Beechview Academy Art Curriculum Statement

Intent:  

Every child is an artist and at Beechview we aim to foster and nurture each child's creativity so that they can remain an artist as they grow. We believe that this is particularly important, as the children within our community do not always have the opportunity or means to accumulate artistic cultural capital. Key Stage Two children are at a developmental stage (schematic) where they become aware that they can not draw exactly what they see and this can create a feeling of incompetence. We aim to remove all these barriers and through our curriculum, we will inspire confidence.

The primary intention of our Art curriculum is to remove the barriers that limit children’s opportunities to experience and engage in art. We endeavour to inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. Our intention is to provide children with a range of techniques, which they will refine and use in a variety of ways, as they progress through the year groups. 

We intend to expose them to a variety of artists, visits to galleries and museums, where possible. We will also encourage a close look at the art within our community. This is done with the aim of giving pupils a range of skills inspired by artists. In doing this we encourage pupils to choose and use those skills to create their own original pieces of work.

With this ideology we will be giving them a solid foundation whereby the children are encouraged in every respect to use their imaginations to explore their creative abilities and be curious about the world around them. We will be instilling the children with some of our core Beechview values by teaching them to respect others' work, be ambitious and confident in their own work, be curious and experiment, and show kindness towards others when looking at their work. We will be explaining how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Beechview Academy Design Technology Curriculum Statement

Intent 

Our children are from diverse backgrounds and do not always have the opportunities to solve problems or learn certain life skills at home. Therefore, it is imperative that we give them the most inclusive and robust design technology curriculum we can.

We believe design technology plays a unique and indispensable role in preparing our young people for their lives beyond school. We aim to help them develop into confident creative designers and problem solvers, equipped to utilise current and emerging technologies - a skill set much needed in the world of work and modern society in general. A strong design technology curriculum is vital in  developing young people’s higher level cognitive abilities such as executive function in a way that other study areas do not.

At Beechview Academy we believe that Design and Technology is an inspiring and practical subject. We invite pupils to explore the use of Design and Technology in a real world context. This is done by encouraging young people to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems in a variety of settings. In doing this we introduce them to various vocations where these skills are used.

We are Artists!

During Autumn 2, all of the school take part in the "We are Artists" topic, where students in all year groups investigate the artwork of various artists including sculptors, painters and poets. They then recreate these artist's work and exhibit their creations in the Hall for the rest of the school to visit.