Intent
At TGMS, we believe that Art forms a crucial part of our pupils' education and plays an extremely significant role in their learning. Our Art Curriculum develops our pupils' understanding of not only their own heritage but the cultural heritages of others too, through studying a diverse range of artists, as well as local and global themes.

Our pupils develop their understanding of the visual language of art through effective teaching and detailed, sequenced lessons and experiences. Our high quality Art and Design Curriculum engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the positive attitude, knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art with confidence. At TGMS, pupils develop an awareness of how Art has shaped our history, and contributed to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. Art stimulates creativity and promotes imagination within our safe, nurturing environment.

Through our progression of skills,  our carefully designed Art Curriculum provides a variety of sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world. It enables pupils to communicate what they see, feel and think through the use of colour, texture, form, pattern, construction and different materials and processes. Our pupils learn to utilise a wide range of mediums and, by doing so, they become completely immersed in their own creativity, thus producing creations and compositions they are proud of.

Implementation

At TGMS, the skills and knowledge for each year group are clearly mapped to ensure growing progression as our pupils progress through the school. These include opportunities to revise and revisit the use of various mediums so pupils can recall and apply skills and knowledge previously learnt. This emphasis on knowledge ensures that pupils understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are studying and being inspired by. Our cross-curricular approach enables strong links to our topics. Through this approach, our pupils develop a considerable knowledge of Art from different eras. Our focus on skills also means that pupils are given opportunities to express their creative imagination, as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and sculpture.

Our whole-school collaborative projects throughout the year, ensure that Art is given high status within the delivery of our curriculum. Our recent application for Artmark status, which is affiliated with the Arts Council England, will further focus on our pupils’ artistic skills and knowledge whilst encompassing the many other Arts we teach. Our school’s high quality Art Curriculum is supported through our availability to offer a wide range of quality resources, which are used to support pupils' confidence in the use of different media.

Impact

At TGMS, our pupils achieve the following:

• Acquire an appreciation, enjoyment and love of Art 
• Develop positive attitudes to Art 
• Demonstrate awareness of Art across the curriculum and the wider world
• Demonstrate their pride and the high status of Art through open classrooms, exhibitions, classroom and online displays
• Develop personal qualities, including perseverance, resilience, independent thinking, self-confidence and creativity through Art.

Assessment in Art is an ongoing process. Teachers will make informal judgements about pupil’s progress and attainment as they observe them throughout lessons and mark their work.

At the end of each term, teachers will decide on a pupil’s level of attainment, noting which children are: 

• Working below the age-related expectations (Emerging)
• Working towards the age-related expectations (Developing)
• Working at the age-related expectations (Secure)
• Working above the age-related expectations (Above)

These judgements will be made in line with the National Curriculum. Progress is closely monitored by the subject leader and senior leadership team. Monitoring includes lesson observations, learning walks, book and planning scrutiny. Other methods that we use are pupil voice interviews, staff meetings for teacher CPD and disseminating best practices.

The findings of this monitoring will be used to inform the next steps for the children and the implementation of Art across the school as a whole.