Art and Design

"Creativity takes courage" Henri Matisse

Our School Values in Art & Design:

We show love by exploring art together, helping one another and learning about a diverse range of artists (of different skin colours, genders, nationalities and ages). 

We show courage by having a go at using or doing something new and by reflecting on our successes and our struggles.

We show unity by working together and sharing our ideas. 

We show inspiration by expressing ourselves and finding things in the world that inspire us.

Importance of our Art curriculum to Bishop Aldhelm’s children:

Art is essential because it encompasses all the developmental domains in child development, whilst also developing the children as people.

Firstly, through developing their Art skills, children’s physical development and cognitive development is supported, which has a positive impact on children’s attainment across the curriculum.  Art allows children to develop and refine their fine-motor and gross-motor skills; gives them the opportunity to engage with a wider range of media and materials, manipulating these in different ways; and allows them to have opportunities to engage with and manipulate a wide range of tools, which will support them in later life. 

Secondly, Art allows children to develop as people: promoting their social and emotional development; supporting them to express their ideas and individuality; and developing their cultural capital.  At Bishop Aldhelms, the Art curriculum provides children with a wide range of opportunities to explore their own views on the world and themselves (giving them time to develop a statement of their own uniqueness and value).  This is achieved through repeated opportunities to study self-portraiture; a range of creative opportunities to create and explore artwork, which considers the important things in their own communities and lives; and the inclusion of a range of local artists who celebrate the world they live in.  It also intentionally introduces children to a wide range of artists and craftspeople who celebrate diversity (LGBT, men and women, young and old, different religions and those from BAME groups), celebrating the art of different cultures and groups, therefore providing an inspiring role model for every child.  Furthermore, because the curriculum emphasises the importance of sketchbooking, exploration and mistakes, it supports the development of good lifelong learning behaviours, self-esteem and resilience at the same time as giving children many opportunities to experience pride, joy and success. At Bishop Aldhelm’s, the Art curriculum also ensures that all children have the opportunity to embrace the unique wonders of the local environment in which children live, with units featuring significant local artists and locations, including the heath, the Jurassic coast, the Bournemouth Gardens and the SSSI, ensuring no children lose out on experiencing their local world to the fullest.  

Additionally, the Art curriculum at Bishop Aldhelm's deliberately builds upon and enhances the children’s learning in other curricular areas.  For example, it introduces them to artists who were also scientists (such as Gallileo), it enhances History learning by including artists who were influenced by the historical events they study and it provides them with a broader understanding of the cultures and environments of some of the geographical regions they study.  By studying Art at Bishop Aldhelm's, children’s learning across the curriculum becomes richer and more memorable. 

Finally, Art is essential because it allows children to be creative. Each piece of clay manipulated or each canvas painted is unique and original to each child. In Art, all work children produce is celebrated and honoured – is there anything more powerful than that?

Local Links:

Lighthouse Poole. Bournemouth Arts University, Poole Pottery, Abi Thommes (local artist).

We want children leaving Bishop Aldhelms to be able to:

• Develop strong observational skills, noticing details in the world around them.
• Being empowered to use art to communicate their interpretation of the world in their own way.
• Be familiar with the work of a diverse range of artists (from our artistic heritage, different cultures, genders, ages, religions and ethnicities), feeling inspired that everyone can be an artist.
• Be able to articulate their views about and interpretations of artwork and understand how art can be interpreted by different people in different ways.
• Be able to use artistic vocabulary when talking about art confidently and precisely.
• Be able to use a wide range of media and techniques with confidence and explore their own ways of using them.
• Have the fundamental knowledge and skills (of the core elements of art) to allow them to explore new media and techniques with confidence.