Art and design at key stages 1 and 2

• Balance the coverage of two- and three-dimensional art and design processes across a year and the key stage: Textiles and sculpture should be taught at least once in a two year cycle.
• Sequence units of work to build on and extend the skills developed in earlier units.
• Take account of the prior learning of the children and the expertise of the staff.
• Units that are moved from key stage 2 to key stage 1 need to be adapted by simplifying the ideas and limiting the art processes. The learning objectives need to be adjusted for the relevant key stage.
• Units that are moved from key stage 1 to 2 need to be adapted by making the tasks more challenging and by developing alternative ideas from sketchbook research.

• Core units should be included in every scheme of work. They provide essential experiences and basic skills in painting, textiles, sculpture and the use of digital media. The core units are:
  
  

  1A, 3A, 5A 1B, 2B, 3B 1C, 2C, 3C 2A, 4A, 6A

  Painting Textiles Sculpture Digital media

  
  
• Core units may be taught in different key stages, although the emphasis will be different.
  
  At key stage 1, emphasis will be on investigating materials and processes.
  At key stage 2, in years 3 and 4 emphasis will be on developing skills for investigating and making and in years 5 and 6, on applying these skills.
  
  
• Sculpture units 1C, 2C and 3C should be taught in sequence to ensure experiences are progressive.
• Units 2A, 4A and 6A on digital media are optional. However if they are omitted these skills should be integrated into other units to ensure they are covered.

Extension units

The extension units are:

• Units 1B, 4B, 5C and 5B may need to be taught over two terms if basic skills have not yet been developed.
  

Example long-term plan 1: linking with other curriculum areas

This school has made linking art and design with other areas of the curriculum a priority. The plan meets the requirements set out in the programmes of study for key stages 1 and 2.

Key stage 1

	Year A	Year B
Year 1	Unit 1A: Self-portrait Unit 3B: Investigating pattern Unit 1C: What is sculpture?	Science: Unit 1A Ourselves Unit 2C Variation Work with textile artist Science: Unit 2D Grouping and changing materials
Year 2	Unit 2C: Can buildings speak? Unit 2B: Mother Nature, designer Unit 2A: Picture this!	Design and technology: Unit 1D Homes History: Unit 2 What were homes like a long time ago? Science: Unit 28 Plants and animals in the local environment ICT: Unit 1A An introduction to modelling.

Key stage 2

	Year A	Year B
Year 3	Unit 3C: Can we change places? Unit 4C: Journeys Unit 6A: People in action	Geography: Unit 8 Improving the environment Geography: Unit 24 Passport to the world Science: Unit 4A Movement and growing
Year 4	Unit 6B: What a performance Unit 1B: Investigating materials Unit 3A: Portraying relationships	Creative arts: Music, dance, drama Religious education: How do people express their faith through the arts? Science: Unit 3C Characteristics of materials History: Unit 8 What were the differences between rich and poor in Tudor times?
Year 5	Unit 5B: Containers Unit 4A: Viewpoints Unit 5C: Talking textiles	History: World study of life in different times and cultures Music: Unit 18 Journey to space
Year 6	Unit 4B: Take a seat Unit 6C: A sense of place Unit 5A: Objects and meaning	Geography: Unit 13 A contrasting view of the locality ICT: Using the National Gallery's website

Notes

The school had to adapt some of the units for use with different age groups.

Key stage 1
In year 1, Unit 3B 'Investigating pattern' is used as the basis for work with an artist in residence. It has been adapted for key stage 1 by focusing on basic print-making techniques.

Key stage 2
In year 3, Unit 6A 'People in action' is linked with science Unit 4A 'Movement and growing'. The unit has been adapted for year 3 by limiting the art and design processes to painting and digital media .

Unit 1B 'Investigating materials' is used in year 4 to make use of the teacher's expertise in textiles.

Unit 6B 'What a performance' has been included in year 4 to link with the creative arts (music, dance and drama) as well as religious education Unit 3B 'How do people express their faith through the arts?'. Children produce masks and head-dresses for a production of the Hindu story of Rama and Sita to celebrate Diwali.

Unit 4B 'Take a seat' is used in year 6 to build on design and technology skills developed in year 5.

