Mrs L Fearon (Art Lead)
“Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.” Gov.uk (2013)
At Eslington we believe “every child is an artist”, all children are naturally creative, it is our job as educators to inspire them. Art provides children with a sense of freedom where there are no limits. Being able to express themselves creatively empowers them and builds confidence, enabling them to communicate their thoughts, ideas and observations in a practical and expressive way. Through evaluation and collaboration children develop their social and emotional skills when reflecting on their works and that of others. Creativity is unique to everyone. At Eslington we encourage children to learn and develop in a multi-sensory way through various experiences, materials, tools and techniques, children can record the world around them in a creative way.
In order to support our pupils in Art lessons, we use simple and specific instructions that are clear to understand and the learning intentions are differentiated so that children understand what is being asked of them. At Eslington we focus on developing our pupils’ fine motor skills, through clay modelling, painting and collage units, which are an excellent way to build these skills and develop dexterity and strength in the hands. Through our Art curriculum we learn about a range of art movements to further support individual creativity, studying artists such as David Hockney, who was involved in the pop art movement, Piet Mondrian who is a pioneer of an abstract art and impressionism through artists such as Claude Monet as well as post impressionism artist like Henri Rousseau. We also explore collage technique by linking it to our Creative Curriculum, which enables us to present information in a creative way.
At Eslington we have spotlight days where we give pupils the opportunity to make cross curricular links providing them with more opportunity to express themselves artistically.