New Pasture
LaneArt & Design
Curriculum Lead: Mrs Granton
Intent
At New Pasture Lane Primary School, we have developed a high-quality, ambitious Art and Design curriculum that enables pupils to recognise and value the importance of art in their everyday lives. We believe Art and Design is an essential part of a child’s education, providing opportunities to develop creativity, individuality and self-expression, while broadening their understanding of significant artists, designers and artistic movements.
Our curriculum is closely aligned with our school values. Through Art and Design, pupils learn to take responsibility for their learning, show respect for the work of others, and develop resilience by refining and improving their own artistic outcomes.
The Art and Design curriculum at New Pasture Lane School is structured and organised into four key areas of learning:
Generating ideas
Using sketchbooks
- Knowledge of artists and designers (factual knowledge)
- Exploring and developing ideas (conceptual knowledge)
- Making skills (procedural knowledge)
- Evaluating (metacognitive knowledge)
These areas are delivered through a carefully sequenced series of subject-specific key concepts. Each unit explores these concepts in depth, allowing pupils to experience a broad range of artistic disciplines and techniques. As pupils progress through the school, these concepts are revisited and built upon to ensure learning is cumulative, deep and progressive.
In addition to key concepts, pupils develop important second-order concepts which strengthen their understanding and ability to communicate about art. These include:
- Chronology – understanding the history of art and how it has changed over time
- Similarity and difference – comparing artistic styles, techniques and approaches
- Significance – recognising important artists, artworks and movements
- Written, oral and creative expression – using artistic vocabulary to evaluate, refine, describe, experiment, create and present
Second-order concepts are embedded within every unit and revisited across all year groups to ensure consistency and progression. A detailed Art and Design progression document clearly identifies the key knowledge, vocabulary and objectives for each year group. Learning is carefully sequenced throughout the academic year to secure deep understanding and sustained progress.
End Points
By the end of EYFS, pupils will:
- Use art creatively to express themselves in a variety of ways
- Create representations of what they see and imagine
- Demonstrate increasing control when using pencils, paintbrushes and other materials
By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils will:
- Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products
- Use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share ideas, experiences and imagination
- Develop understanding of colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space
- Know about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describe similarities and differences between practices, and use some of their techniques in their own work
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will:
- Refine and develop techniques with greater control and thoughtful choice of materials through studying significant artists and designers
- Confidently use sketchbooks to record observations, develop ideas, and review and refine work
- Demonstrate increased mastery in drawing, painting and sculpture using a range of materials
- Show understanding of different types of art, craft and design and the techniques used to create them
Implementation
Our ambitious Art and Design curriculum is underpinned by a clear knowledge and skills progression document. This ensures that skills are taught sequentially, enabling pupils to revisit prior learning and build on their knowledge over time.
Through the use of the Kapow Art scheme of work, pupils are exposed to a diverse range of artists, art movements and styles, enabling them to understand how art has evolved and how techniques differ across time and culture.
Subject-specific vocabulary is displayed interactively and revisited regularly to strengthen retention and application. In each lesson, teachers model key skills and techniques explicitly to secure understanding. Pupils are given opportunities to practise and apply techniques using a variety of media before creating a final piece that brings together previously taught skills.
Assessment for learning is ongoing and includes teacher observations, discussion, sketchbook development and final outcomes. Learning is also reviewed through five key assessment questions to ensure pupils have a secure understanding of the knowledge and skills taught.
Impact
The impact of our Art and Design curriculum is demonstrated through high-quality outcomes, confident use of artistic vocabulary, and the progressive development of skills across year groups. Where learning is not yet secure, targeted support and additional opportunities are provided.
Standards are monitored through assessment systems, sketchbooks and Pupils Voice which evidence pupils’ acquisition of key knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
All pupils, including disadvantaged learners, leave New Pasture Lane School with transferable creative skills, resilience and confidence that support their wider curriculum learning, future education and life beyond primary school.
art curriculum progressive objectives.pdf
Design & Technology
Curriculum Lead: Mrs Pierrepont
At New Pasture Lane we follow Kapow's Design and Technology scheme. This aims to aspire pupils to become curious, creative and innovated thinkers with a broad understanding of how products are designed and made. Pupils will begin to think like designers and engineers.
Intent
At New Pasture Lane School, the design and technology curriculum is designed to inspire children to become creative, practical and confident problem-solvers. We aim for our children to become increasingly confident in designing, making and evaluating purposeful products. Children investigate how design has been used to solve problems in the real world and explore the techniques designers use to improve functionality and aesthetics.
Our curriculum is built on five key concepts (big ideas):
- Mechanics, structures
- Textiles
- Electrical and digital systems
- Cooking and nutrition.
Through these strands, children develop technical knowledge and practical skills while responding to meaningful design briefs. They experiment with materials, tool and techniques before creating and evaluating their own products. As our children move through the school, their understanding deepens and their independence grows, preparing them for the next stage of their education and life beyond New Pasture Lane Primary School.
Implementation
Design and technology is taught through a consistent and carefully sequenced process across all year groups. Each units follows a clear teaching sequence:
- Appraise and analyse existing products
- Develop technical knowledge
- Practice and refine skills
- Generate ideas and design
- Design and make
- Evaluate
This structured approach ensures children understand the full design process and build knowledge progressively.
Progression across the curriculum
Mechanics- children begin by exploring wheels and axles and simple moving mechanisms. Then they investigate cams and followers in automated toys. They learn how devices work, create prototypes and evaluate their effectiveness against a design brief.
Textiles- Children develop skills in stitching, sewing, threading and pattern making. They move from simple joining techniques to cross stitch, applique and working with pattern pieces. Children learn to consider both function and appearance when designing and evaluating textile products.
Structures- Children explore how structures are made strong and stable. They learn about nets, strengthening techniques and materials choices before designing increasingly complex structures such as bridges. They analyse structural design in terms of functionality, aesthetics and materials.
Electrical and digital systems- Children learn how circuits work, how switches control current and how electronic systems power products. In digital units, they use programming tools such as Micro bit, Make Code and Tinker Cad to design and prototype programmable products, considering sustainability and user needs.
Cooking and Nutrition- Children learn where food comes from, how to prepare it safely and how to plan balanced meals. They practice a range of preparation techniques and develop from designing simple healthy products to planning and preparing a three course meal, evaluating taste, presentation and nutrition value.
Throughout the curriculum, children revisit prior learning, practice new techniques and refine their designs through evaluation and peer feedback. Practical, hands on experiences are central to every unit.
Impact
Children can explain how mechanism function, how structures are strengthened, how electrical systems work and how nutrition supports a healthy lifestyle. They understand is a process of innovation, refinement and problem solving.
The impact of our design and technology curriculum is evident in children who:
- Demonstrate secure knowledge across all five strands.
- Use technical vocabulary accurately.
- Select appropriate tools and materials confidently and safely.
- Generate creative ideas in response to design briefs.
- Produce high quality, purposeful products.
- Evaluate their work critically and identify improvements.
- Show resilience, independence and pride in their outcomes.
Standards are monitored through assessment systems, books and Pupils Voice which evidence pupils’ acquisition of key knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
All pupils, including disadvantaged learners, leave New Pasture Lane School as creative thinkers who can apply their learning in real world context and who are well prepared for secondary education and future careers in engineering, digital technology, food science and the creative industries.
dt curriculum progressive objectives.pdf
