Art & Design

“Art and design stimulate creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world.”

At Tudor court, we believe that art is a vital part of children’s education, with a significant and valuable role in our curriculum and our pupils’ enrichment opportunities. Our art curriculum aims to develop children’s critical abilities and understand their own and others’ cultural heritages by studying a diverse range of artists.

The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art topic are mapped across each year group and are progressive throughout the school. Emphasis on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of the artwork and the artists they are learning about and being inspired by. This enables links to other curriculum areas, including humanities, with children developing a considerable knowledge of individual artists, as well as individual works and art movements. A similar systematic approach to the development of artistic skills means that children are given opportunities to express their creative imagination and practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles, and sculpture. Children are encouraged to take risks and experiment and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a particular project.

Learning outside the classroom also features in the Tudor Court art curriculum – museums and galleries are visited regularly, where teachers often take the opportunity to use observational drawing and direct learning experiences to enhance learning.

Teachers plan inclusive lessons delivering the art curriculum, considering pupils’ needs and celebrating individual expression. With adult support, children with SEN are allowed to develop the work outside of the lessons, often extending art activities such a mark-making and colour mixing into their learning plan.

The Art curriculum at Tudor Court contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement, and self-reflection.