The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum takes a holistic approach to art education. 

Please watch the Thinking about Curriculum Content and Progression in Primary Art recording to understand more about how the disciplines, skills, behaviours and traits in the documents below are developed through our curriculum. 

Explore Resources…

Overview of disciplines, skills & behaviours developed from eyfs to ks2

Please explore the different tabs on the excel to view EYFS, KS1-2 and Additional Pathways.

Assessment & Progression

Explore how we might rethink assessment and explore sensitive approaches as a beneficial tool.

Paula Briggs from AccessArt shares thoughts about how we might more usefully connect the curriculum we choose to teach with the progress we’d like to see…

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Disciplines, Skills, Behaviours & Traits Developed through our curriculum

Using Circle Diagrams to Celebrate Progression

Assessment & Progression

By Paula Briggs

In the recording “Thinking About Curriculum Content & Progression in Primary Art” we discuss the use of Circle Diagrams as a gentle, learner centred way to think about assessment.

The circle diagram above is a sample used in the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) for Year 12. In this instance the circle diagram enables the learner to think about the areas/skills/traits they would like to progress, placing them around the periphery of the circle. Each week or month as these skills are developed, through tasks, the learner can colour outwards as a pictorial representation of their growth.

AccessArt would like to invite teachers of Primary-aged children to explore the use of this method. The “Thinking About Curriculum Content & Progression in Primary Art” describes the range of skills and traits which we think it is important to develop. By creating a simple circle diagram with your chosen skills/traits, children can become aware of their own sense of development over time.

There are many ways of succeeding in art – for some children looking at and talking about art will be their skill, for other children drawing skills will be their strength, for others making. We don’t want or need to make sure all children succeed equally in all areas – of course children will progress all skills, but the circle diagram enables everyone to celebrate each child’s particular strengths without pitting them against another child or a fictitious standard. The aim is not to see the whole circle coloured in, but instead to use the diagrams to recognise where strengths (and perhaps areas to be developed) exist.

Remember:

• Keep it light and celebratory! There is no need for heavy handed assessment – creativity is a fragile thing and it can be easily damaged.

• Think holistically! Learning takes place through art, as well as about art, and the development of the pupil as a whole person is important. Never rely on measurement of certain skills (such as technical skills) above all other skills. Watch the video here. 

Download our template circle diagram here.

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Assessment & Progression

In the summer of 2023, a year on from the launch of the AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum, we conducted this survey to invite users to feedback their experiences of using the resources so far.

You can find everything you need to know about the AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum here. The survey did not include feedback to the EYFS element of the Curriculum, though many respondents mentioned the benefits of this addition in their qualitative responses.

A total of 447 people completed the survey – thank you to all those who took the time. We hope you find this summary useful.

You can find a pdf of the report here including an appendix of qualitative feedback.

How do Schools Use AccessArt?

How is AccessArt Being Used Across Schools?

The majority of respondents use AccessArt as a scheme, with a smaller percentage using our resources to support their own planning or to extend the resources of other schemes such as Kapow.

How Large is Your School?

How Long has Your School Been Using AccessArt?

The smallest school that uses AccessArt as a scheme has just 18 pupils.

The majority of schools are 1 form entry and a significant number teach in mixed year groups.

AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum Versions

We offer four versions of the Curriculum: the Full (36 pathways based upon one week of art each week), the Split (for schools who alternate Art with DT), the Mixed (for schools teaching art full time in mixed year group classes), and the Split & Mixed (for schools teaching in mixed year group classes and alternating with DT).

Interestingly, and a clear indicator of the pressures on schools across the timetable, the single largest sector of schools use
our Split Curriculum. This may also be an indicator of the flexibility of our Curriculum for schools working in this way.

Which Curriculum is Used by Schools?

Some schools did comment that using the Split Curriculum successfully
in their school had strengthened their argument to move art to a full time basis; clear evidence that if we can create an enthusiasm for art in schools amongst teachers and pupils, and demonstrate its purpose and relevance, then we can create a demand.

When making choices about which scheme to use, it is vital that teachers choose a scheme whose ethos matches or informs that of the school.

The Pathways, Creative Ethos, flexibility and adaptability all scored highly as reasons teachers choose AccessArt. The Curriculum also comes highly recommended by other teachers and trusts.

Why do Schools Choose AccessArt?

Impact Upon Teaching

We are thrilled to see dramatic increases in staff experience, confidence, and enthusiasm in teaching art after just a short time of using our resources, as perceived by the Art Lead.

Staff Feeling Before AccessArt

Staff Feeling After AccessArt

Over 67% of respondents feel that their arts curriculum is now more diverse, contemporary and relevant, and therefore there was more appreciation for art as a valuable subject in their school. Over 66% of teachers feel that they now have a clear structure from which to explore art, and that they understand how their teaching fitted into the bigger picture in school. 62% of teachers have a better understanding of the importance of an open-ended exploratory approach and how to enable this kind of learning.

Class teachers reflected upon changes to their own understanding, with 47% / 49.4% teachers agreeing / strongly agreeing that their confidence had increased, 39% / 58.5% of teachers agreeing / strongly agreeing that they felt more enthusiasm to teach art, and 50% / 45.1 agreeing / strongly agreeing / that their understanding in teaching art had increased.

Impact Upon Teachers

65% of teachers responded saying they felt using our resources had helped them feel more connected to their own creativity.

Adaptability

Over 68% found it easy to adapt the Pathways to their pupils / needs.

Ofsted

Of those who answered, 26% were due for an Ofsted Visit imminently and 13% had just been visited. AccessArt will be inviting teachers to submit experiences to share on AccessArt.

Impact on Children

As with the teachers, we saw large increases in confidence, enthusiasm, skills and knowledge from the children, as perceived by the teachers. This is especially heartening to hear given the short amount of time most schools have been using AccessArt. We expect these increases to compound over time as children are exposed to AccessArt approaches and pathways each year.

Pupils Before Using AccessArt

Pupils After Using AccessArt

Skills and Knowledge

Teachers report demonstrable growth in skills and knowledge relating to drawing (77.4%), sketchbooks (71.9%), painting, printmaking & collage (45.5%) and sculpture (45.5%), amongst others. These figures follow the emphasis in weight given to these areas in the Pathways with drawing and sketchbooks underpinning all creative activity.

Oracy

Oracy skills have dramatically improved.

Behaviours

The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum
is a holistic curriculum, and teachers reported the following behaviours had been developed through Curriculum use:

• Enjoyment of Exploring 92.8%

• Willingness to Take Creative Risks

  82.1%

• Sharing Ideas 60.7%

• Pleasure in Discovery 60.1%

• Opening of Minds 50%

• Listening to Others 38.2%

• Sense of Identity 28.9%

You can find a pdf of the report here including an appendix of qualitative feedback.

Explore examples of the work made by schools inspired by the AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum.

This is a duplicated post, available on both AccessArt and The Everyday School of Art, to explain the thinking behind a new Substack venture aimed at creating a shared space to inspire personal creative exploration.

Creative cycles ebb and flow. There are times in your life when creative thought and action feels important and becomes all encompassing, and times in your life when leaving behind the pressure to create is a welcome relief. And then times in your life when you know creativity is part of you, but it seems to exist just behind or just in front of you, never quite with you now.

