Art & Design

Subject manager:  Emma Quinn and Emily Sutcliffe-Phillips.

Intent: Our Ethos

At Parkinson Lane Community Primary School, we believe that art should develop in all children levels of “visual literacy” for a world highly dependent upon visual communication. By inclusively teaching through the arts, we can present difficult concepts visually, making them easier to understand for all our children. Art and design instruction within our school helps children with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness, ensuring that all our children are given opportunities to develop skills and knowledge for their future learning in high school and beyond. We stimulate and develop children’s creativity and imagination by providing visual, tactile, and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world.  Children develop an understanding of colour, form, texture, pattern and their ability to use materials and processes to communicate ideas, feelings, and meanings.

Our robust art and design curricula cover a range of artists, styles, genres, websites, books and galleries. Our art and design lessons look to build on prior learning, can be connected to a wider context (historical or geographical, for example) and provide opportunities to further develop visual literacy. Most importantly, teachers in our school are encouraged to help children to think critically about art and design through open questions and make sure the subject matter is broad and includes culturally and ethnically diverse artists. We believe children need to understand that art is made by all sorts of people, in a variety of ways, and should feel represented by the art and artists they are exposed to.