“Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves and explore what is possible.”
MaryAnn F. Kohl

At Lindow Community Primary School, we believe that every child is an artist. Art and Design gives our children the opportunity to be creative, curious and imaginative, while developing the knowledge, skills and confidence to express their own ideas.

Our Art and Design curriculum is carefully planned and progressively sequenced so that children build on what they already know and can do. From Year 1 onwards, pupils develop their skills in drawing, painting, printing, sculpture, collage, textiles and mixed media, while learning to explore the formal elements of art: line, shape, colour, value, texture, form and space.

We believe that children need both the skills to create and the knowledge to understand and appreciate art. Throughout their time at Lindow, pupils encounter a diverse range of artists, craftspeople and designers from different cultures, backgrounds, periods and traditions. They learn how art can reflect identity and culture, communicate ideas, celebrate communities and respond to the world around us.

Inspiring a wider view of the world

Art provides an important opportunity for children to develop global perspectives. We want every child to experience the richness of the creative world and encounter people, ideas and experiences beyond their immediate surroundings.

Our curriculum makes meaningful links with our local community and environment while also opening a window onto the wider world. Children explore artwork from different cultures and consider how artists across history and around the world have used creativity to record, celebrate, communicate, challenge and remember.

We encourage children to ask questions such as:

• What can art tell us about a culture or community?
• Why might an artist choose to create this?
• How can art communicate an idea or feeling?
• Whose stories and perspectives do we see in art?

Through these experiences, pupils develop curiosity, respect for different perspectives and a growing appreciation of the diversity of human creativity.

Developing creative confidence

Our sketchbooks are an important part of children's artistic journey. They provide a space to experiment, practise, make mistakes, develop ideas, revisit learning and reflect.

Children are encouraged to take creative risks and make increasingly independent decisions about their work. We want pupils to understand that art is a process rather than simply a finished product, and that experimentation and refinement are important parts of being an artist.

Art and Oracy

Art gives children a vocabulary for ideas and feelings that cannot always be expressed through words alone.

Children learn to use subject-specific vocabulary to describe, interpret, discuss and evaluate artwork. They are encouraged to explain and justify their creative choices, respond thoughtfully to the work of others and understand that different people may have different interpretations of an artwork.

Art for Every Child

Inclusion is at the heart of our Art and Design curriculum. We believe that every child should have access to ambitious and meaningful creative experiences, whatever their starting point.

Teachers explicitly model techniques and processes, provide appropriate scaffolding and adapt teaching so that all pupils can participate and succeed. Children may approach the same artistic challenge in different ways, allowing each pupil to develop their own ideas, skills and creative voice.

We celebrate progress, creativity and individuality, rather than expecting every child to produce the same outcome.

Caring, Learning, Achieving

Art and Design reflects our school values of Caring, Learning and Achieving.

Caring – We respect our own creativity, the ideas of others and the diverse cultures and perspectives represented through art.

Learning – We develop knowledge, vocabulary, techniques and creative understanding, building on our learning as we move through school.

Achieving – We develop confidence, independence and resilience as we experiment, refine and evaluate our ideas.

Ultimately, we want our children to leave Lindow with the knowledge, skills, confidence and curiosity to engage with art throughout their lives. We want them to appreciate the creativity of others, recognise themselves as artists and understand that their own ideas, experiences and creative voices matter.