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When “assessing” art in primary schools, please remember:

• There are no national standards in England for Art in key Stage 2.

• You do not need to grade art.

• You cannot and should not apply the same criteria and process for assessing other subjects to art.

• Progression is not always linear.

• Teachers should consider assessment as a holistic practice, which takes place during every art lesson through conversation with pupils.

• Most importantly! Creativity is a fragile process that is hard to measure and assess and should always be nurtured and supported.

• Check the opportunities the school offers all pupils are appropriate. 

Use the following tools for “assessment”

• Articulation: one to one, small groups, whole class

• Sketchbooks: as a conversational tool between pupil and teacher. Always check understanding and intention in addition to what you see in the sketchbook.

• Development work: all the work done along the way, before any final piece. Again, always check intention and understanding through conversation alongside what you see.

• Final work: Remember “safe” final outcomes can hide poor learning journeys, and sometimes an excellent learning journey might not be reflected in the final piece. Progression is not linear and in art pupils can stall or make leaps for a variety of reasons, none of which need “marking”, though you can use these moments of progression to inform what that pupil needs to help them develop further.

Use the following questions to develop understanding in pupils and build your understanding of their abilities:

• Tell me about that you are drawing and what/which artists inspired you.

• What might you do next?

• Tell me about the materials and techniques you are using.

• What have you discovered?

• How do you feel about the end result?

• What kinds of problems did you encounter and how did you get round them?

• Tell me about things you really liked or enjoyed.

• What would you like to explore more of?

Read more about how to assess art here.

This is a sample of a resource created by UK Charity AccessArt. We have over 1500 resources to help develop and inspire your creative thinking, practice and teaching.

AccessArt welcomes artists, educators, teachers and parents both in the UK and overseas.

We believe everyone has the right to be creative and by working together and sharing ideas we can enable everyone to reach their creative potential.

What We Like About This Resource…

“This is a great activity for really tuning into colour and shape. The process is ultimately quite a refined one (ie making a pattern balanced and repeated ‘correctly’) – but there’s plenty of scope for exploring pattern in a more experiential way prior to the refinement page. Try one of the recommended resources below to introduce pattern and begin with some open ended activities to build skill and confidence.” – Andrea, AccessArt

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Pathway: Exploring pattern

This is featured in the ‘Exploring Pattern’ pathway

Talking points: Andy Gilmore

talking points: Louise Despont

Inspired by Rachel Parker

Teachers Explore Pattern, Shape and Texture

Block Printing Repeat Patterns

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Pathway: Music and art

This is featured in the ‘Music and Art’ pathway

Pathway: Playful Making

This resource is features in the ‘Playful Making’ pathway

Manipulating Paper

Cardboard Sculptures

The Chair and Me

What We Like About This Resource….

“This activity walks through a number of different processes and taps into multiple skills.This provides a rich exploratory project for children to fully immerse themselves in. Cezanne was the focus artist for this project, but other contemporary still life painters could be used as starter inspiration. We actually advocate showing the work of more than one artist as this builds knowledge of how approaches to painting, drawing etc differ. This also helps children move towards a personal response rather than creating a ‘copy’ of one particular artist’s work” – Rachel, AccessArt

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Pathway: Exploring Still Life

This is featured in the ‘Explore Still Life’ pathway

Talking Points: Paul Cezanne

talking points: Contemporary still life

talking points: Flemish and Dutch Still Life Painters

What We Like About This Resource….

“It’s great to see a different approach to thinking about remembrance day. These peg soldiers are a refreshing alternative to artwork inspired by poppies. The processes involved encourage children to focus on fine motor skills: wrapping embroidery thread around the peg and creating small detailed clothes and helmets. These dolls look particularly effective when standing as a collection and would make a poignant alternative to a standard display board” – Rachel, AccessArt

See This Resource Used In Schools…

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An Exploration of Paul Nash

For Remembrance Day

World War l Mail Art

What We Like About This Resource….

Working collaboratively towards a shared aim provides an alternative experience to working on individual projects. Creating together encourages listening, peer feedback and creative problem solving – all of which are hugely valuable in all areas of education” – Rachel, AccessArt

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Animal Habitat Mural

Collaborative Public Mural

Mural and Workshop Project

What We Like About This Resource….

“The life of Madge Gill that Sophie Dutton recounts here gives us real insight into the challenges that Madge Gill experienced, and how these challenges would have been common among women at the time. When we study the work of Artists, it adds a rich context to our experience of their work to consider their personal history, and helps us ask questions like ‘why do you think the Artist painted in this way or was inspired by this subject matter?’ If you introduce your class to Madge Gill, begin with looking back over her younger life to try and better understand her motivations as an Artist” – Rachel, AccessArt

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I am AccessArt: Ann Rippin

Making Batik Textiles in the Classroom

How I Use Drawing and Sketchbooks

See This Resource Used in a Pathway…

Transforming Materials into Sculpture

This pathway shares how teachers might take inspiration from El Anatsui and encourage pupils to think how they might disassemble objects around them to transform them into sculptural pieces. Read More.