The Arts (Art, Design & Music)
Here at Lostock Gralam C of E Primary School we ensure our Art, Design and Music teaching and learning reflects our school vision ‘Children are at the heart of everything that we do and Christ is the light that guides us’ John 8:12.
Our children live out our Christian Values (Hope, Respect, Friendship, Love, Courage, Forgiveness) in their lessons. We encourage our children to have a love of music and art. We teach them to appreciate their God given talent as musicians and artists, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.
Music
We use Kapow Primary Music to support and enrich our music curriculum, ensuring that learning is engaging, progressive and closely linked to the unique needs and values of our school. The scheme provides a broad and balanced music education, enabling pupils to develop their musical knowledge, skills and appreciation across a wide range of genres, styles and cultures.
Instrumental learning is a key feature of our music provision. All children have the opportunity to learn and perform on the glockenspiel, developing their understanding of pitch, rhythm and notation through practical, hands-on experiences. In addition, from Year 1 through to Year 6, every child learns to play the ukulele, allowing them to build confidence, musicianship and performance skills over time. This progressive approach enables pupils to develop increasing fluency on the instrument, work collaboratively with others, and experience the joy of making music together.
Psalm 98:4
Performance is at the heart of our music curriculum, and all children are given numerous opportunities to perform throughout the year. Each class presents a Class Worship, which showcases an aspect of their learning and frequently includes a musical element, allowing pupils to share their talents and growing confidence with the wider school community. We also celebrate the Christian calendar through a range of special, child-led services held in our local church. These include Harvest Festival, Christmas productions and Carol Services, Christingle celebrations, Easter services, Remembrance commemorations, and many other occasions throughout the year. These meaningful experiences provide children with opportunities to sing, perform, and participate in collective worship while developing an appreciation of the role music plays in faith, culture and community life.
Through regular performance opportunities, composition activities and instrumental tuition, pupils are encouraged to express themselves creatively, develop resilience and perseverance, and gain a lifelong appreciation and enjoyment of music. Our music curriculum aims to inspire all children to become confident performers, listeners and creators while fostering a deep understanding of music's role in different cultures and communities. Music is celebrated across the school and forms an important part of our pupils' spiritual, cultural and personal development.
Art and Design
At Lostock Gralam CE Primary School, we really value the creative curriculum. Through topic work in the classroom, children have the opportunity to develop their Art skills in key areas such as drawing, clay, textiles, sculpture, painting, print making and collage. These areas are developed continuously throughout the school from the foundation stage through to year 6.
We encourage children to be inspired by the work of great artists, Christian artists and to engage with a wide range of resources and media. Lostock artists aim to be investigative and creative. We develop critical thinking, linking art to other areas of the curriculum and considering the contribution it makes on culture and the world around us.
‘I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?’ Psalm 56:4
Lostock artists are not afraid to express themselves and look to God when they need the courage to value their own and other’s uniqueness.
We complete several whole school art focus days throughout the year with a particular focus on Christian art. This work is displayed in classroom and in our shared areas around school.
The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:
- produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
- evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
Design and Technology
At Lostock, we allow children time to 'tinker' which means they spend the early sessions of their D&T lessons playing and discovering, practising using equipment and trying out different designs. The children are then given time to feedback to their peers and discuss the pros and cons of their designs and justify which materials they may use and why. As the design process continues, children get to make a prototype before deciding and making a final design. This work is recorded in a class 'journey' book which 'travels' with them through their time at school so progression can be clearly seen.?
?Cooking and nutrition also forms part of D&T and in KS1, children learn about where food comes from and discuss healthy diets. In KS2, children have the opportunity to extend this knowledge and to prepare and cook savoury dishes such as a Greek Salad in Year 4 and Healthy Soup in Year 5.?
?All our Design and Technology projects draw on disciplines such as maths, science, engineering, computing and art and form an important part of our creative curriculum. All D&T projects are linked with the topic the class are learning about:?
Year 1 – Creating a moving space vehicle?
Year 2 – Creating a bird hide or hedgehog house for our school grounds?
Year 3 – Creating a waterproof shelter for book character?
Year 4 – Creating a torch using electrical systems?
Year 5 – Creating a toy using mechanical sytems (cams)?
Year 6 – Creating a Mayan temple using electrial systems