I’ve always been interested in why we are creative beings, and how we enable our creativity to flourish. For many years, as a child, teenager and young person, this manifested itself as a desire to actually make – enjoying tactile experiences shaping materials in the real world. But there came a point when I stopped making – and even at the time I knew why I stopped: I could no longer see the point. I knew I wasn’t going to be a “great artist” (I thought in those terms back in 1995), and I didn’t understand what the relevance was then of me making things, that no one needed or perhaps wanted – it felt too insular, too indulgent. We even had a tutor at The Royal College of Art who came round each studio and asked us “Do you really think the world needs another one of those?” It was a damming question and one to which I could only answer no. Not understanding the relevance or purpose of art to my life was a nail in the coffin, and I see the same pattern emerging today when others have no understanding of the importance of art in our lives: art tends not to flourish (let’s say the British Government 2010-2023+, or certain individuals, or certain sub-communities of people).

So, I stopped making my own work, and instead returned purposely to the child version of me, the kid who liked to make, and thought about how I could inspire and enable the next generation to make, and that endeavour became my creative outlet.

That venture – thinking how we could inspire and enable the next generation to make, became AccessArt, a registered UK Charity. We now have over 20,000 members, grown 7000 members since last September. Apparently 20,000 people will fill the O2 stadium – so that’s a lot of people, and each of those members uses the AccessArt resources with their own pupils/students/audiences to inspire visual art education. Good stuff.

The people who use AccessArt; the teachers, artist educators and parents, spend a huge amount of time and energy nurturing creativity in others. Driven by their passion for art and their belief that art education can change lives, it’s an exciting, stimulating role, but it takes energy, and often it takes the energy away from our own creativity – we just don’t have enough hours in the day.

Time and again, through conversations, we hear how teachers and educators care so much about enabling their audiences or pupils with limited time and resources that the educators themselves are often subsumed. Their own creativity is put on the back burner for the sake of some greater good. The same is true of my relationship with AccessArt, and that is why, together with my daughter, Rowan, who is at a very different stage in her life, we have decided to create The Everyday School of Art.

We see The Everyday School of Art as being a place where all educators, parents and carers can finally emerge from behind their roles, and begin to see themselves as artists and creatives in their own right. We hope The Everyday School of Art will help us all identify and explore our individual creative potential, and feed our appetite to nurture ourselves, for once, alongside others.

So if there is a part of you which feels you would like to explore, or return to exploring, your own creative potential, then please join us over at The Everyday School of Art on Substack. Let’s show who we are as individuals and create a rich community which will surely complete the circle.

Find out more and Register for free at The Everyday School of Art here. Register before the 30th September and we will upgrade 10 registrants (chosen at random) to paid subscriber status free of charge. 

Best wishes,

Paula Briggs

Co-Founder, CEO & Creative Director AccessArt

Co-Founder The Everyday School of Art 2023

We’re thrilled and proud to start Autumn 2023 off with 20,000 members!

Thank you to the amazing AccessArt community of members, subscribers (35,000+), team (8), trustees (4) and facebook group (4,900)  – it’s a privilege to work with you.

Be Inspired!

Paula Briggs, CEO & Creative Director
September 2023

AccessArt Core Value #3 “Having the Confidence to Hold Ideas Lightly, Enables us to Create Space for Everyone to Reach their Potential” illustrated by Jagoda Sadowska.

Jagoda is a Polish illustrator and designer based in Glasgow, Scotland. They are a big advocate of joyful colour palettes and a great enthusiast of textures. Jagoda’s work is full of juvenile sense of humour and hopeless romanticism. They enjoy exploring narrative abilities of illustration and tell absurd stories or complex feelings through their work. They find a lot of beauty and inspiration in mundane, day to day life.

At AccessArt we love the colour, energy and humour that Jagoda pours into their work. The playfulness of their artwork brings a real joy to the viewer and we are really excited by the clever way in which Jagoda has communicated the core value ‘Having the confidence to hold ideas lightly, enables us to create space for everyone to reach their potential’.

We feel that this illustration really resonates with the AccessArt core value highlighting that there is importance in giving people the freedom to face the unknown, get lost in their ideas and pave their own path. Existing in a space of ‘not knowing’ and finding your own way will result in a journey that is authentically yours.

AccessArt Value #3

When we feel threatened, or lack confidence, we have a tendency to hold things tightly. They might be entrenched ideas, beliefs, behaviours – even loved ones – fear of uncertainty keeps us tense, rigid, small.

But the opposite is also true. It’s so much easier to be open and embracing towards others when we ourselves feel at ease. Think power pose – body open, strong, reaching outwards. Taking up as much space as can be taken up at that moment. But remember there is no aggression in power pose – the body is actually exposed and vulnerable, but there is no fear – instead there is courage to be open enough to be strong.

When exploring ideas and practices in art, holding ideas lightly is such a helpful process. When artists make work, they often start from a position of “not knowing” – that is why they make the work – to explore, to find out, to uncover, and they can’t access that journey if they are not willing to hold their thoughts loosely, letting them ravel and unravel.

Through holding lightly, art can help us feel safe in the territory of “not yet knowing” which is a useful place to be, a place which helps us to learn to feel safe in the face of uncertainty.

And when we facilitate that exploration in others, holding ideas and preconceptions lightly allows space for our learners to make ideas their own. Art is all about experiential understanding. As facilitators we can help our audiences grow, and we can hint and tempt and signpost them towards discovery and understanding, but if we can do this by offering rather than telling, then we leave space for the learning to be truly theirs. By growing our own knowledge as facilitators we build our confidence to not be afraid, not be threatened and not hold tightly. We are able to see the teaching of art for what it really is – a service which taps into fulfilling a human need for expression and empathy.

But few of us can thrive when there is too much space. We do need structures to help us think and operate, so the question for facilitators (and for AccessArt) is how do we provide enough structure to help people feel safe, and enough space to help facilitate exploration.

So next time you feel contraction from fear or uncertainty, think about the confidence and openness of power pose. Better still, visualise yourself holding your hand out, palm upwards. What sits on your palm? And how loosely can you hold it?

See all our core values here.

Paula Briggs, April 2023

AccessArt Core Value #2 “Enthusiasm is Infectious and We Can all Play a Role in Fuelling or Stalling the Creative Potential of Others” illustrated by Lizzie Lovejoy.

Lizzie Lovejoy is a North East based working-class Poet, Performer and Picture Maker who loves stories. They believe that everyone deserves to experience art and everyone has a tale to tell.

With community and culture being at the core of Lizzie’s work, we felt that they would be a perfect fit to work on the core value ‘Enthusiasm is infection and we can all play a role in fuelling or stalling the creative potential of others’. We love the playful outcome of the illustration, symbolising the enthusiasm, playfulness and creative potential that can be found in all young people, and should be nurtured through the communities around them.

AccessArt Value #2

What is our individual responsibility to those around us? What do we do, to encourage or interrupt positivity? How might we enable a more curious and playful approach?

 “85% of the men and women who I interviewed remembered an event in school that was so shaming, it changed how they thought of themselves for the rest of their lives. Fifty percent of that 85% percent, half of those people: those shame wounds were around creativity. So fifty percent of those people have art scars. Have creativity scars.”  – Brene Brown, Magic Lessons

 The statistic from Brene Brown’s research are staggering but not surprising – we all have examples in our own lives of when we have been “stopped” by an often casual comment by someone about the way we express ourselves. These stray comments about creativity seem to cut straight to the quick. For me, it was when I was eight. Until then I had sung out loud happily enough. But then one day, a boy I was sitting next to in assembly at school asked me why my voice had a weird “lining” to it when I sang (I imagine I was out of tune and merrily unaware). So from that day on – I mimed. Happy to say I’m over it now and singing to my baby daughter proved to me I could hold a tune “enough” and that was all that mattered.

