Adapting the scheme
Different approaches to inclusion are established in the units, for example:
- the starting point of 'self' is, by the nature of its subject matter, inclusive. Children who come from traditions with distinctive non-western art practices may feel that some of these - such as Islamic miniatures, calligraphy or rangoli decorations - are more expressive of their identity, and they could use these to create a self-image, like many artists who have developed cross-cultural forms;
- opportunities for responding to natural and made objects and environments enable children to begin with concrete experiences, using a multi-sensory approach, before they are expected to develop their own work;
- working directly with materials and processes for textiles and three-dimensional work provides access for children who need a sensory approach, for example children who are visually impaired;
- investigating the work of artists, craftspeople and designers from different times and cultures helps children to understand and value different interpretations of, for example, the use of textiles in our lives, relationships, the built environment, rituals, ceremony and other universal themes.
Teachers who use this scheme of work may find that there are parts they wish to modify and adapt for the children in their school. In deciding whether or how to use this scheme of work, individual schools may wish to consider:
- whether opportunities offered by the circumstances of the school suggest that particular units or aspects should be emphasised or expanded;
- whether the material should be adapted to meet the needs of the children in the school, particularly if they are not attaining at levels broadly appropriate for their age;
- whether the activities should be adapted to meet the needs of any gifted and talented children in the school;
- whether the attainments of the children in the school are such that adaptation alone will not provide a relevant structure for teaching art and design. This may be the case for some children with severe learning difficulties. In this case, schools may wish to use the exemplar scheme of work as a resource for developing a scheme that offers children opportunities to experience a range of work across the key aspects from the programmes of study ('Exploring and developing ideas', 'Investigating and making art, craft and design', 'Evaluating and developing work' and 'Knowledge and understanding').
In all schools, teachers are best placed to judge whether the learning objectives meet the learning needs of individual children, and to adapt these where necessary to provide appropriate opportunities for all children to succeed. Some of the teaching activities will need to be adapted to ensure that children with special educational needs of all kinds may participate fully and demonstrate their achievements.
Assessing progress
The learning outcomes in each unit show how children might demonstrate what they have learnt. The work children do will serve as a record for classes working on each unit. It is not necessary to make detailed records for each child in relation to the outcomes. The end-of-unit expectations provide broad descriptions of achievement within each unit and should help teachers to decide where a child's progress differs markedly from that of the rest of the class. Teachers may wish to make a note of this, and of the reasons for the difference, to pass on to the next teacher.
It would be particularly helpful if the school or year group kept a portfolio of selected examples of children's outcomes from the units. These examples might show how children met the expectations in 'Exploring and developing ideas', 'Investigating and making art, craft and design' and 'Evaluating and developing work'.
Links with other areas of the curriculum
As well as making its own distinctive contribution to the school curriculum, art and design contributes to the wider aims of primary education. Questions schools might like to consider include:
- To what extent does the school's art and design scheme of work contribute to the development of literacy; mathematics; ICT; design and technology; key skills; personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship; and thinking skills?
- How might art and design's contribution to these areas be enhanced?
Many of the units in the scheme of work offer opportunities to make links with other areas of the curriculum. Here are some examples of links between art and design and some of these areas.
English
Discussion is an aspect of the programmes of study for speaking and listening. It provides an important way for children to develop their understanding of their own and others' work and the different viewpoints and perspectives on their world that are represented in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers.
With careful planning, art and design tasks can provide opportunities for children to develop and apply their literacy skills and understanding.
Examples of the links that can be made between art and design and English in Unit 2C 'Can buildings speak?' are shown below.
| Activity
Children: |
Art and design focus
Children: |
English focus
Children have opportunities to: |
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- record the design and detail of a building
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- discuss the way that space is organised inside the building, and the size and shape of windows
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- ask and answer questions to clarify their understanding
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- plan how to work with others to make a mural for the school building
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- choose the materials to be used and how they will achieve the task
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- sequence events and recount them in appropriate detail
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- use subject-specific terms to talk about their clay panels
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- identify what needs to be done to adapt or improve their work
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- extend their ideas in the light of discussion
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The units of work provide an indication of where links between art and design and the use of language can be made in two places:
- in the 'Vocabulary' section on the front of each unit;
- in the 'Points to note' column.
Design and technology
Opportunities for links between art and design and design and technology are indicated in the units.
Design and technology can help children's learning in art and design by developing skills for:
- working with tools, equipment, materials and components;
- shaping, assembling and joining materials and components;
- measuring, marking out, cutting and shaping a range of materials;
- using simple finishing techniques and using ICT and other equipment.
Examples of the links that can be made between art and design and design and technology in Unit 4B 'Take a seat' are given below.
| Activity
Children: |
Art and design focus
Children: |
Design and technology focus
Children have opportunities to: |
|
- investigate the design of chairs from different times and cultures; construct a chair to suit a specific character in a story
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- compare visual and tactile qualities, including shape, colour and texture, in the designs of others; match materials and techniques to ideas and intentions
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- practise ways of making stable structures, strengthening paper and using different joining methods
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ICT Opportunities to use ICT in ways that will enhance children's learning in art and design are indicated in the units. The use of ICT can help children's learning in art and design by:
- providing additional equipment and tools to help them produce and manipulate images and play with ideas and possibilities for the creative use of materials and processes;
- extending the possibilities for recording, exploring and developing ideas for practical work in an electronic sketchbook;
- making it possible for them to document the stages in the development of their ideas electronically, share this with others and review and develop their work further;
- providing a range of information sources to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the work of artists, craftspeople and designers;
- extending the possibilities for sharing their work with others via e-mail or developing a school gallery on a website.
