At Willaston Primary Academy, we believe that high-quality art, craft and design teaching will inspire children to think innovatively and develop their creativity, giving our children the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.

As pupils progress, they should be able 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. Art is taught through our creative curriculum and the children use art as a medium to respond to and express their global learning.

Our Art curriculum provides children with opportunities to develop their skills using a range of media and materials. Children learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, 3D work and digital art and are given the opportunity to explore and evaluate different creative ideas. Children will be introduced to a range of works and develop knowledge of the styles and vocabulary used by famous artists. The skills they acquire are applied to their cross-curricular topics, allowing children to use their art skills to reflect on and explore topics in greater depth; for example, by sketching historical artefacts in detail, researching geographical locations to support their work on landscape painting or using art as a medium to express emotion and thought to enhance their personal, social and emotional development. It is paramount that artwork be purposeful; be this as a means of expression or to explore the styles of other artists that inspire our own work. In Art, children are expected to be reflective and evaluate their work, thinking about how they can make changes and keep improving. Children are encouraged to take risks and experiment and then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a project. The children enjoy displaying and sharing their work with the wider community through art galleries held in school and digitally through our school website and social media.