 But many of us are stopped before we even get started, and we don’t recover. Luckily the opposite is also true, and we can SO easily be enabled by others, and enable others, by thoughtful, careful approach.

It’s easy to fall into the mindset whereby we wait for things to improve, but there is a greater reality at play: while we actively campaign and patiently wait for things in art education to bloom, we don’t want to let down whole generations by not doing the very best we can do for them now.

So, positivity is important. Not a mindless positivity but an intentional and insightful positivity which makes people around feel safe, supported and carried.

For AccessArt, that means a few things. It means reassuring our users that their heartful instinct is to be followed, even if it doesn’t always chime with the “systems” around us. It means acknowledging overwhelm in the face of inexperience is valid and to be expected, but that there are people around who can support and guide. It means nurturing environments in which learners and educators have a safe space in which to explore their creativity, supported by stepping stones or a framework they can hold on to. And it means lightening up – remembering that as humans we are SO privileged to have access to this thing we call creativity –  so let’s be playful and celebratory – and most of all gentle. These are big aims, but they are made real by tiny everyday actions and intentions…

See all our core values here.

Pls find frequently asked questions relating to the AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum. 

If your question is not answered below pls email the team here. 

Getting Started…

• What makes AccessArt special?

  To summarise our offering and AccessArt’s USP:

  • • All AccessArt resources promote open-ended creative learning. We place great value on the creative journey – understanding that outcomes are generally excellent when each pupil is enabled to explore their own creativity. Our aim is to ensure that by the time they leave school, all pupils understand what it means to enjoy exploring their creativity through the visual arts. See our Step by Step Start up Guide here. 

    • We want to nurture aspiration amongst teachers and pupils. Our aim is to help build your understanding of what it means to teach art, so that you can offer your pupils a rich and broad visual arts education. All our resources are created by experts and often in collaboration with other experts in the field. We draw down experience from other settings including art schools, adapting it to show you how to structure activities in inspirational yet effective ways.

    • Although we encourage you to aspire high, it’s important to us that ALL teachers feel able to use our resources. Videos and CPD help support our pathways so that as a teacher you can build your skills (understanding WHY as well as HOW) as pupils build theirs. Members can access free CPD each term and we also record many events which you can watch in your own time www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum-introductory-videos-and-recordings/

    • Many schools use us as a scheme www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum/ – whilst other schools use our 1500+ resources to supplement and extend their own planning or external scheme. If you use us as a scheme it’s important to note it’s a completely flexible scheme which can be tailored and developed to suit your school.

    • AccessArt has the UK’s collection of visual arts ed resources. Visual arts education is all we do – you will find no other organisation which works the way we do.

    • We are a small team and very responsive and can give email or telephone advice to member schools.

    • Lastly, we are a UK charity and Subject Association. we are not doing this to make a profit. We care deeply about arts education. We have over 18,000 members and keep membership fees as low as possible – making us a very cost effective solution. Membership prices can be found at www.accessart.org.uk/membership-benefits/ .

  The following videos might also help:

  www.accessart.org.uk/introducing-accessart/

  www.accessart.org.uk/support-videos-for-the-new-accessart-primary-art-curriculum/

• I am wondering where to start, I would love to see the videos and attend training.

  The following are useful starting points:

  Starting Out With AccessArt

  EYFS

  Primary Art Curriculum

  Primary Art Curriculum Supporting Documents

  Zoom CPD

  Pedagogy

• Do you have a list of learning outcomes which we can use for tracking students’ progress as they move through the curriculum?

  You can either take the learning outcomes from the sequencing documents at www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-primary-art-curriculum-disciplines-sequencing-artists/ or via individual pathway Medium Term Plans www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-primary-art-curriculum-medium-term-plans/.

   

  It is important to note that the “I Can” statements found on each pathway are deliberately holistic and go beyond technical skills as we believe this is how art is best taught. You might also like to read posts at www.accessart.org.uk/how-do-we-assess-creativity/ in particular www.accessart.org.uk/what-does-success-look-like/ and www.accessart.org.uk/why-we-need-to-allow-art-to-be-the-unique-subject-it-is/.

• Do you have a bank of vocab used for each Pathway?

  You can find a document of vocab at www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-primary-art-curriculum-key-vocabulary/ (also available via the www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum/ main page). 

• Do you provide Knowledge Organisers?

  We don’t have knowledge organisers although we have written an article suggesting alternate ways to think about ‘organising’ knowledge in art. www.accessart.org.uk/knowledge-organisers-for-art-in-primary-schools/.

• Where can I find supporting documents for the curriculum?

  You can find all supporting documents here www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum-supporting-documents-and-information/.

To summarise our offering and AccessArt’s USP:

• • All AccessArt resources promote open-ended creative learning. We place great value on the creative journey – understanding that outcomes are generally excellent when each pupil is enabled to explore their own creativity. Our aim is to ensure that by the time they leave school, all pupils understand what it means to enjoy exploring their creativity through the visual arts. See our Step by Step Start up Guide here. 

  • We want to nurture aspiration amongst teachers and pupils. Our aim is to help build your understanding of what it means to teach art, so that you can offer your pupils a rich and broad visual arts education. All our resources are created by experts and often in collaboration with other experts in the field. We draw down experience from other settings including art schools, adapting it to show you how to structure activities in inspirational yet effective ways.

  • Although we encourage you to aspire high, it’s important to us that ALL teachers feel able to use our resources. Videos and CPD help support our pathways so that as a teacher you can build your skills (understanding WHY as well as HOW) as pupils build theirs. Members can access free CPD each term and we also record many events which you can watch in your own time www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum-introductory-videos-and-recordings/

  • Many schools use us as a scheme www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum/ – whilst other schools use our 1500+ resources to supplement and extend their own planning or external scheme. If you use us as a scheme it’s important to note it’s a completely flexible scheme which can be tailored and developed to suit your school.

  • AccessArt has the UK’s collection of visual arts ed resources. Visual arts education is all we do – you will find no other organisation which works the way we do.

  • We are a small team and very responsive and can give email or telephone advice to member schools.

  • Lastly, we are a UK charity and Subject Association. we are not doing this to make a profit. We care deeply about arts education. We have over 18,000 members and keep membership fees as low as possible – making us a very cost effective solution. Membership prices can be found at www.accessart.org.uk/membership-benefits/ .

The following videos might also help:

www.accessart.org.uk/introducing-accessart/

www.accessart.org.uk/support-videos-for-the-new-accessart-primary-art-curriculum/

The following are useful starting points:

Starting Out With AccessArt

EYFS

Primary Art Curriculum

Primary Art Curriculum Supporting Documents

Zoom CPD

Pedagogy

You can either take the learning outcomes from the sequencing documents at www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-primary-art-curriculum-disciplines-sequencing-artists/ or via individual pathway Medium Term Plans www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-primary-art-curriculum-medium-term-plans/.

It is important to note that the “I Can” statements found on each pathway are deliberately holistic and go beyond technical skills as we believe this is how art is best taught. You might also like to read posts at www.accessart.org.uk/how-do-we-assess-creativity/ in particular www.accessart.org.uk/what-does-success-look-like/ and www.accessart.org.uk/why-we-need-to-allow-art-to-be-the-unique-subject-it-is/.

