At Our Lady and St. Rose of Lima Catholic Primary School, we essentially want to 
provide our pupils with the opportunity to engage in high quality artistic 
experiences through a comprehensive, well-rounded, and forward-thinking curriculum. 

We want our children to be aware of the various functions and roles that art, craft, 
and design play in modern life as well as in earlier eras and cultural contexts. Students 
can communicate and express themselves by using colour, form, texture, pattern, and 
other materials and techniques. For our underprivileged pupils and those making the 
slowest academic progress, this is especially crucial. We observe a significant boost in 
pupils' achievement when it comes to the more creative areas, like painting, since some 
pupils find it difficult to express themselves with words.

Our art curriculum emphasises the knowledge pupils need to know to become successful 
artists while also incorporating the mandatory elements of the National Curriculum. 
Our knowledge-based planning enables pupils to review, consolidate, and apply skills that 
were taught in earlier years. The lessons are revisited over the course of the pupils' 
time at Our Lady and St. Rose of Lima, creating a clear progression pathway that gives 
pupils a greater understanding and skill set in art.

The advancement that pupils make throughout their time in primary school is clear, 
providing them with a broad exposure to a variety of artists that will shape their 
judgments and future decision-making in terms of both aesthetics and practicality. For 
instance, pupils will be introduced to many artists in the Early Years who utilise 
straightforward illustrations, mark-making, and paintings to engage, motivate, and 
challenge their way of thinking about and approach to art. Pupils will develop a broader 
skill set and knowledge of many artistic processes and techniques as they advance 
through the curriculum. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils will be capable of planning and 
drawing a face, mixing paint colours, and picking the correct medium for the project at 
hand. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will have mastered the skills necessary to paint 
and sketch 3D forms, make sculptures from a variety of materials, and have gained a 
deeper understanding of which media are most suited for the piece of work they are 
planning to produce.

Everything we do at Our Lady and St. Rose of Lima is centred on Catholic living, and the 
topics that the pupils study via art reflect this. For instance, Year 4 pupils study 
Byzantine Empire landmarks in the summer term and study the Hagia Sophia and how 
icons were created as sacred artwork. The curriculum is also heavily influenced by  
history, and in Years 3 and 4, lessons on the Ancient Roman and Egyptian eras are 
included. As a result, pupils may put religious personalities in historical context and 
understand these important events by looking at artwork that depicts them.