Autumn – Make My Voice Heard

Exploring art with a message, children look at the famous ‘Guernica’ by Picasso and the confronting works of Käthe Kollwitz and through the mediums of graffiti, drawing, painting and sculpture, pupils create their own artworks that speak to the viewer. 

• Graffiti Artists’ Tag – Children express their personality, transforming their names into graffiti tags, using block lettering, serifs contrasting colours and shadow
• Käthe Kollwitz – After viewing the emotive works of Käthe Kollwitz, children draw their own portraits using a series of lines and experiment with ‘halo’ and ‘chiaroscuro’ techniques
• Guernica 1 – Pablo Picasso – Having learned about the symbolism used in Picasso’s ‘Guernica’, children plan their own composition based upon this famous piece, using symbols reflective of the First World War and plotting contrasting areas of black and white
• Guernica 2 – Pablo Picasso – Continuing with their ‘Guernica’ inspired compositions from last lesson, children apply paint in tones of black, white and grey, standing back from their work at regular intervals to ensure that they maintain balance in their piece
• Clay Sculpture – Children turn their Käthe Kollwitz inspired drawings from Lesson 2 into sculptures fit for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, being aware of the message their sculpture portrays through its expression and looking at sculptors such as Mark Wallinger

 

Electrical Systems: Steady Hand Game

Using their understanding of electrical systems and design, pupils are challenged with designing and creating a steady hand game. Pupils will use nets to create their bases and their knowledge of electrical circuits to build a circuit with a buzzer which closes when the handle makes contact with the wire frame

• Homopolar Motors – Pupils discover how an electromagnetic motor works and make one of their own
• Game Plan – Identifying the components within a steady hand game, pupils design their own game game and create perspective drawings of their design from three different perspectives
• Base Building – Using nets, children create the base blocks of their steady hand games and decorate them in line with their design criteria
• Electronics and Assembly – Pupils make and test their circuits and incorporate them into the bases of their games

Spring – Photography

Through developing their photography skills, children cover useful artistic concepts in a new context, looking at: composition, colour, light, abstract images and underlying messages. By familiarising themselves with new photography artists, children can gain a new perspective on the way they look at the people and objects around them, capturing and presenting images in different ways

• Photomontage – Pupils are shown the work of different photomontage artists to see the effects that can be created before then crafting their own
• Truisms – After exploring the idea of truisms, children create their own piece of art by matching a truism with a powerful photography to mirror its message and learn about the artist Jenny Holzer
• Macro Photography – Focusing on the work of Edward Weston, children observe the abstract-looking images created through macro photography
• Self Portraits – By looking at the many different examples of self portraits over time, children use photography to create their own
• Expressions in Photography – Looking at The Scream by Edvard Munch, children recreate the image adding an expressive photo self portrait to a background created in another medium

Food: Come Dine with Me

Working in groups, children research and prepare a three-course meal taught as a rotational activity over three lessons. They will taste-test and score their food and when they aren’t cooking, they will research the journey of their main ingredient from ‘farm to fork’ or write a favourite recipe to include in a class cookbook.

• Three Ingredients; Three Courses – In pairs, children research a recipe for the course they will be making; either a pepper starter, salmon main or pineapple dessert
• To Start… – The pairs of children making the pepper starters prepare and make the recipes they have researched whilst the remainder of the class research how salmon is reared, caught and processed, or make a recipe page for a class cook book
• The Main Course – The pairs of children making the salmon main course prepare and make the recipes they have researched whilst the remainder of the class trace the journey food makes across the world to reach our supermarkets, or make a recipe page for a class cook book
• Dessert – The pairs of children making the pineapple desserts, prepare and make the recipes they have researched whilst the remainder of the class find out how peppers are grown or make a recipe page for a class cook book

Summer – Still Life 

In this topic, pupils revisit their still life skills, creating a variety of pieces influenced by different artists and using a range of mediums. They use charcoal, erasers and paint to depict their chosen composition of special objects before using them to construct a memory box to showcase their work.

• Still Life Composition – Using a selection of objects meaningful to them, children learn the subtle art of composition, sketching as they go
• Charcoal Still Life – Using the same arrangement as last lesson, pupils draw inspiration from the abstract artist Camargo and use charcoals to create a new still life piece
• Negative Medium Still Life – Learning to see light and shade in a new way, children pick out the shapes of their composition using erasers on a lightly greyed out background
• Still Life in Colour – After looking at still life paintings from Cezanne, pupils mix and use paint to bring colour to their still life with a range of tints and hues
• Assembling the Memory Box – Children showcase their still life works by creating a box with a different piece on each face, topped with a graphic representation of the memories they evoke

Textiles: Waistcoats

Using the skills they’ve developed over the past few years, children select fabrics, use templates, pin, decorate and stitch to create a waistcoat for a person or purpose of their choosing

• Waistcoat Design – Drawing inspiration from famous waistcoat wearers, children design a waistcoat based on a theme of your choice
• Preparing Fabric – Using a template, pupils mark the outline of their waistcoat panels on fabric before cutting and pinning it
• Assembling My Waistcoat – Pupils sew the panels of their waistcoat together using a simple running stitch
• Decorating My Waistcoat – After assembling their waistcoat, children add decoration in the form of appliqué, beads, buttons or decorative stitching