You can find a document of vocab at www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-primary-art-curriculum-key-vocabulary/ (also available via the www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum/ main page). 

We don’t have knowledge organisers although we have written an article suggesting alternate ways to think about ‘organising’ knowledge in art. www.accessart.org.uk/knowledge-organisers-for-art-in-primary-schools/.

You can find all supporting documents here www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum-supporting-documents-and-information/.

The AccessArt Curriculum and Ofsted

• We need to be clear why we are using your scheme – if Ofsted asks. Can you help?

  It’s vital that you choose a scheme which suits your school and that the intent behind our scheme supports/matches your own intent behind teaching art as a school. See our article here. 

  Pls take a look at the videos below to understand more about the intent/ethos behind AccessArt. If your school does not already have an intent statement, you can use the messages in these videos to inform the creation of one for your school. 

  • www.accessart.org.uk/the-philosophy-and-approach-behind-accessart-resources-for-primary-schools/

  • www.accessart.org.uk/support-videos-for-the-new-accessart-primary-art-curriculum/ (we recommend watching the first 9 videos – the first four are longer so maybe watch later but the ones underneath are only minutes long).

• The progression document mentions substantive knowledge vs implicit knowledge. How does this related to Ofsted’s practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge?

  In the review Ofsted are very clear that they don’t expect every school to use their terms of practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge. There are lots of models of knowledge and even experts disagree about terminology and approach. I think all Ofsted are implying by those terms is that there is a hierarchy of knowledge, which when put together make for a rich and memorable experience for children. By hierarchy I mean it includes very tangible, finite and practical knowledge, and also more embracing, overarching knowledge, which is harder to define, but which is vital to the subject, (for example getting children to think about the purpose of art). The AccessArt Curriculum includes all those types of knowledge, with different names.

• How can I highlight I have identified points in the curriculum where it is clear whether pupils are working towards convergent or divergent goals?

  Think of things like drawing exercises being seen as convergent – the whole class is being asked to make a drawing in a certain way (ie continuous line), thinking about certain aspects of looking and mark making, and using a certain drawing tool.

  Think of things like projects where children create their own artwork (ie most of the projects in our curriculum) as being divergent – children are given choices and use their experience to make creative decisions, each of which added up helps their work be unique to them. Sketchbooks are often a mixture of divergent and convergent thinking and action.

• How can I show that curriculum content enables pupils to understand the journey of art throughout history and culture (theoretical knowledge)?

  This is embedded within the pathways. Please note we do not show the “journey of art through history and culture” – that’s a massive thing to do and often results in a reductionist approach. Instead we focus on elements which we think are relevant, engaging and exciting for pupils to know today. 

• Is it okay that units do not necessarily include what may be considered the more ‘great’ artists like Van Gough, Warhol, Monet, Lowry?

  Within the curriculum, our main aim is to ensure children see the relevance of the artists they are studying: a) to their own lives and b) to the projects. So all artists we link to in our Talking Points are chosen on those grounds.

  The National Curriculum as you know states “know about great artists, craft makers and designers” and there is general agreement amongst experts that this is very outdated. For too long there has been a focus on “dead white male” artists, almost always judging “great” from a Western perspective. We now understand that looking at art from a colonial perspective is not appropriate. So we really need to go beyond this now, and look at all kinds of artists, from all kinds of backgrounds, countries and perspectives. Doing this makes art as accessible and inclusive to as many pupils as possible.

  Our understanding is that as long as you can explain why you have chosen the artists you have, Ofsted will be happy. If as a school you decide you do want to supplement (not replace) the existing artists with more “traditionally great” artists then you can do so – but do bear in mind that if you do this too much you will end up by default with male dead artists.

It’s vital that you choose a scheme which suits your school and that the intent behind our scheme supports/matches your own intent behind teaching art as a school. See our article here. 

Pls take a look at the videos below to understand more about the intent/ethos behind AccessArt. If your school does not already have an intent statement, you can use the messages in these videos to inform the creation of one for your school. 

• www.accessart.org.uk/the-philosophy-and-approach-behind-accessart-resources-for-primary-schools/

• www.accessart.org.uk/support-videos-for-the-new-accessart-primary-art-curriculum/ (we recommend watching the first 9 videos – the first four are longer so maybe watch later but the ones underneath are only minutes long).

In the review Ofsted are very clear that they don’t expect every school to use their terms of practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge. There are lots of models of knowledge and even experts disagree about terminology and approach. I think all Ofsted are implying by those terms is that there is a hierarchy of knowledge, which when put together make for a rich and memorable experience for children. By hierarchy I mean it includes very tangible, finite and practical knowledge, and also more embracing, overarching knowledge, which is harder to define, but which is vital to the subject, (for example getting children to think about the purpose of art). The AccessArt Curriculum includes all those types of knowledge, with different names.

Think of things like drawing exercises being seen as convergent – the whole class is being asked to make a drawing in a certain way (ie continuous line), thinking about certain aspects of looking and mark making, and using a certain drawing tool.

Think of things like projects where children create their own artwork (ie most of the projects in our curriculum) as being divergent – children are given choices and use their experience to make creative decisions, each of which added up helps their work be unique to them. Sketchbooks are often a mixture of divergent and convergent thinking and action.

This is embedded within the pathways. Please note we do not show the “journey of art through history and culture” – that’s a massive thing to do and often results in a reductionist approach. Instead we focus on elements which we think are relevant, engaging and exciting for pupils to know today. 

Within the curriculum, our main aim is to ensure children see the relevance of the artists they are studying: a) to their own lives and b) to the projects. So all artists we link to in our Talking Points are chosen on those grounds.

The National Curriculum as you know states “know about great artists, craft makers and designers” and there is general agreement amongst experts that this is very outdated. For too long there has been a focus on “dead white male” artists, almost always judging “great” from a Western perspective. We now understand that looking at art from a colonial perspective is not appropriate. So we really need to go beyond this now, and look at all kinds of artists, from all kinds of backgrounds, countries and perspectives. Doing this makes art as accessible and inclusive to as many pupils as possible.

Our understanding is that as long as you can explain why you have chosen the artists you have, Ofsted will be happy. If as a school you decide you do want to supplement (not replace) the existing artists with more “traditionally great” artists then you can do so – but do bear in mind that if you do this too much you will end up by default with male dead artists.

Adapting the Curriculum

• Can the pathways be taught in different terms and with different year groups? Can I adapt the pathways to fit with topic links?

  Yes the pathways can be taken out of order, both within the school year and between adjacent years (or even wider apart years) to fit into your plans better. Children will work at all pathways, whenever presented them, at their own level. 

• Can I adapt the pathways easily to incorporate curriculum links?

  Take a look at www.accessart.org.uk/full-primary-art-curriculum-adaptations/ – on that page we have listed curriculum areas and how we think the pathways might be linked to topics. 

   

  The pathways are designed (and our bigger aim) so that schools can adapt and personalise them – that’s really important to us and to the children. So yes use your imagination and adapt as much as you like.

Yes the pathways can be taken out of order, both within the school year and between adjacent years (or even wider apart years) to fit into your plans better. Children will work at all pathways, whenever presented them, at their own level. 

Take a look at www.accessart.org.uk/full-primary-art-curriculum-adaptations/ – on that page we have listed curriculum areas and how we think the pathways might be linked to topics. 

