Art and Design

A Commitment to Creativity in Art and Design

Alongside a knowledge-rich curriculum which equips children with the skills they need to succeed, we encourage creativity in all its forms.  Art and Design are central to our projects, and pupils work together using a multiple drafting process to create stunning outcomes.

Intent: Art and Design

At Hotham, we intend to allow children to harness their creativity and develop their own personal style within art. Children are introduced to a variety of artists from diverse backgrounds and encouraged to draw inspiration from the artist’s techniques.

There is a focus on the elements of art – line, shape, colour, form, value, texture and space. These are the key foundations of many art lessons and are progressed upon throughout the year groups. Children at Hotham develop the language and vocabulary required to evaluate their own work, as well as others, enabling them to become artists themselves.

Sketchbooks are used to promote and aid children’s experimentation with ideas, materials and techniques. In Art & Design, we widely encourage children to develop their own personal style and individuality, while also meeting the shared objectives. 

Implementation: What does Art and Design look like at Hotham?

Our Art and Design curriculum works in tandem with our Hotham projects but allows children to develop a strong knowledge and understanding of art as its own discipline. Children are encouraged to delve deeper in thinking about the purpose and meaning behind a variety of artist’s work which allows students to think and work as true artists. 

Within Art and Design lessons, there are three main stems of learning.

• Appreciating art: Pupils are introduced to a diverse range of artists that have worked throughout history and around the world. 

• Developing ideas & feedback: Children use sketchbooks in order to develop their own independent ideas. Many of these ideas may come from specific artists and movements they are looking at. 

• Creating: Children merge their knowledge and creativity in order to form their own work that is individual to them. 

Impact: Evidence and Assessment of Art and Design

Art and Design is assessed both formatively and summatively, which is used as guidance for future lessons. Each lesson has a clear objective, that is shared with the children and used to support the teachers assessment. Knowledge organisers are used to support the children’s learning and also allow both the teacher and pupil to assess their own learning within the project. 

With the implementation of the Art and Design curriculum, pupils should leave Hotham with a good knowledge of different artists, skills, materials and how to utilise them.

Art and Design Overview

Please see an overview of our Art and Design curriculum below.