Art and Design
The Principles of our Curriculum:
At Bignold Primary School we recognise that Art and Design is an important subject for all pupils. Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. At Bignold Primary School we understand that every child has creative potential and recognise our role in nurturing this. Our Art and Design curriculum is not only highly skills focused but also encourages children to explore the world of art through encounters with artists from across different cultures and eras as well as developing a deep understanding of artistic vocabulary and techniques. Oracy is a key focus across the entire curriculum and activities are carefully designed to develop pupils’ oracy and vocabulary skills. This enables our pupils to use artistic language meaningfully when talking about their work and the work of others.
Children work artistically by developing the following competencies:
We are developing our co-curricular offer to provide children with a rich variety of artistic opportunities to help enhance their creativity, develop cultural understanding and support emotional wellbeing. Creative opportunities form part of our lunchtime offer where children are offered the opportunity to develop their self-expression and collaborative skills. This takes the form of outdoor and indoor drop in clubs; plus specific year group opportunities spaced throughout the year. These creative opportunities are also woven into pastoral led initiatives, such as Breakfast Club and Young Carers sessions. The Art lead also works closely with staff from The Bridge, our wraparound care, to provide opportunities for creativity and exploration. The 2026-27 academic year will also see the first Bignold Art Show – a celebration of the artistic endeavours of the children of Bignold across the school year.
We use the CUSP Scheme of Learning to support our planning and resourcing for all children in Art and Design, including those with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have high ambitions for all our children and recognise that some additional supports may be needed for some pupils. For example, pupils with significant motor skill difficulties have access to pencil grips, sloped surfaces to work on and adapted paintbrushes. Children who experience some sensory sensitivities are offered crayons or pastels in paper sleeves and can use gloves when working with clay. For those experiencing visual difficulties, black backgrounds are used on desks to provide a high visual contrast. We are dedicated to ensuring that our Art curriculum is accessible to all and enables all children to develop their creative potential.