The pathways are designed (and our bigger aim) so that schools can adapt and personalise them – that’s really important to us and to the children. So yes use your imagination and adapt as much as you like.

Mixed and Split Curriculum

• My school is organised differently to the norm and I need some advice on the best way to plan progression and which pathways to include.

  On our page of support videos you will find a video called “How to tailor the split curriculum for mixed year groups”. 

  • Choose pathways from the years which make up your rolling years – so for instance if you have a mixed class yrs 3 and 4, choose pathways from those years.

  • Choose pathways you think your pupils will like/respond to and which the teachers will enjoy teaching. Once you have chosen pathways, look back over your selection to ensure you are happy with your balanced curriculum. 

  • Don’t worry if they do a year 4 pathway before a year 3 pathway. The reality is that progression in art is never strictly linear and so you can pick and choose the pathways you like the sound of and its ok to introduce them to children in a slightly different order. Think of it more as layering opportunities. Many key concepts such as line, colour, shape, form etc are revisited in different disciplines/pathways so there will still be progression.

  • In your DT half terms, try to keep some drawing going – even if it is just a fifteen minute transition exercise (eg after lunch) once or twice a week. This can take place in their sketchbooks and can be standalone activities (ie not linked to a topic). This will help keep drawing skills developing and means when pupils return to an art “half-term” they ease easily into it. See this post which shares lots of drawing exercises you can try in your non-art half terms. 

• Does AccessArt cover DT?

  We don’t aim to cover the D&T curriculum. The resources we share do help build skills in many other areas of the DT curriculum, especially when it comes to construction, using tools, understanding structures, intention, review/reflection etc.

  In many cases it is a subtle change in language – DT requires you to talk about iterative processes, prototypes, intention in relation to a design brief, function, and product.

  When we use the making skills we talk about them from a visual arts perspective – where the role is often not to create something with a functional purpose in response to a brief, but instead is to make a personal creative response to a stimulus. These are important differences. Explore the Projects on a Page created by the Design and Technology Association.

   

  There are resources on AccessArt though, which straddle the line a little bit – and which you could introduce into your curriculum to help meet some  curriculum aims

  • www.accessart.org.uk/tool-box-resources-for-pupils-and-teachers-supporting-design-and-technology-in-schools/

  • www.accessart.org.uk/the-abc-of-tools-pdf-download/

  • www.accessart.org.uk/?s=tool+tips

  • www.accessart.org.uk/redesigning-food-packaging/

  • www.accessart.org.uk/wave-bowls/https://www.accessart.org.uk/tag/design-technology/

• I need to create an overview of the artists each class will follow. However, I am not sure which ones to suggest to staff to teach alongside your planning.

  The artists featured in the Talking Points area of the AccessArt website refer to the artists used in the pathways in our Primary Art Curriculum. So which artists you and your colleagues want to explore will probably depend on which pathways in the Curriculum you are using or thinking about might use.

  As a teacher/school, you are free to pick whichever artists, designers, craftspeople etc that you think will help expand the children’s experience of what art is. Of course as well as trying to include a diverse range of contemporary artists, the most important thing is that you choose artists who help your pupils build their understanding of a particular topic or discipline. So in this sense, the topic/discipline comes first, and then you find an artist to fit.

  If you haven’t seen them yet, have a look at our section on Pedagogy in Practice (accessart.org.uk) and in particular www.accessart.org.uk/which-artists-should-we-look-at-in-primary-school/ 

• Which documents should I be looking at for ‘skills progression’ to support with delivery of the Split Curriculum?

  Take a look at our video at www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-progression-of-skills-years-1-to-6/ to help you edit the progression plan.

• We have to follow a four year cycle in KS2 and I was wondering how easy it would be to adapt the planning and teach to all four year groups at the same time?

  Because our pathways don’t follow a strict linear progression, adapting the pathways and teaching they way you described should work well. If it helps, most of the activities which are now being used in schools in specific year groups started out as activities first tested in community groups which always contained a mix of ages spanning 4 or 5 years.

  Each activity can be adapted and children will enter the activity with their existing knowledge and develop what’s right for them at the time that they do it. We feel its more about layering opportunities (whenever they happen and in whatever order).

On our page of support videos you will find a video called “How to tailor the split curriculum for mixed year groups”. 

• Choose pathways from the years which make up your rolling years – so for instance if you have a mixed class yrs 3 and 4, choose pathways from those years.

• Choose pathways you think your pupils will like/respond to and which the teachers will enjoy teaching. Once you have chosen pathways, look back over your selection to ensure you are happy with your balanced curriculum. 

• Don’t worry if they do a year 4 pathway before a year 3 pathway. The reality is that progression in art is never strictly linear and so you can pick and choose the pathways you like the sound of and its ok to introduce them to children in a slightly different order. Think of it more as layering opportunities. Many key concepts such as line, colour, shape, form etc are revisited in different disciplines/pathways so there will still be progression.

• In your DT half terms, try to keep some drawing going – even if it is just a fifteen minute transition exercise (eg after lunch) once or twice a week. This can take place in their sketchbooks and can be standalone activities (ie not linked to a topic). This will help keep drawing skills developing and means when pupils return to an art “half-term” they ease easily into it. See this post which shares lots of drawing exercises you can try in your non-art half terms. 

We don’t aim to cover the D&T curriculum. The resources we share do help build skills in many other areas of the DT curriculum, especially when it comes to construction, using tools, understanding structures, intention, review/reflection etc.

In many cases it is a subtle change in language – DT requires you to talk about iterative processes, prototypes, intention in relation to a design brief, function, and product.

When we use the making skills we talk about them from a visual arts perspective – where the role is often not to create something with a functional purpose in response to a brief, but instead is to make a personal creative response to a stimulus. These are important differences. Explore the Projects on a Page created by the Design and Technology Association.

There are resources on AccessArt though, which straddle the line a little bit – and which you could introduce into your curriculum to help meet some  curriculum aims

• www.accessart.org.uk/tool-box-resources-for-pupils-and-teachers-supporting-design-and-technology-in-schools/

• www.accessart.org.uk/the-abc-of-tools-pdf-download/

• www.accessart.org.uk/?s=tool+tips

• www.accessart.org.uk/redesigning-food-packaging/

• www.accessart.org.uk/wave-bowls/https://www.accessart.org.uk/tag/design-technology/

The artists featured in the Talking Points area of the AccessArt website refer to the artists used in the pathways in our Primary Art Curriculum. So which artists you and your colleagues want to explore will probably depend on which pathways in the Curriculum you are using or thinking about might use.

As a teacher/school, you are free to pick whichever artists, designers, craftspeople etc that you think will help expand the children’s experience of what art is. Of course as well as trying to include a diverse range of contemporary artists, the most important thing is that you choose artists who help your pupils build their understanding of a particular topic or discipline. So in this sense, the topic/discipline comes first, and then you find an artist to fit.

If you haven’t seen them yet, have a look at our section on Pedagogy in Practice (accessart.org.uk) and in particular www.accessart.org.uk/which-artists-should-we-look-at-in-primary-school/ 

Take a look at our video at www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-progression-of-skills-years-1-to-6/ to help you edit the progression plan.

Because our pathways don’t follow a strict linear progression, adapting the pathways and teaching they way you described should work well. If it helps, most of the activities which are now being used in schools in specific year groups started out as activities first tested in community groups which always contained a mix of ages spanning 4 or 5 years.

