ART & DESIGN

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” 

- Pablo Picasso

At Trefonen, we recognise that Art and Design embodies some of the highest forms of human creativity. Our school’s aim for our Art and Design curriculum is to engage, inspire and challenge our pupils, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, desire and confidence to experiment, invent and create their own works of art and design. At our school, we recognise that learning the knowledge and techniques in art and design gives our children an additional language, a ‘visual language’, that provides another means to express their ideas and process and their thoughts.

At Trefonen Primary School we value and will encourage creativity, confidence, and cultural awareness in our pupils.

At Trefonen our Art and Design curriculum will:

• Inspire and encourage children to experience art and design as a positive outlet that helps to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle by communicating their expressions, feelings, ideas and experiences creatively. Children will be encouraged to use art as a tool for expressing their thoughts, feelings, and imagination, their own ideas and experiences to create work that is important to them, is valued and gives them a sense of pride and achievement.
• Provide children with opportunities to explore working with different materials, giving them time to create, review and refine their own work, and to share and discuss their own work and the work of others in a way that is respectful.
• Empower children to pursue their creative endeavours, including working  alone and in collaboration with others, by providing an environment where children feel safe taking risks and are not intimidated by ‘getting it wrong’. We will provide opportunities for experimentation, allowing pupils to see that mistakes are part of the creative process. We will foster a growth mind-set, where pupils are encouraged to take creative risks and develop resilience, helping pupils to gain confidence in their abilities by celebrating their unique artistic voices.
• Help children to think critically about their own work and the work of others, developing an increasing understanding of how art and design reflects and shapes our history and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. Children will be supported in placing art and design in a wider context by making links with history, current affairs, equality and popular culture. They will be taught art appreciation using artists that have historically influenced our world. They will be introduced to a range of artists from different times and places and artists from different genders, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Children will be taught about specific artworks and artists that have wider value and they will be supported in making links between art and design and their learning in other subject areas e.g. history.
• Teach children about how craftspeople, artists, designers and architects have, in the past shaped, and continually shape our world. This helps our children to see the positive and life-long opportunities within the creative industries. Children will be supported to make connections between art and design and the world of work by informing them about creative industries and careers that exist.