ART
UPDATED October 2025
“Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist when we grow up.” Pablo Picasso
The National Curriculum for art aims to ensure that all children:
- produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
- evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms
Intent – What are we aiming to achieve?
‘Every person, wherever they live in the world, and whenever they lived in the world, likes to make beautiful things.’ (St Lawrence Year 6 child)
We believe that we are all creative beings and, as a Christian School, we believe that this is because we are made in God’s likeness. Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. Our intent is that every child will leave St Lawrence Primary School with a love of art which stays with them for life and the skills and self-belief to be creative beings.
We aim to do this by providing a high-quality art and design education which engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation, and to the mental wellbeing of themselves and others.
Inclusion
Inclusion in art means ensuring all students can participate fully by adapting activities for different needs and reflecting diverse backgrounds in the curriculum. This can be achieved through modifying tools and techniques, creating parallel or differentiated activities, and teaching about a wide range of artists and cultural influences.
Practical adaptations
- Modify tools and handles: Add larger grips, such as a hole in a tennis ball for a paintbrush, or attach handles to make tools sturdier and easier to hold with two hands.
- Use alternative tools: For printing, use pre-made stamps, cookie cutters, or potato stamps with added handles instead of a standard paintbrush.
- Adjust materials and scale: Use paint rollers for larger canvases or adapt a frame to control a paintbrush.
- Allow extra time: Some activities may take longer, so don't be afraid to extend the time allocated beyond the minimum suggestion.
Curriculum and content
- Broaden your artists: Intentionally include artists from a wide variety of colours, cultural and geographic backgrounds, ages, and genders.
- Incorporate diverse themes: Use art to explore students' own identities and heritage, as well as the experiences of others.
- Provide diverse materials: Use projects that celebrate diversity, such as a "handprint" project using different skin tones, or a class flag project that can be decorated with cultural symbols.
- Encourage discussion: Be prepared to facilitate conversations around the diversity of the artists and cultural products being studied.
Activity planning
- Modify for different needs: When planning, anticipate barriers to participation for pupils with SEN or disabilities and find ways to minimize them.
- Provide parallel activities: For some lessons, students with SEN can complete a different version of the activity that still meets the same learning objectives. For example, they could use a computer simulation of a process rather than manipulating physical equipment.
- Set different objectives: In some cases, students may work towards a different objective from their peers.
- Offer a separate activity: In some instances, it may be appropriate for students to work on a completely different activity altogether.
INTENT AND INCLUSION STATEMENT
SKILLS PROGRESSION DOCUMENT KS1
SKILLS PROGRESSION DOCUMENT KS2