Each activity can be adapted and children will enter the activity with their existing knowledge and develop what’s right for them at the time that they do it. We feel its more about layering opportunities (whenever they happen and in whatever order).

Assessment

• How do I challenge the more able children using your curriculum?

  The beauty of the AccessArt approach/pathways is that each child will meet each activity at their own level. Because there is plenty of freedom in each activity and the emphasis is on exploration there is plenty of space for more able children to stretch themselves. 

   

  Ensure you are always encouraging (all) children to push at the edges of what they do… prompt curiosity by asking them (and get them to ask themselves) “what would happen if…” “what might that materials enable me to do…” “what if I…”. “Pushing at the edges” can happen through use of materials, exploration of an idea, scale, ambition, function etc.

   

  The resources have been used with all abilities including high attaining children – they will fly as long as you don’t hold them back with restricted access to materials, or by having preconceived ideas as to what they might make. Give them the space/permission to take up their own space, and to show to you what they discover.

• Does AccessArt have any facilities or resources for assessment in primary art?

  See the following to help you think about assessment:

  www.accessart.org.uk/how-do-we-assess-creativity/.

   

  In addition, pls see the “I Can” statements on each pathway (and also written on each MTP for each pathway) of www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum/.

   

  Please keep an eye on our events page as we do put on CPD on assessment from time to time.

   

   

The beauty of the AccessArt approach/pathways is that each child will meet each activity at their own level. Because there is plenty of freedom in each activity and the emphasis is on exploration there is plenty of space for more able children to stretch themselves. 

Ensure you are always encouraging (all) children to push at the edges of what they do… prompt curiosity by asking them (and get them to ask themselves) “what would happen if…” “what might that materials enable me to do…” “what if I…”. “Pushing at the edges” can happen through use of materials, exploration of an idea, scale, ambition, function etc.

The resources have been used with all abilities including high attaining children – they will fly as long as you don’t hold them back with restricted access to materials, or by having preconceived ideas as to what they might make. Give them the space/permission to take up their own space, and to show to you what they discover.

See the following to help you think about assessment:

www.accessart.org.uk/how-do-we-assess-creativity/.

In addition, pls see the “I Can” statements on each pathway (and also written on each MTP for each pathway) of www.accessart.org.uk/primary-art-curriculum/.

Please keep an eye on our events page as we do put on CPD on assessment from time to time.

Sketchbooks

• We have recently introduced the use of sketchbooks. What sort of things do you think I should be teaching / looking for in sketchbooks?

  In terms of sketchbooks, look out for:

  • Evidence of experimentation of materials

  • Evidence of regular drawing practice – this does not always have to be tied to the project (for instance you might do ten minute sketchbook drawing exercises in DT half terms as a transition activity after lunch)

  • Evidence that when children look at an artists’ work, they demonstrate close looking and thinking in their sketchbooks via techniques such as Show Me What You See and Making Visual Notes

  • Evidence that children are given permission to make notes in their books, including annotations, but that spelling/good handwriting is not a criteria for success

  • Evidence of reflection – “how do i feel about…”

  • Evidence of risk taking – “what happens if..” type thinking

  • Beyond the sketchbooks, ensure teachers are also making time to talk to pupils alone or in small groups about their sketchbooks. Remember sketchbooks should be used not just for personal exploration but also as a focus for conversation about intention as well as outcome. 

  • Sketchbooks are by nature places of open ended, exploratory investigation. Don’t look for linear progression, instead look for rich, layered thinking and encourage children and teachers to revisit old pages to remember, reflect, and bring ideas forward…

  Keep an eye on the events page to see if we have any CPD on sketchbooks coming up. Take a look at our Sketchbook Share recording. 

In terms of sketchbooks, look out for:

• Evidence of experimentation of materials

• Evidence of regular drawing practice – this does not always have to be tied to the project (for instance you might do ten minute sketchbook drawing exercises in DT half terms as a transition activity after lunch)

• Evidence that when children look at an artists’ work, they demonstrate close looking and thinking in their sketchbooks via techniques such as Show Me What You See and Making Visual Notes

• Evidence that children are given permission to make notes in their books, including annotations, but that spelling/good handwriting is not a criteria for success

• Evidence of reflection – “how do i feel about…”

• Evidence of risk taking – “what happens if..” type thinking

• Beyond the sketchbooks, ensure teachers are also making time to talk to pupils alone or in small groups about their sketchbooks. Remember sketchbooks should be used not just for personal exploration but also as a focus for conversation about intention as well as outcome. 

• Sketchbooks are by nature places of open ended, exploratory investigation. Don’t look for linear progression, instead look for rich, layered thinking and encourage children and teachers to revisit old pages to remember, reflect, and bring ideas forward…

Keep an eye on the events page to see if we have any CPD on sketchbooks coming up. Take a look at our Sketchbook Share recording. 

SEND

• We are a special school 3-19 mostly working at KS2 and below. Could you please provide me with some further information about how you could support us?

  We have lots of schools working with SEND as part of the AccessArt community – the resources lend themselves to being used by a wide range of ages and abilities.

   

  We have a selection of activities for SEND and EYFS which can be found here: www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-eyfs-exploring-art-in-early-years-settings/

   

  We also have a tag cloud on the right hand side of the majority of the pages on the site and if you click SEN you can see many resources which are specifically tailored for SEND. You can also explore www.accessart.org.uk/artist-led-for-send/. However, most send schools find they can adapt the majority of the resources on the site.

   

We have lots of schools working with SEND as part of the AccessArt community – the resources lend themselves to being used by a wide range of ages and abilities.

We have a selection of activities for SEND and EYFS which can be found here: www.accessart.org.uk/accessart-eyfs-exploring-art-in-early-years-settings/

We also have a tag cloud on the right hand side of the majority of the pages on the site and if you click SEN you can see many resources which are specifically tailored for SEND. You can also explore www.accessart.org.uk/artist-led-for-send/. However, most send schools find they can adapt the majority of the resources on the site.

EYFS

• How do I map out progression across Nursery and Reception using the EYFS curriculum?

  We feel the aim of this phase in terms of art, in deliberately simple terms, is to:

  • Build dexterity skills

  • Explore materials and mark making in a playful way

  • Use bodies and imaginations to inspire making

  • Explore how they can reflect and share their views about what they have seen or made

  • Explore how art enriches our lives

  We don’t outline where each child should be by the end of a certain year – there is no need to measure children in this way, instead we believe the onus is on the school to provide a layering of rich opportunities which will impact the children’s experience and understanding of the list above. Make choices that suit your school and balance 2D work with 3D. Once you have chosen which areas you would like to explore, go into the Resources and Skills editable document and see which areas are being progressed. See our EYFS resources here. 

We feel the aim of this phase in terms of art, in deliberately simple terms, is to:

• Build dexterity skills

• Explore materials and mark making in a playful way

• Use bodies and imaginations to inspire making

• Explore how they can reflect and share their views about what they have seen or made

• Explore how art enriches our lives

We don’t outline where each child should be by the end of a certain year – there is no need to measure children in this way, instead we believe the onus is on the school to provide a layering of rich opportunities which will impact the children’s experience and understanding of the list above. Make choices that suit your school and balance 2D work with 3D. Once you have chosen which areas you would like to explore, go into the Resources and Skills editable document and see which areas are being progressed. See our EYFS resources here. 

Feedback & Share

• How can I share work made as a result of the AccessArt resources?

  Please see how you can feedback to us and share your work here. 

