‘Art is inspiring and makes the world more colourful. Art makes us feel calm and allows us to express ourselves. We can let our imagination flow from our minds onto paper. Art is about having fun, being yourself and being able to bring your ideas to life. The skills we learn help us to be better artists.’

(Breadsall Y4 and 5 Pupils Art Club)

Art: To develop communication through creativity

At Breadsall Hill Top, we believe that engagement with art is essential to the human experience and one of the most natural forms of expression, which children begin to develop early on in life. We aim to provide a curriculum that develops in all children the confidence, curiosity and independence to choose their own art mediums, experiment with ideas and face artistic challenges. Consequently, children feel empowered as artists and value communication through creativity.   

We care about:

• developing a love of art, and a sense of awe and wonder in all of our children, encouraging them to be curious and explore the beauty of the world through the application of artistic techniques
• encouraging children’s natural expression of self through a range of different media and experiences
• developing children’s knowledge and understanding of the arts through exposure to contemporary, classic and diverse artists, craftspeople and designers, and their contributions to art across time periods and cultures
• children developing an extensive art-related vocabulary
• children becoming resilient, adaptable and confident leaders of their own development
• children having opportunities to celebrate their work publicly within the local community

We know that a rich and secure knowledge base is essential for our children to be able to think like an artist and in order to maintain the integrity of the subject discipline, we teach art in isolation. The art curriculum centres around the 7 elements of art; line, shape, form, space, texture, value and colour. It is made to be accessible for all, split into 7 sections which can be explored within individual lessons or projects.

This curriculum ensures that knowledge is:

• Valued and specified
• Well-sequenced
• Taught to be remembered
• Knowledge is a pathway to a skill. Teach knowledge, and skills are the end result.

Designing the curriculum in this way means that the children experience all of the 7 fundamentals of art. They learn the language related to each element, can talk about the elements in reference to their own and others’ art and can utilise the skills that they learn within each element to produce high quality artwork demonstrating creativity and self-expression.

The 7 elements are explored through coverage of drawing, painting, sculpture and wider experiences of textiles, printing, photography etc. Teachers model the application of these skills and provide practical opportunities for the children to hone their craft independently and demonstrate creativity.

Our fundamental aim is for all children to appreciate the beauty and individuality of artwork and see themselves as artists, continuing to create when they leave us, be that in their chosen career or to bring joy and wonder to their lives.