Art

Rationale for Art

At Mersea Island School, we want our children to receive a high-quality art education so that all pupils are: skilled in the fundamentals of art, have the ability to critique existing artworks and famous artists; can apply knowledge, skills and understanding to create artwork in a range of meaningful contexts. The curriculum for art is carefully sequenced to build: knowledge, skills, vocabulary and experiences which build on prior learning and enable pupils to make connections between ideas/their learning and the world around them. We also want pupils to have an appreciation of art and aim to nurture a sense of fun and curiosity about the subject. We believe that art can contribute to cultural understanding, therefore we want the children to see art as being relevant to their world and applicable to everyday life as well as being something that develops through their school life and ultimately into the world of employment/and beyond. Our curriculum is intended to be progressive, build on prior learning and to actively encourage children to have purposeful memorable experiences. We recognise our school has a very unique setting and use the local environment as a rich learning resource. We are mindful that our pupils need to be aware of the cultural diversity which exists beyond the island and actively seek opportunities to deepen our pupils’ awareness, understanding and tolerance of the multicultural world in which we live.

We were delighted to have over 45 children enter the Royal Academy of the Arts Young Artist Competition, with some fantastic entries ranging from drawings and paintings to sculptures. There was a wonderful variety of artwork on display and all of the children should feel incredibly proud of their creativity and effort. A special congratulations goes to twins Sebi and Theo in Year 3, whose artwork has been selected to be displayed at the Royal Academy in London. We are very excited and look forward to seeing their work on display!