Examples of the links that can be made between art and design and ICT in a unit on expressive portraits are given below.
| Activity
Children: |
Art and design focus
Children: |
ICT focus
Children have opportunities to: |
|
- discuss portrait paintings, photographs and prints, including digital images; take a photograph, create a digital image based on the portrait and manipulate this to create different expressions
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- compare and comment on ideas, methods and techniques used by painters and photographers; communicate ideas about portraits and think about different ways of representing people
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- use a digital camera to photograph a friend and scan an image into the computer; use paint software tools to manipulate an image; and use a printer to print out different versions of an image
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Many units may be enhanced by source material from a CD-ROM or the internet.
Thinking skills
By using thinking skills children can focus on knowing how as well as knowing what - on learning how to learn. Many aspects of art and design contribute to the development of thinking skills.
Information-processing skills
These enable children to locate and collect relevant information, to sort, classify, sequence, compare and contrast, and to analyse part-whole relationships. Opportunities are found, for example, in Unit 4B 'Take a seat', where children identify from a collection of chair designs one chair that is familiar to them; think about its construction, its parts and how it is used; identify similarities and differences in chair designs from different times and cultures; and talk about how the form, materials used and the way the chair is made relate to its particular purpose, for example ceremonial use, leisure use.
Reasoning skills
These enable children to give reasons for opinions and actions, to draw inferences and make deductions, to use precise language to explain what they think, and to make judgements and decisions informed by reasons and/or evidence. Opportunities are found, for example, in Unit 5B 'Containers', in which children review their own and others' work and comment on the forms they have created, by asking questions such as 'How visually interesting are they?' 'Have they combined techniques in interesting ways?' 'Does this enhance the form?' 'Has the space inside the form been developed in an interesting way?'
Enquiry skills
These enable children to ask relevant questions; pose and define problems, to plan what to do and ways to research, to predict outcomes and anticipate consequences, and to test conclusions and improve ideas. Opportunities are found, for example, in Unit 6A 'People in action' when children are asked to imagine in 'slow motion' the act of falling or other actions. They make a series of short poses that describe the sequence of an action and then record each other in these poses. They identify ways in which figures and forms in movement are represented in other artists' work. They experiment with techniques, noting how they might use them in their own work. They make decisions about what they will improve and develop and make considered changes to their work as needed.
Creative-thinking skills
These enable children to generate and extend ideas, to suggest hypotheses, to apply imagination, and to look for innovative outcomes. Opportunities are found, for example, in Unit 2C 'Can buildings speak?' in which children visit a public building. They are asked to suggest the purpose of the building; how they would feel about using the building; and whether they behave differently inside the building and why. They look for shapes and patterns in the building and think about why these were chosen. Then they discuss and develop their own ideas for a large-scale mural to represent a building or part of a building that they know.
Evaluation skills
These enable children to evaluate information, to judge the value of what they read, hear and do, to develop criteria for judging the value of their own and others' work or ideas, and to have confidence in their judgements. Opportunities are found, for example, in the key stage 2 unit 'Visiting a museum, gallery or site', when children respond to the visit in an open way, for example by saying whether the objects that they saw inspired or impressed them, altered their mood, or stimulated thought about sensitive issues. They think critically about the words that are used to describe the objects on display in response to questions such as: Whose words are they? What would the creator, the maker or artist, a collector, the general public, or a child say about the object?
Work at home and outside lessons
Many units provide opportunities for teachers to set worthwhile tasks that can be completed outside formal teaching time. Suitable tasks to set include:
- exploring ideas on the themes of the units using a sketchbook;
- recording and collecting visual and other information and materials that will support the development of children's ideas;
- finding out about the work of artists, craftspeople and designers, in original and reproduction form, by visiting museums and galleries, using the library, CD-ROMs and the internet.
Modifying existing plans
In order to make sure that they are offering all children effective learning opportunities, teachers may wish to consider whether their existing scheme of work for art and design:
- is challenging for children of different abilities and aptitudes in each year of each key stage;
- motivates children, enabling them to understand and review their own learning;
- caters for children's diverse learning needs;
- overcomes potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of children.
All children need a meaningful context, a clear purpose and concrete sensory experience in order to learn and progress in art and design. Art and design is not only a visual experience. Contemporary art often combines media in multi-sensory works such as installations. These use the viewer's sense of touch, hearing and movement through space, as well as sight. By extending teaching and learning in art and design to include all the senses, teachers can provide for the variety of thinking skills and learning styles that will include all learners.
While it is important to establish and develop drawing and painting skills, for example, all children will also benefit from learning skills for working in three dimensions; sculpture, textile and ceramic processes; how to work with ICT and video; how to incorporate sound into their work; and how to link their work with dance and drama. These not only teach children about tactile qualities, but also help them to understand the concept of space, the use of rhythm, spacing and sequencing and how to create and interpret mood and expression. These are skills needed for traditional art forms and also for advertising, film-making and other art forms, such as dance, music and writing.
Principles for constructing a scheme of work contains some questions that schools may find helpful to ask when evaluating their current practice and modifying their existing plans.
Find out more about getting around the schemes of work
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