Art

Intent 

Art is fundamental to human development: it inspires, motivates, fires up the imagination, stimulates creativity, encourages self-expression and facilitates experimentation, leaving pupils with a burning desire to explore. At Gusford, we believe that Art is vital to a pupil’s development and our aim is to inspire pupils’ creativity as well as artistic skills and expression.

Implementation

Our focus is primarily on enjoying the creative process, whilst developing skills with a range of media, inspired by prominent artists. Through this visual language, pupils acquire an appreciation of Art in all its forms. As a school, our recent purchase of the Kapow Scheme allows teachers to ensure progression, use of skills and how to analyse an artist’s work and use this to influence their own. The other advantage is the upskilling of teachers with videos, ideas and suggestions. In addition, many teachers combine this with their own creativity, adapting their Art curriculum to be entwined with their topic curriculum to link the thinking and knowledge for the pupils. 

Impact

Gusford’s thorough curriculum, covering a variety of skills, mediums and styles, develops progression over the school. Pupils become observant, use subject-specific terminology and develop a critical awareness.  Ultimately, they learn to value the process. In response to their curiosity, we aim to develop resilience, providing pupils with the skills and ability to flourish, whilst aspiring for creative excellence.

Cross-Curricular Links

Throughout the school, there are many opportunities to link Art. Many topics - Science, History and Geography - have artistic skills, styles and products built into the curriculum due to our experience of an integrated curriculum. A strong link with Design Technology is evident at Gusford, as well as using Art to enhance other subjects like ICT, RE and PSHE. Our use of vocabulary, as well as the use of written analysis and evaluations, demonstrates the cross-curricular links with English. These links develop a love of learning in both subjects, cultivating and enriching knowledge, skills and creativity.

Art Gallery