At Westwoodside Church of England Academy, Art is inclusive, inspiring and empowering for all. We encourage every child to aim high, take pride in their progress, and develop a love for creating through their own unique abilities. All artists are celebrated in our school, and we foster a culture of supportive critique, where pupils are guided to improve their work while maintaining confidence and joy in the creative process.

Rooted in our Christian vision to “Be the light for other people. Live so they will see the good things that you do”(Matthew 5:16), our Art curriculum enables pupils to shine by expressing their individuality and exploring the richness of the world through different artistic styles and cultural influences. Through engaging, knowledge-rich lessons, pupils are encouraged to think critically, reflect on their ideas, and connect emotionally with their work. Art at Westwoodside nurtures a strong sense of self, community, and purpose—helping pupils to understand their creative voice and how it can inspire and uplift others.

At Westwoodside Church of England Primary Academy we value Art as an important part of a child’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Our art curriculum is accessible to all and is designed to ignite pupils curiosity and foster pupils' creativity, imagination and visual literacy. This ability to interpret, analyse and create visual images, enables pupils to understand and communicate through visual expressions. 

The aim is to build their confidence to explore, experiment, express ideas, and convey meaning through visual forms and nurture a sense of awe and wonder within this in order to help pupils appreciate their unique place within our world.

Our high-quality engaging art curriculum inspires and challenges our pupils,  equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to experiment, invent, create and improve their own works of art, craft and design, to love what they create and inspires them to approach challenges with the mindset of artists and designers.

We want our pupils to be able to reflect using appropriate vocabulary to critique and have the confidence to comment  on their own work, and that of their peers and of the wider art world.

The National curriculum refers to pupils developing their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture. Our Art and design curriculum returns to these three key areas during their time in school along with a fourth key area: Craft and design. This area focuses on giving pupils a broad range of opportunities to explore different craft and design techniques during primary school.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, art is embedded through the Expressive Arts and Design area of learning, using thematic links aligned with our Key Stage 1 curriculum to ensure smooth progression. From Key Stage 1 onwards, we deliver the National Curriculum through a carefully adapted version of the Kapow Art Scheme. This provides clear progression in knowledge, vocabulary, skills and concepts, supported by high-quality resources.

The impact of our art curriculum is measured by how well pupils know, understand and retain key artistic knowledge and skills over time. Progress is demonstrated through the children’s ability to recall, apply and connect prior learning to new contexts. Through ongoing assessment pupils are given feedback to continually improve their skills.  

Art monitoring takes various forms such as pupil voice, lesson visits, work scrutiny and assessment outcomes—are used to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning . Regular sticky knowledge checks and teacher assessments help ensure that gaps are identified and addressed quickly. Sketch books are monitored throughout the year, ensuring our pupils have the opportunity to develop their skills fully and showcase their talents. This also gives an evidence base of a progression of techniques throughout the school years. Lesson visits take place to ensure teaching is effective. Through pupil voice we can see that our pupils are able to talk confidently and expressively about their understanding of  their own developing skills and those of the artists, craft makers and designers they study. The use of key Art vocabulary widens and expands language across the whole curriculum. Pupils work is exhibited throughout the school, celebrating all of our pupils as artists, both on classroom and communal displays. 

The Art curriculum is monitored by the Subject Leader and Headteacher to ensure it continues to deliver high-quality outcomes for all pupils.

In each year group, learning in Art is enriched through hands-on projects, educational visits, and visitors who share real-life creative experiences with the pupils. These opportunities help bring artistic techniques, history, and expression to life by connecting pupils with the wider world of creativity. Whether through gallery visits, community murals, or meeting professional artists, pupils gain insight into how art is used to communicate, celebrate, and challenge.

Pupils are encouraged to experiment, take creative risks, and reflect on their own work and that of others. They develop skills in drawing, painting, sculpture and craft and design, while exploring how art connects to culture, history, and current issues. These enriching experiences support our aim to nurture confident, expressive and reflective young artists with a deep appreciation for the value and impact of the visual arts.