Please see how you can feedback to us and share your work here. 

Joining AccessArt

• I am the only teacher teaching and leading art, do I still need to buy a multiuser account?

  As you are the only teacher delivering the art curriculum in your school, you won’t need a multi-user membership and you can access the curriculum and all the resources through a single membership login. However we do believe it is good practice that not one person (no matter how skilled) should be responsible for art in a school – it is far better to build expertise across staff – in which case you will need a multi-user membership so that all staff can access resources. 

• Where can I find information about memberships?

  You can find details of all membership benefits and costs at www.accessart.org.uk/membership-benefits/ and www.accessart.org.uk/teachers-of-ages-4-to-11/

• Which schools use AccessArt?

  See a map of schools using AccessArt here. 

• Can we use AccessArt as a scheme if we live outside England?

  We believe our resources and pathways can be adapted to many schools in many countries. Pls see the table on this page to help you understand age/year group equivalents. 

• Where can I network with other teachers using AccessArt?

  Join our Facebook group. Attend CPD events.

As you are the only teacher delivering the art curriculum in your school, you won’t need a multi-user membership and you can access the curriculum and all the resources through a single membership login. However we do believe it is good practice that not one person (no matter how skilled) should be responsible for art in a school – it is far better to build expertise across staff – in which case you will need a multi-user membership so that all staff can access resources. 

You can find details of all membership benefits and costs at www.accessart.org.uk/membership-benefits/ and www.accessart.org.uk/teachers-of-ages-4-to-11/

See a map of schools using AccessArt here. 

We believe our resources and pathways can be adapted to many schools in many countries. Pls see the table on this page to help you understand age/year group equivalents. 

Join our Facebook group. Attend CPD events.

AccessArt Core Value #1 “Growth is driven by ideas, opportunities and reflection” illustrated by Yu-Ching Chiu.

Yu-Ching is an illustrator, designer and artist educator working in Cambridge. Yu-Ching graduated from Cambridge School of Art with an MA degree in Illustration and Book Arts. She is passionate about visual storytelling and enjoys working with a mixture of digital and analogue methods.

When Yu-Ching applied to illustrate our first core value we were instantly drawn to her calming and contemplative visual language. We loved how she combines mixed media; creating works on paper and moving it through to the digital realm to add extra touches to her painterly style.

The theme of Yu-Ching’s work often touches upon state of mind, which she uses to create narratives that resonate with her audience. She spoke about how, as people, we respond to transformation – the type of transformation that we don’t always expect or understand – and how we can take these experiences, both accidental and purposeful, and use them to grow. This really resonated with our core value ‘growth is driven by ideas, opportunities and reflection’ as we felt that it touched upon the idea of growth coming to us in different ways and how we can identify, reflect and respond with a new found freedom and clarity.

We love the outcome of Yu-Ching’s commission, sharing a tale of how the thoughts and actions of individuals can work towards achieving something amazing for all.

AccessArt Value #1

Growth is driven by ideas, opportunities and reflection.

What kind of growth makes us feel stimulated and fulfilled? As individuals, what drives us to keep creating? As communities, what makes us fair, inclusive and forward-thinking?

Society is saturated with measures of growth, and as individuals we often feel the pressure to prove, map and compare our own growth in all kinds of ways. But what other kinds of growth are there that sit outside a wrapper of numbers, and that don’t rely on the assumption that a bigger number means more success?

For AccessArt, growth has been both defined and driven by ideas. Our aim is to help enable high quality visual arts teaching and learning, and we feel that can only happen through a creation, curation and sharing of ideas relating to aspects of creative making and understanding. Ideas excite us, and giving form to those ideas so that others can access them excites us even more.

Having an ear to the ground and being agile enough to both identify and act upon needs and opportunities is the next driver of AccessArt’s work. Where we see a need experienced by pupils, teachers, educators and artists, we enjoy identifying a creative solution.

Finally, through reflection: of what worked, what didn’t work, what is happening on the horizon, and what can we help steer, AccessArt is able to refine our vision of what we need to do next.

Through all these modes: ideas, opportunity and reflection, our position of sitting slightly outside and around (fill space) the users we serve helps us act with freedom and clarity, and enables us to work hard to create a product which is both relevant to and accessible by as many people as possible.

Explore our other Core Values here.

<< Back to: All You Need To Know

AccessArt’s organisational values are important at every level. Their meaning is enriched by context: they guide how we work as a team, shape the work we deliver, and influence our relationships with users. These values not only reflect how AccessArt aims to exist in the world, but also express how creativity can best be nurtured. We hope these values resonate with you, the user, and inspire how you enable creativity in yourself and those around you.

To share and celebrate our ethos, we will be commissioning 8 artists to illustrate our values.

Please share how our core values resonate with you #AccessArtCoreValues.

Beliefs

AccessArt Value #1: Growth is Driven by Ideas, Opportunities, and Reflection

Illustrated by Yu-Ching Chiu

What kind of growth makes us feel stimulated and fulfilled? As individuals, what drives us to keep creating? As communities, what makes us fair, inclusive, and forward-thinking? Find out more

AccessArt Value #2: Enthusiasm is Infectious and We Can all Play a Role in Fuelling or Stalling the Creative Potential of Others

Illustrated by Lizzie Lovejoy

What is our individual responsibility to those around us? What do we do to encourage or interrupt positivity? How might we enable a more curious and playful approach? Find out more

AccessArt Value #3: Having the Confidence to Hold Ideas Lightly, Enables us to Create Space for Everyone to Reach their Potential

Illustrated by Jagoda Sadowska

How can we always aim to open out our thinking so that it embraces more possibilities? How can we balance structure and freedom so that we feel safe yet free? Find out more

Actions

AccessArt Value #4: Through small acts of understanding we can enable big thinking.

Illustrated by Rachel Ng

How can we create small stepping stones of experience which enable us to explore complex ideas and experiences? Find out more 

The intentions behind even the smallest actions are important. Incrementally, these intentional actions create impact.

(Call for commissioning TBC)

How can we be enabled to act with clarity? How can we avoid overwhelm and at the same time empower? How can we see every action as a jewel?

Relationships

We can be our most brave and creative selves when we feel safe and valued. To help others feel valued, we need to be kind.

(Call for commissioning TBC)

How can we cultivate a space in which we feel safe enough to show our true selves? How can we show compassionate understanding that enables individuals to feel understood and enabled?

We all have something to contribute that is of value to others. There is strength in shared experience, which empowers us all.

(Call for commissioning TBC)

How can we learn to recognise what we have to offer to others, perhaps outside our usual sphere of influence? How can we feel supported by others in our community? How can we be energised by encounters with those experiences and ideas outside our comfort zone?

Generosity of spirit can help build a bigger, more diverse and inclusive world, bringing more opportunities and greater understanding for all.

(Call for commissioning TBC)

How can we hold ourselves less tightly, so that we feel able to share and embrace the experience of others? How might we feel safe, strong and empowered whilst being small in a very large crowd?

We love seeing the work you have created as a result of AccessArt resources, and just as importantly schools like to see what other schools have done. Sharing your work with us and others, ensures that pupils and teachers feel celebrated on their creative journey. 

Find out how to send your outcomes

Email Your images

You can send us high quality images via  info@accessart.org.uk email address. 

