Four Oaks Primary School

At Four Oaks we are artists! We want our children to love art and craft making. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up enabled to become painters, illustrators, portraitists, and craft makers. We want them to embody our core values: we all “strive to be the best we can be”.  We want our children to remember their art and design lessons in our school, to cherish these memories and embrace the artistic opportunities they are presented with!

Bringing art alive is important at Four Oaks Primary School. Educational visits are another opportunity for the teachers to plan for additional art and design learning outside the classroom. At Four Oaks Primary School, the children have opportunities to experience art on educational visits. We firmly believe that developing well rounded, lifelong learners is not just about what happens in the classroom, it is about the added value we offer that will really inspire our children. Year 1 and Year 6 are both afforded the chance to visit art in their local area with both groups taking part in art walks to look at the murals around Anfield Stadium and the surrounding roads. Year 1 children are also able to use materials from their environment to create nature sculptures inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. This allows our children to see how art can be presented and created by the world around us.

The Art and Design curriculum promotes curiosity and a love and thirst for learning. It is ambitious and, as in all curriculum areas, empowers our children to become independent and resilient learners and citizens.

We want to equip our children, not only with the minimum statutory requirements of the Art and Design National Curriculum, but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. For example, our children in Year 3 and 4 had the opportunity to design and make their own puppets about the Easter story and were able to experience how the crafts people make can be used for performances during a puppet show at our local church. The pupils really enjoyed this experience, and one child told the teachers that, “The puppets were amazing! They were so pretty.” Members of the church also said, “The children were really creative and had great ideas about how they could represent people as puppets.” These responses gave the children such a boost in confidence and self-esteem and made them realise that their creativity can make others smile and feel positive.

We want our children to use the vibrancy of our great city to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, co-operate with one another and appreciate what they have. We achieve this by providing a SMSC curriculum with Four Oaks’ British ‘Golden’ Values at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the Art and Design curriculum. Year 4 attended the Liverpool Philharmonic and noticed how the lights and colours created different tones and shadows that they explored in their drawing unit inspired by Cezanne. One child said, “The light makes different shadows in different directions, just like when we drew our shapes in the sunlight.” These discussions prompted lots of interesting exploration from the children during their drawing and sketching work and helped them to see that art can be seen and experienced in a variety of ways.

We enrich the children’s time in our school with memorable experiences and provide opportunities which may otherwise be out of reach.  For example, Year 2 embark on their annual ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ in Summer Term as part of their studies of the Beatles. During their tour of the famous locations around the city, associated with the Beatles, the children photograph important places, sketch the buildings and landmarks, and even collect inspiration from graffiti on the Strawberry Fields gates which builds on the drawing skills and use of line they developed in their Van Gogh unit. 

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Art and Design, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Art and Design is taught over three half terms per year, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. This helps to ensure sufficient time is allocated to Art and Design and that each of the statutory areas (drawing, painting and 3D sculpting) are revisited. We believe that by crafting our curriculum this way, we improve the potential for our children to retain the skills they have been taught, to alter their long-term memory and recall of important artists and thus improve the rates of progress they make whilst providing them with a rich bank of artists to explore right at their fingertips. At the beginning of every topic, the children in each year group develop their understanding of a specific artist that links to their statutory art form. These range from classical artists, skilled craft makers, modern artists, artists diverse backgrounds as well as artists, craft makers and designers from Liverpool and the Northwest.

The Art and Design curriculum at Four Oaks Primary School is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan lessons based on both the required curriculum coverage and the children’s interests. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on teacher judgement, ensuring progression of knowledge and skills from year group to year group. Art and Design teaching focuses on enabling children to think as artists, designers and craft makers.

Art and Design provides opportunities to enhance the learning of more able pupils by providing them with occasions to excel and be creative in other contexts and they can present their artwork in many forms and to a wide audience.

At Four Oaks Primary School we provide a variety of opportunities for art and crafts learning inside and outside the classroom. For example, we hold weekly fun art club led by Blue Coat who deliver a variety of topical engaging activities linked to a specific subject and theme for the children to complete. These activities are guided by the children’s interests in particular topics and they are given the opportunity to see their work displayed in exhibitions curated by Blue Coat during half term and holidays.

We develop the following essential characteristics and qualities within artists, designers and craft makers:

• The ability to wonder and question.
• The ability to explore and investigate.
• The confidence to challenge assumptions.
• The skills of using their own intuition.
• The confidence to make connections.
• The expertise to develop techniques
• The ability to craft and improve.
• To reflect critically.
• To dare to be different.
• To tolerate uncertainty.
• The skills to co-operate appropriately.
• To give and receive feedback positively.