An arts education helps build academic skills and increase academic performance, whilst also providing alternative opportunities to reward the skills of children who learn differently.
Gavin Newsom

Vision

Art at St. John the Baptist has risen in profile over the last few years. It allows a range of children to access learning in a new way and have a plentitude of opportunities to ignite their creativity. Art days are run regularly through the school year, where children are immersed in a new artist, both traditional and modern. They learn about their history, style and techniques, before planning and creating their own piece of art. To do this students use a range of materials and techniques and their diversity, ingenuity and creativity is promoted. Finally, children evaluate their work, with our aim being to develop self-reflective and evaluative minds. Art has been directly linked to gains in maths, English and other key curriculum areas and is vital for the development of the whole child. At St. John the Baptist, we recognise its importance and aim to ensure every child is given a well-rounded and diverse education, which promotes and nurtures their strengths.

Design Technology is a subject that addresses problem solving. It invites children to consider problems and come up with solutions to fix it, in creative and interesting ways. Every inventor uses this method to develop new products. At St. John the Baptist our aim is to involve children in problem solving and make them active participants in their community. Throughout the year children will engage with problems and be given plentiful opportunities to solve them, with their own inventions and creations. Students will interact with a range of materials and tools to help them. Our aim is to create diverse, active citizens that challenge themselves constantly to use their initiative and creativity to improve their own lives and people around them. As part of our Design and Technology curriculum, the children will also apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Curriculum

The basis of the Art curriculum is to teach students about famous artists and art movements as well as teaching them the skills of art, in a range of mediums. The curriculum is allocated a full day each half term. This can be blocked as a day or spread across the term so children have an art lesson each week. During their art lessons, students are immersed in an artist and their movement. Through this immersion they are shown different art pieces, their signature style and are given time to develop an understanding behind the message and meanings in art pieces.  Next the children plan their art work, being modelled and then practising vital skills in their allocated medium (which is rotated every half term). The students then go on to create a piece of art, either independently or in a group.  The unit ends with children evaluating their work, giving them the opportunity to interpret their art as well as self-reflect on changes they could make in the future. This program gives the children a well-rounded arts education.

Useful Links:

1. Art Project– A virtual collection of famous artwork from around the world
   https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project
2. MoMA– A virtual gallery of the Museum of Modern Art, Manhatten. Students can select artwork and learn about the artist and their history.
   http://www.moma.org/?gclid=CKKN592aqcwCFcG6Gwod1UME1Q&gclsrc=aw.ds
3. The National Gallery – Create your own art work using shapes, lines and colours
   http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/learning