Art and Design 

Subject Co-ordinator: Miss Moxon

At Yew Tree we aim to foster the children's love of art. We teach our Art and Design education through whole-school Art Weeks. Each term, the children are given a project to explore, which guides them to develop their confidence in using a range of key skills, techniques and materials. The children are given the opportunity to produce creative work whilst studying a range of great artists, craft makers and designers.

Every child has their own sketchbook that stays with them throughout their time at Yew Tree. Children are given the opportunity to become Art detectives, as they analyse, discuss and give personal judgements about pieces of art. At the end of each Art Week, the final pieces of art are then displayed in a whole-school ‘art gallery’ for everyone to visit.

What do our children think about their Art lessons?

“Art is wonderful because you can draw anything you want and you don’t have to worry about messing up.”

“I like Art because it’s calm and creative.”

“It’s a great thing to do at the beginning of the year when it can be a bit stressful. Art Week made me feel relaxed.”

“I like Art because we get to do fun things.”

“I love Art because you can draw different things. I used charcoal to draw a hand and it was really fun!”

“My favourite part of Art Week was getting to work together and help each other.”

AccessArt Scheme

Our projects are chosen from the AccessArt scheme. This scheme helps to deliver a rich, broad, balanced, diverse and engaging art curriculum.

“The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum is designed around the idea that art is far more than a series of technical skills. Our holistic curriculum nurtures creative thinking skills and helps ensure your pupils learn through art, as well as about art.

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.”  (accessart.org.uk)

Art Week Structure:

Each class follow the same structure during the Art Weeks:

1. Artist Study – each project will link with a focus artist, giving children the opportunity to understand the historical and cultural developments of art.

2. Analysing Art – children describe, discuss, analyse, interpret and make personal judgements about works of art. They are gradually introduced to key vocabulary to help them express their ideas using the language of art, craft and design.

3. Key Skills, Techniques and Materials – Children use their sketchbooks to experiment using the mediums needed to create their final piece. This is an opportunity to explore their ideas and record their experiences.

4. Final piece and Evaluation – children produce their final piece (in a variety of forms throughout the projects). They then have the opportunity to evaluate their own piece, before displaying their art work in a whole-school gallery.

Click here to look at our Long Term Project Plan for Art and Design