invited into the Art Room and we aim to make the KPS experience an exploration of the senses. The underlying structure of the curriculum is in the Key Elements of Art - Line, Form, Space, Shape, Texture, Tone and Colour. Within this framework we practise planning, making, and reviewing our work. Each project encourages the children to refine their skill using a wide range of ambitious media. However, the opportunities provided for the children outside the classroom provide the extra sparkle. Our talented Year 6 Art monitors launch and judge two school-wide competitions a year and run a Valentine workshop with the Nursery children. We have a supportive and ambitious scholarship session every week and produce a professionally printed Christmas card design for every child in the school from Reception to Year 6. Our list of extra-curricular clubs has increased even further, bringing in other talented teachers from around the School. A very popular addition during lunchtimes are the Open Door Art Sessions. Children use this opportunity to enhance their wellbeing, being able to create artwork of their own choice in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
HOW ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS OF ART DEVELOPED IN EACH YEAR GROUP? Let us look at one of the elements in detail. Being able to use LINE confidently and draft designs without fear takes time. In Reception, we try ‘follow-me’ lessons drawing polar bears and recording ideas such as rocket designs. Year 1 begin to look at depicting texture with their mark-making and learn about the proportions of the figure. They regularly draft out their final plan, including paisley prints and ceramic creatures. Our ceramic dragon project in Year 2 really tests these skills as their planning shows note-taking and use of appropriate tools. They are filling their pages with increasing confidence and end the year with a tonal self-portrait learning accurate proportion with careful observation. In Year 3, we begin to combine and enhance all of these skills. In depth planning to produce a personal ceramic cup design involves knowledge of Mayan symbols. In the Dinosaur Project, a range of media is tested where mark-making is combined with tone to accurately show a close-up of a head. Layering the media and persisting with accurate detail is key. Year 4 draw confidently, drafting overlapping patterns to depict depth, challenging page layout on book cover designs and transferring their Egyptian drawings onto metal. By Year 5, children have learnt a range of methods to copy accurately. Using a ruler, turning your work upside down to compare shapes and angles, and using features of their Greek gods to check size, are some of the ways to success. Later in the year, we think about LINE in response to music, drawing freely and expressively along to Holst’s ‘The Planets’. Pattern and responses to a talented local artist ends the year with a detailed river animal. Year 6 are challenged to use their sketchbook in a more organic way, to accompany their projects and plan their progress. Drawing from examples to inform their choices and evaluating their responses are important to progression. Creating an African mask composition with overlapping depth, cropping and a range of scales gives a balanced design before adding a range of ambitious materials. We study the concept of one-point perspective in the summer, learning about mathematical drawing to give the accurate illusion of space.
All of the key elements are written into the programme of study to provide the children with noticeable confidence and artistic vocabulary to draw upon during their Senior School journey. With our own kiln regularly in use, they are proficient in 2 and 3-dimensional design. Clay projects are taught in Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 6. Colour is a bright and vibrant presence throughout the School whether to express a mood or look for subtleties of tonal form.
As we move into another creative year, we look forward to more collaborations with the Senior School, our community and professional artists. It really is an exciting time to be a pupil in the Prep School!
KPS ART GALLERY
