Art at Ravenswood

Art

At Ravenswood, we believe Art and Design is a vital part of each child’s education. Our art curriculum developschildren’s creativity, sets challenges, engages and inspires children. It equips them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent, think critically and create their own works of art, craft and design whilst studying a range of artists and their methods.

Nursery and Reception design their curriculum around the expectations of the EYFS framework and art fits into the ‘expressive Art and Design’ strand. Children have access to a variety of opportunities to encourage them to explore a wide range of media and materials, experimenting with colour, design, texture and form.

From Year 1 onwards, each year group takes part in a ‘project style’ approach; a series of lessons that build to a finished piece, where children explore and learn different skills and techniques using a range of materials. At times, these projects are linked to a unit of work in history, geography or R.E.

Three strands, drawing, painting and sculpture, are visited in each year group with two more strands, collage and printing, taught every other year, allowing previous knowledge and skills to be built on. Children learn the fundamentals of colour, line, tone, texture, shape and from, pattern, composition, proportion and perspective which they apply to their own work, through these strands.

Sketchbooks (which travel with the children as they move through school) are used from Year 2 onwards to enable them to practise, review and develop their ideas, skills and knowledge of art and show the progress they have made as an artist.

Over time, children become more proficient in their use of a variety of tools, techniques and materials. Their confidence and ability to use specific vocabulary to evaluate their own and others’ work grows. As well, children will become more independent and hopefully original as an artist.  

The bi-annual art week sees children use their creativity and originality to produce a piece of art. This could be a different project in each year group, across a key stage or the whole school. Possible projects could involve a process (e.g. printing), theme (e.g. the sea), concept (e.g. freedom) or an artist.

Ravenswood is lucky to have talented teachers who use their expertise in the classroom as well as to support colleagues’ CPD. Recently, all teachers took part in a printing workshop; these printing skills will be used to support children in our whole school art project based on ‘Trees’ in Summer 2025.