In art and design, we encourage children to follow our school values: The Chestnuts Way. We achieve this through examining the work of artists and aspiring for our work to look like the modelled example. This demonstrates our high expectations for all children, regardless of their starting points or backgrounds. We also have fun through exploration of media and materials and encourage the use of the outside environment.  

We believe in, and understand, the importance of the science of learning, ensuring we are building upon prior knowledge and experiences at all times. We exploit cross-curricular opportunities to enrich the children’s art journey and regularly revisit concepts throughout the school. Prominent artists are covered and revisited to enable children to have the confidence to discuss and evaluate the work of, not only artists, but also their own creations. 

At Chestnuts, we progress our knowledge and skills from Reception to Year 6, ensuring that our children are ready to access secondary education. We develop this through clear learning intentions such as the following example of the drawing strand. In EYFS, the children are encouraged to create accurate drawings, for their level of learning, of people. They are tasked with including the following basic facial features: eyes, nose, mouth; and basic body parts: body, arms, legs and head. Moving into Key Stage 1, they are tasked with using a wider variety of tools for drawing, they are taught to observe anatomy and include basic facial features and limbs. In Year 3, children would be expected to create accurate drawings of people, particularly faces, including the following: eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips, cheeks, ears and chin. In Year 6, the children would be expected to produce increasingly accurate drawings of people and produce a self-portrait incorporating fine and thick pencil marks and shading. 

Through our progressive curriculum design, we enable children to gather all the skills and confidence they need to develop their creativeness in preparation for secondary school. We aim to instill a joy of art which will continue into later life. We empower them with the skills to be lifelong art learners.