Subject Leaders
Intent
Einstein himself said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’. Children learn through ‘doing’ and experimentation and developing their creativity forms a significant part of that. In a world where Maths is now seen as a creative subject, we understand how developing our children’s creativity is paramount in developing them as well-rounded learners. Our recognition of this is reflected in our Laycock spirit values of being ‘Creative’ and ‘Curious’. Resilience is also a key skill which can be developed successfully during art lessons, as children use trial and error to solve problems, reflect on their work and demonstrate progress through determined honing skills and developing an understanding of art history.
Mental health and well-being are top priority right now, and artistic expression is seen as a proven method for bolstering children’s sense of self and security. Similarly, the importance of knowing, understanding and celebrating each of our children’s own, unique identities and backgrounds has never been more paramount, and art can be an excellent way of exploring, analysing and expressing these. Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and to express their individual interests, thought and ideas. We will as much as possible use to our advantage the many artistic and other cultural experiences available to us in our local as well as wider area, and utilise the Cultural capital which is all around us.
We intend for our children to develop solid, measurable skills in the key areas of art and design, with sketchbooks and drawing forming the foundation for all of these. These areas include painting, collage, sculpture and digital media. Alongside the learning of these explicit skills we will teach knowledge and understanding of key artistic artists and movements, which are reflective of the children we teach, and are closely linked to and inspire the projects they are completing themselves.
