Art

As the cultural centre of Devon and Cornwall there is always amazing art to show cultural diversity around the city of Plymouth. Our high-quality art and design education intends to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they are taught to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. 

By the time a child leaves Widey, they should have experienced a wide range of artists’ work and experimented with a variety of skills and media. The quote by Pablo Picasso, ‘Every Child is an Artist’ is one we reinforce regularly and strongly, recognising that is some other subjects it can be all very ‘it needs to be this, this and this or you can’t do this because it’s wrong’. That’s not what were made to do, we’re made to be our own person, we’re made to go off and do something that someone else hasn’t done before. That’s our intention for art at Widey. 

Our core aim is to enable creativity, we place an emphasis on encouraging exploratory journeys, working towards varied and individual outcomes. With a strong emphasis on well-being, Widey’s art curriculum, also provides children with a creative outlet to explore and express their emotions. Some year groups are now even using additional Art Well-being books where art is seen and used as an essential outlet for aiding positive mental health. It should help to build resilience and develop social skills. So, for many children the arts can be a creative outlet for releasing feelings of pressure or stress of everyday life.

Our art curriculum follows the National Curriculum and once an appropriate artist has been selected, the relevant learning objectives are taught and applied, with all working towards to final yet entirely unique outcome. All year groups follow the cyclical process of: introduction to the artist, exploring artist’s work and style, experimenting with those relevant skills, planning their own artwork, photo of finished artwork in books (original sent home) and finally, celebrating and evaluating. The curriculum makes use of and links to prior knowledge, with the use of ROCKS being implemented throughout.  

Through lesson observations and child interviews, we aim to inspire children to gain some essential art skills whilst building an appreciation of, if not always a passion for, the importance and impact of art. Children will be able to recognise some of the features of some of the most well-known and some lesser-known artists and be able to comfortably and confidently give their opinion of what they see through a vocabulary and skills rich curriculum.  To aid this deep understanding, the implementation of ROCKS is used as an assessment tool to track knowledge and skills learnt. Art at Widey is never side-lined, it’s right up there at the front because we think art teaches you how to deal with the world around you. It’s the oxygen that makes all the other subjects breathe.