It’s our aim that by the time every child leaves primary school they can feel as if they have found an area of the visual arts that is relevant and engaging to them – that might be through drawing, or making, or designing, or talking about art. 

To achieve this it’s important that we create as many different kinds of opportunities as possible so that each child can find the thing which strikes a chord with them. That means covering lots of different disciplines, techniques, materials and approaches. It can be complicated knowing what to fit in and what to leave out, and how to order elements, but we’re confident that all versions of our curriculum provide a balanced yet rich offering, with progression of knowledge and skills woven throughout.

In practice, that might mean one day a child is practising observational drawing skills, another day they are working from their imagination making larger scale images, and another day they are discussing as a class how the context in which art is presented can change it’s meaning. The richness and relevance of experience makes learning memorable and impactful.

When a child leaves Year 6 and you ask them “What does being creative mean to you?” We want them to be able to answer with confidence and self-knowledge.