Arts

Intent 

At Robert Blair, we have a commitment to teach the Curriculum ‘through the Arts’. We are passionate about using many different aspects of Art to stimulate creativity and enrich learning across different subject areas. On so many levels, Art benefits our children, whether it be exploring ideas, nurturing creativity, collaborating with others or developing skills. The Arts provide visual, tactile and sensory experiences, that help our understanding of, and responses to, the world. It is a subject that can be explored and accessed by all children, and enables children to communicate what they see, feel and think through the use of different media. Children become involved in shaping their environment through specific activities. They learn to make informed judgements, as well aesthetic and practical decisions.

Implementation 

We involve the Arts within everything we do, which means it is used at every opportunity to support the understanding of a concept or idea in a cross-curricular manner. This could involve recording ideas and experiences, developing skills/techniques, analysing creative work, and producing performances. The school aims to offer a wide variety of Artistic disciplines including both the fine arts (painting/drawing/sculpture) as well as performance arts (Drama, Dance, Music). To celebrate the work that is produced, there are regular opportunities over the year to share/perform such as assemblies and whole school shows. To complement the Artistic work developed within the school, there are regular opportunities for the children to visit and see/experience professional work, as well as having performing companies presenting their work at school. To encourage even greater interest in the Arts the school regularly runs Art competitions and challenges, which are linked to other Curriculum areas.

Impact 

As the teaching of Arts is integral to their learning, Robert Blair children are well-used to exploring ideas in an Artistic way, and often have the skills to help realise them. Collaborative projects allow the children to work together and give them the chance to discuss their ideas and feelings about their own work and the work of others. This helps them to develop a respect for the abilities of other children and encourages them to co-operate across a range of activities and experiences.