Example long-term plan 2: for children with moderate learning difficulties

This plan is from a special school for children with moderate learning difficulties. The plan includes the units from the scheme of work that provide opportunities for the children to respond directly to natural and made objects and environments, using a multi-sensory approach.

The plan meets the requirements set out in the programmes of study for key stages 1 and 2.

Key stage 1

Year 1	Unit 1A: Self-portrait Unit 1B: Investigating materials
Year 2	Unit 2B: Mother Nature, designer Unit 1C: What is sculpture

Key stage 2

Year 3	Unit 3A: Portraying relationships Unit 2C: Can buildings speak?
Year 4	Unit 4C: Journeys Unit 3B: Investigating pattern Unit 3C:Can we change places?
Year 5	Unit 5B: Containers Unit 5C: Talking textiles
Year 6	Unit 5A: Objects and meanings Unit 6B: What a performance

Notes

Core units are used in key stages 1 and 2 to provide basic skills in the processes of painting, textiles and sculpture. To meet the children's needs, units from key stage 1 have been used in key stage 2. The school also had to adapt and modify some of the units to meet the individual needs of the children by focusing on one aspect or a limited number of aspects in depth.

The use of digital media has been integrated into units across the key stages to give children experiences that increase their knowledge of their personal surroundings and the wider world.

Some units have been extended over two terms to give the children time to reinforce and consolidate their learning and to develop skills.

Key stage 1
In key stage 1, Units 1B 'Investigating materials' and 1C 'What is sculpture?' provide opportunities for children to work directly with materials and processes.

Key stage 2
In key stage 2, a sculpture unit has been included in each year to give the children the opportunity to experience three-dimensional forms in space. The emphasis in all the units is on investigating and making.

To enable the children in key stage 2 to experiment with a broad range of materials the school has included units that use mixed media: Units 2C 'Can buildings speak?' and 4C 'Journeys'.

In year 5, Unit 5C 'Talking textiles' incorporates touch, sound and movement in an installation.

Example long-term plan 3: two-year teaching cycle

This school has mixed-age classes and operates a two-year teaching cycle. The children in the school had limited prior experience in sculpture and textiles. The scheme of work has been planned to accommodate these needs.

The plan meets the requirements set out in the programmes of study for key stages 1 and 2.

Key stage 1

	Year A	Year B
Year 1/2	Unit 1A: Self-portrait Unit 1B: Investigating materials Unit 2C: Can buildings speak?	Unit 2A: Picture this! Unit 4C: Journeys Unit 1C: What is sculpture?

Key stage 2

	Year A	Year B
Year 3/4	Unit 3C: Can we change places? Unit 6C: A sense of place Unit 2B: Mother Nature, designer	Unit 3A : Portraying relationships Unit 6B : What a performance
Year 5/6	Unit 4A: Viewpoints Unit 4B: Take a seat	Unit 5A: Objects and meanings Unit 3B: Investigating pattern Unit 6A: People in action

Notes

The school has had to adapt and modify some of the units in the scheme of work to meet the individual needs of the children.

The core painting units are used across the key stages as are the core units using digital media.

Key stage 1
In key stage 1, three units are taught in each year group.

Unit 4C 'Journeys' is used in year 1/2 as the teacher wanted to use a trip to a farm as a stimulus and build on children's prior investigations into using a variety of materials in Unit 1B.

Key stage 2
In key stage 2, the sculpture units have been extended over two terms to give time for the children to develop basic skills and produce high-quality work. The 'core' sculpture units are taught in sequence.

Textile units have been used every two years to provide essential experiences.

In year 3/4, Unit 6C 'What a performance' is used to link with the summer carnival. Unit 6C 'A sense of place' is also used in year 3/4 as the class were to be involved in a project about the local environment.

Unit 4A 'Viewpoints' is used in year 6 as the teacher thought the subject matter of surrealism was more appropriate for the age group

Example long-term plan 4: mixed-age classes

In schools where children of different ages are taught together, work in art and design may be organised in cycles over time. Examples of key-stage plans for mixed-age classes are shown below. Such plans require close monitoring of the learning objectives and differentiation strategies used in individual units to ensure that individuals and groups within the class can make progress appropriate to their age, maturity and previous experience.

Successful plans for schools with mixed-age classes are characterised by:

• units that have a range of expected outcomes to match age and ability;
• cyclical planning that allows coverage of key aspects without repetition.