Art and Design, Design Technology

At Harris Primary Orpington, we recognise that a high quality Art and Design curriculum should engage, inspire and also challenge pupils.

The intent of our curriculum is to evoke the creativity of our students by equipping them with the skills to experiment, invent, create and evaluate. In addition to this, our pupils will learn about art through history and through a range of cultural, enriching experiences. This will allow them to gain knowledge and an understanding of art and design. 

At Harris Primary Orpington we aim for our pupils to develop an in-depth understanding of the visual elements of art:  

• Line 

• Shape 

• Tone 

• Colour 

• Texture 

• Pattern 

• Space 

• Form  

Pupils at Harris Primary Academy Orpington develop their in-depth understanding of these elements through exploring and gaining competency in a range of skills: Drawing; Painting; Sculpture; Printing; Collage; Textiles and exposing pupils to works of art created by different artists, representing different art movements, and different cultures.

Through this, pupils will develop an understanding of the chronology of Art and how it can be used to portray complex ideas, themes and concepts. In addition to this, our pupils will learn about art through history and through a range of cultural, enriching experiences. This will allow them to gain knowledge and an understanding of art and design.  

Our Art and Design curriculum runs from EYFS to Year 6. In EYFS, the pupils learn about art through Expressive Arts and Design where they are taught to be confident artists who enjoy all elements of creating art in different forms.  From Years 1-6 each academic year follows the same pattern of learning. They start with drawing then move onto collage, painting, then printing, sculpture and finally textiles. Throughout a half term, each artistic skill builds in complexity. As an inspiration for their own work, each year group studies a different artist each half term. In every art lesson we aim to cover - art knowledge, knowledge of a famous artist, artistic thinking and developing an artistic skill.  

At HPAO pupils record their work in sketchbooks. This enables them to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas improve their mastery of art and design techniques. Key Stage 2 pupils are expected to practice techniques with increasing control and “think critically with developing a more rigorous understanding or art and design” (DfE 2013: 176). Within the sketchbook, pupils are taught to evaluate and share opinions surrounding other great artists’ work. They will also need to give reasoning for decisions and draw influences from great artists, architects and designers in history.