Art: Intent and Overview

At Churchfield Church School, we are artists. Our intent is to provide a rich, inspiring, and inclusive art curriculum that nurtures creativity, self-expression, and cultural understanding. We believe that art is a vital part of a child’s education, enabling pupils to communicate ideas, develop resilience, and appreciate the beauty of the world around them. 

Our curriculum is designed to: 

• Align with the National Curriculum by ensuring pupils develop skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art, craft, and design techniques. 

• Encourage creativity and imagination, giving children opportunities to explore, experiment, and take risks in their artistic choices. 

• Build progression of skills from EYFS through KS1 and KS2, ensuring children revisit and deepen prior learning. 

• Foster cultural awareness by studying great artists, designers, and craftspeople from diverse backgrounds. 

• Promote independence and reflection, encouraging pupils to evaluate and improve their work. 

Skills by Key Stage 

End of Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2) 

By the end of KS1, children should be able to: 

• Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products. 

• Develop and share ideas, experiences, and imagination through drawing, painting, and sculpture. 

• Use line, shape, colour, and texture to represent ideas. 

• Begin to talk about their work and the work of artists, expressing simple preferences. 

End of Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3–4) 

By the end of Lower KS2, children should be able to: 

• Experiment with a wider range of techniques (e.g. shading, mixing colours, creating textures). 

• Use sketchbooks to record observations and develop ideas. 

• Improve mastery of art and design techniques in drawing, painting, and sculpture. 

• Begin to evaluate and refine their work, using appropriate vocabulary. 

• Learn about great artists, architects, and designers in history, making simple comparisons. 

End of Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5–6) 

By the end of Upper KS2, children should be able to: 

• Demonstrate increasing control and confidence in a range of media and techniques. 

• Use sketchbooks effectively to explore, plan, and refine ideas. 

• Create artwork with a clear sense of purpose, showing originality and independence. 

• Critically evaluate their own and others’ work, suggesting improvements. 

• Understand how art reflects and shapes history, culture, and identity, and make connections across time and place.