ART &
DESIGN
Art and Design are strengths of the curriculum at Glenbrook. We have a beautiful art room where children take part in three specialist projects a year with our resident artist and specialist teacher as well as their in-class projects. From Nursery, children develop skills and confidence in a range of media, developing their understanding of how different materials can help them gain the effects they want in order to express themselves. Every child educated at Glenbrook thinks of themselves as an artist and expresses pride and confidence in their work. This is developed through careful teaching of techniques such as close observation and exercises for example where children focus on the subject of their observation without looking at the page or taking their pen off the page. The expertise of teaching in Art and Design at Glenbrook enables all children to be successful and to value the experience and practice of making art. In this way, Glenbrook extends its curriculum ethos of ‘we all achieve together’ to children’s learning and achievement in Art and Design with children progressing in their skills and attaining at a high level. We value collaborative creativity and sustainability and every summer, we work in mixed age groups to contribute to a whole-school Art installation for our library and entrance area using re-used materials. In recent years we have had themes including: The World’s Oceans, Birds & Insects and in Summer 2024 our theme is the Paris Olympics.
Every child at Glenbrook has a sketchbook that they start in Year 1 and take with them through the school to record their observations and to revisit ideas, master techniques and record studies of a range of diverse artists from Alma Thomas in Year 1 to Hannah Höch in Year 5 and Barbara Hepworth in Year 6.
We celebrate the richness of our cross-curricular approach to the primary curriculum and children’s art projects are linked to their learning in Geography, History and Science. This helps strengthen their understanding of the vocabulary learned in these subjects and allows them to see a subject through a new lens: the lens of an artist. Children study the weaving techniques used by Vikings and in their learning about the Stone Age, they make charcoal for cave painting to bring these historical techniques to life.
The impact of our Art and Design Curriculum is measured through a range of outputs:
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Formative self-assessment recorded in sketchbooks and teacher assessment for learning
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Book looks & Learning walks
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Pupil Voice - Pupil Conferencing and Lesson Visits
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Children’s artwork is shared with parents and carers in Tapestry for Early Years and in fortnightly WeDuc posts from each class on our parent communication app. We display children’s art in the Art Room so they can see their projects and development from Early Years through to Year 6 as well as in classrooms and in our library and entrance area. We are particularly proud of our collaborative projects in Summer 2 where children see how their own artwork contributes to a meaningful whole-school themed piece.
