‘The artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist’ – Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Art at Rhodes Avenue:
At Rhodes Avenue we believe that every child has the potential for great creativity. Our curriculum for Art and Design aims to nurture our pupils’ curiosity and the confidence to experiment, while developing key skills and techniques through a range of media.
By following the four key strands in the National Curriculum for Art and Design; ideas, making, knowledge and evaluation, each child has the opportunity to shine as well as develop their skills in art. Following this approach, children are encouraged to reflect, evaluate and share their artwork while engaging in the making process. We explore both contemporary and historic artworks from of a range of artists, designers and cultures, often linking our research with current issues and some of the wider topics children are learning about at school. This helps to reinforce key concepts, develop critical thinking skills and extend children’s understanding of the history and culture of the world around them. Art lessons give the opportunity for students to express themselves individually as well as work as part of a team and develop problem-solving skills.
Key Stage 1 and Reception students have the opportunity to work with the school’s Art Specialist Teacher on a rotational basis while each Key Stage 2 class receive at least one term of specialist art lessons within each academic year. In addition to this, all year groups within school regularly engage in art activities with their classroom teachers. Art trips are organised when possible and we welcome parents and visitors who would like to offer their artistic expertise or would like to just come to lend a helping hand in the art room.
Our Art Specialist Teacher:
Rosie Sawyer (the school’s Art Specialist Teacher and Art Subject Leader) is an Art teacher with 20 years experience, having taught at both primary and secondary level at leading schools across London. Her qualifications include a Bachelors degree from Central St Martins, an MA from Goldsmiths in Art and Contemporary Teaching Practice and completed her thesis on the subject of creative process.
Rosie is also a Specialist Leader in Education and runs teaching and learning/art insets for Early Careers Teachers and Subject Leaders in Art for Haringey, Institute of Education UCL and Redbridge Education Partnerships. She is soon to be a qualified child art therapist.
Some examples of work from different year groups:
Reception – What is drawing? Making a mark
Reception children take part in a workshop exploring line; they experiment with a range of media and we discuss the qualities of the different lines they make. We look at images of tracks made by vehicles and animals in nature and compare them to our drawings. We learn that any drawing starts with making a mark.
Year 1 – Can colours express our feelings?
We read Dr Zeuss ‘My Many coloured days’ and look at the work of Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods to explore the idea of using colour to express feelings. Children develop self portraits and colour maps of the body to explore this concept further and reflect on their own feelings.
Year 2
Children explore a combination of portraiture and movement in this project. They combine drawings of themselves with objects and activities that represent who they are. We explore the work of Keith Haring and understand why his art was an important part of his life and community. We also look at how the Futurist artists represent movement through the repetition of shape and colour.
Year 3
Children explore early art in this project which links in with their Stone Age and Bronze Age project. They experiment with a range of drawing materials and draw on different surfaces. They imagine what it must have been like to draw inside a cave as stone age men and women. Children make their own paints and paintbrushes. They create objects using clay and reflect on the processes and techniques they have used in their book. They also look at the work of African contemporary artist Naomi Wanjiku.
Year 4
In this year 4 project children develop their knowledge and understanding of tone and proportions of the human figure. We explore these through different techniques including mono and block printmaking and plaster casting. Links are made with the children’s wider topic of Ancient Roman civilisation and more specifically the Ludovici Sarcophagus, the intricately carved tomb of an ancient Roman soldier. Later in the year children will focus on portraiture and proportions of the face.
Year 5
In year 5 children learn to apply tone to 3D objects to develop depth and form in drawing. They also learn how to use a grid to scale up and image and experimenting with acrylic painting techniques. In this project children built dens using fabrics from around the world and then used their drawings of them as a basis for abstract designs. They reflect on the symbolic meaning behind objects and make images that hold meaning for them.
Year 6
This year children develop their printmaking and 3D skills. For this project children are inspired by the Benin Bronzes; they consider the historical and political issues behind these ancient artworks and develop 3 colour reduction lino prints based on. Children go on to make face casts of each each other and work closely to create Benin inspired masks. Children go on to develop their life drawing skills and enter London’s Fourth Plinth School Award.
News from the Art room
Art Trips and Art Visits – Children attend trips to London’s art galleries regularly. In 2023 Rhodes students visited The October Gallery, The National Gallery, Tate Britain and the Welcome Collection. We also had two paintings on loan from the Arts Council Collection which were used as visual inspiration for lessons and wider learning. We welcome parents from creative background to come and share their practice with students.
Life Drawing for Adults – Life drawing classes take place in the art room every fortnight. Please enquire at the school office.
Art Home Learning – Children are invited to take part in an art homelearning project based on a choice of artists during their specialist art lesson period
Art Clubs for Children – Please see Extra Curricular Clubs on the school website.
Whole School Art Projects and Events
Big Draw Art Assembly
Take One Picture
Fourth Plinth Schools Award
Websites/places/events to visit for budding artists
