Higher Openshaw Community School

Art & Design - Our Intent

The world is but a canvas to the imagination - Henry David Thoreau

At Higher Openshaw Community School, we feel passionate about the importance of Art and Design within our curriculum. We know that Art inspires learners and stimulates young children’s curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and supports the development of these skills.

We are passionate about Art and Design because we believe it is allows every pupil to explore, build and develop their creativity to reach their creative potential. Art is a way of understanding and responding to the world around us. It provides children with the ability to observe, learn and record from the world as it provides many opportunities for visual, tactile and sensory experiences. We want children to be able to express themselves through different media and feel empowered to think creatively.

We aim to inspire pupils by exploring a wide range of artists, crafts people and designers. We want pupils to  confidently analyse the work of Artists and use this inspiration to influence their own creativity and decision making process. Through studying a diverse range of artists, pupils will learn how art and design reflect and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of the place we live. Our pupils will learn how art, craft and design plays a part in their own, and others’ lives, and throughout different times and cultures.

Implementation:

At Higher Openshaw Community School, we deliver a knowledge-rich and exciting visual arts curriculum through ‘AccessArt’s Primary Art Curriculum’- which meets the needs of the current National Curriculum for Art. With emphasis on the journey of teaching and learning in Art and Design, this empowers pupils to become confident and creative decision makers.

Sketchbooks

Pupils explore and document their creative process in their individual sketchbook. In Nursery, pupils collaborate together and record their work in one sketchbook. At Higher Openshaw Community School, we think of sketchbooks as being places where pupils can “think out loud”. The Sketchbooks record the thinking process that often leads to art outcomes, but we consider the sketchbook itself as an art form.