Please include a short message giving us permission to use the images on our site and social media feed, and let us know how you would like the images to be credited. 

tag us on social media

Tag us os on Instagram using @accessart.org.uk using the hashtags #InspiredByAccessArt 

You can also join our Facebook Group AccessArt Network and share your outcomes on there. 

send images via wetransfer.com

If you have more than 8 images it is usually easier to send them to us via WeTransfer.com. Please send them to morag@accessart.org.uk

Please include a short message giving us permission to use the images on our site and social media feed, and let us know how you would like the images to be credited. 

The AccessArt Gallery

Find out how you can get your images featured in the AccessArt Gallery.

We like our members to be proud that you use our resources to inspire high quality teaching and learning in your setting. Download a badge and display it on your website or share it on your social media feed.

Right click to download to your local device.

Find More Ways to Celebrate and Share

AccessArt is proud to support Let’s Create Art 2022. In its inaugural year the Let’s Create Art campaign will showcase the vital role of visual arts engagement in promoting positive wellbeing.

The campaign invites organisations and individuals to take part in visual arts activities between 19 October – 2 November.

Find out how you can join in at https://engage.org/happenings/lets-create-art/

We’re really pleased to announce a new series of zoom CPD for teachers and art educators jointly coordinated by Susan Coles, Mandy Barrett (of Gomersal Primary School) and AccessArt.

The sessions will focus upon key relevant themes as faced by teachers in classrooms with the aim of building knowledge, skills and enthusiasm. In addition to presentations by Susan, Mandy and Paula Briggs from AccessArt the sessions will also be supported by key experts in the field including teachers of all key stages.

Join us and feel reassured, invigorated and inspired! See our latest CPD courses here. 

Contact Rachel@accessart.org.uk

AccessArt is excited to be working on a brand-new Primary Curriculum for Art to be launched in May 2022.

Following the success of the existing AccessArt Exemplar Curriculum and Progression Plan, AccessArt currently has nearly 9500 members – 70% of which are primary schools using AccessArt ethos and resources to help deliver a rich creative curriculum in the visual arts.

AccessArt has a unique model amongst providers of visual arts education resources. The charity and membership organisation work with hundreds of artist educators and teachers in the UK and overseas to build an evolving collection of high quality resources which enable open-ended creative exploration. This co-created resource bank means schools benefit from the experience of a wide range of leading practitioners in the field, whilst being curated, guided and led by the vision of Paula Briggs and the AccessArt team.

The AccessArt Primary Art Curriculum will aim to:

• Go far beyond meeting the requirements of the current National Curriculum, enabling schools to deliver an exciting art curriculum in the here and now, but also act as a model which leads with vision and expertise to help inform future curriculum planning in England and beyond.

• Offer schools a fully flexible scheme of work which can be followed in whole or in part.

• Present choices for schools, and enable teachers to develop skills so they feel able to tailor the curriculum, develop their ownership, and create outcomes unique to them.

• Be outward looking in terms of approach, activities and artists, making the curriculum fully inclusive and relevant to all pupils.

• Encourage schools, teachers and pupils to think about WHY we teach art, as well as HOW we might do so, and vitally, to help build understanding of why art and artists are relevant to society.

• Enable all teachers including non-specialist teachers and teachers with little experience to feel confident and happy teaching art, developing their skills and personal sense of creativity and wellbeing.

The new AccessArt Primary Curriculum for Art will be launched in May 2022 giving schools time to explore and plan before Autumn term 2022. The introduction of the new AccessArt curriculum will be supported by extensive online CPD session for schools, including suggested start points in the form of mini-curriculum which schools can utilise in the Summer term 2022 as a way to better explore what AccessArt can offer their teachers and pupils.

We look forward to keeping you updated over the next few months. Please do get in touch if you have any questions, and join our facebook group at

www.facebook.com/groups/accessartnetwork

Paula Briggs, Creative Director

January 2022

We are all passionate about the importance of art education, and we all represent different audiences. To help explore how we can help support each other to help create a more sustained pipeline from early years through to life long learning, and to build new links within the pipeline, we need to consider our Wish List. The audiences we work with do not exist in a vacuum – they are part of a larger picture. By sharing our wish lists we might be able to see where we can better support and learn from each other.

Thinking in particular about the individuals, organisations and institutions around you, what would you like to ask of them? Is there a type of organisation you have never had experience of collaborating with, but would like to.

Some examples:

By Dr Judy Thomas

This response was written after the first meeting of the Creative Pedagogy & Pathways Group 

Bakhtin (1984) promoted pedagogies that facilitate dialogic engagement; his ‘Chronotype’ theory suggests time and space is inherent in narrative.

Our narrative, and that of our learners, has shifted dramatically over the past year; we have embraced new virtual spaces that present us fresh opportunities. The online environment scaffolds contemporary possibilities for connection and dialogue in ways previously not considered. Virtual adaptation has enabled us to come together and create new freedoms to positively learn from one another. This unites a divergent multiplicity, where we can actively, more fluently, share dialogue, in ways previously not so accessible. We can exchange ideas and create new, beneficial learning spaces that help us collaboratively discover common ground and navigate challenges.

We are stronger together and the promise of this dialogue is exciting. By applying online, dialogic approaches to learning, we can cross boundaries through beneficial zones of potentiality. The overwhelming excuses for being insular no longer exist; we can cross-sectors to collectively explore creative spaces to reflect, question, challenge, develop, innovate, and inspire. This dialogue can stimulate change and positively create wider access to art and future creativity.

Bakhtin, M (1981) The Dialogic Imagination in Ehre, Milton. Poetics Today, vol. 5, no. 1, 1984, pp. 172–177. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1772435. (Accessed 16 May 2021).

Cohen, Tom. “The Ideology of Dialogue: The Bakhtin/De Man (Dis)Connection.” Cultural Critique, no. 33, 1996, pp. 41–86. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1354387. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Oxford Reference (2021) “Chronotope” Available at: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095611483 (Accessed 16 May 2021).

Rule, P (2011) Bakhtin and Freire: Dialogue, dialectic and boundary learning, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43:9, 924-942, DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2009.00606.x (Accessed 16 May 2021).

Are you an Upper KS2 or Lower KS3 teacher planning on studying Shakespeare as part of your English Literature curriculum? If so, AccessArt needs your help!

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a brand new project that links the visual arts with Shakespeare – and we are looking for schools to take part in the project pilot to help us gather evidence for a series of inspirational resources that explore new ways to study Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and A  Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The focus of the project delivery will be through visual arts sessions, but with strong links to aspects of the literacy curriculum such as knowledge and comprehension of language, reconsigning themes, and comparing characters when discussing dramatic literature.

What do you need to do?

1. Let us know if you would like to take part (see details at bottom of the page)
2. Be able to deliver a short series of visual arts activities, pre-planned by AccessArt, that explore one of the plays listed above during the Autumn term 2021 or Spring term 2022.
3. Come along to a drop-in Zoom session/s where we will be providing practical demonstrations of some of the activities that support the project delivery
4. Document the activities taking place (preferably with a colleague to assist) and send the named and captioned photos to us
5. AccessArt will then pull all the evidence together to create a series of Shakespeare resources on the website which we can share with our wider UK and international teacher and artist community

Interested? Let us know! Please email rachel@accessart.org.uk answering the following questions:

• Why you would like to take part in the project and why it appeals to you
• What Key Stage the participating children would be
• What your play preference is out of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream

We are looking for approximately 5 schools to take part in this initial pilot. A full project breakdown will be sent to all participating schools and the pre planned sessions will be made available by June 30^th

We look forward to hearing from you!