The Colours of Autumn

We focused on observational drawing skills using Autumn resources. We have been drawing conkers, pumpkins, sticks, leaves.... We focused on the shape, colour and little details to make our drawings as accurate as possible.

EXPRESIVE ARTS AND DESIGN IN NURSERY

Music

Art 

Design and Technology

The development of children's artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a range wide of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self- expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

Is your home a home that supports Expressive Arts and Designs?

Does your child...

• paint and draw at home- colour mixing
• go to the cinema/theatre/ watch live performances on TV
• use scissors at home
• listen to music
• dance- make up dances?
• sing whole songs- and remember words
• engage in music making- play with instruments or make instruments.

Expressive Arts and Design: Creating with Materials 
 INTENT STATMENTS:

In Early Years we capitalise on children’s natural excitement for and freedom to express their thoughts, ideas and inner feelings as artists by:

• Providing children with opportunities to explore and experiment with different media and materials
• Encouraging children to be inventive and imaginative allowing them to express their creativity in ways that are personal to them
• Allowing children to use their own imagination to be uninhibited artists
• Introducing children to how things work
• Providing children with a purpose to design, make and evaluate 
• Encouraging children to investigate and explore a wide range of materials and tools
• Supporting children to find original solutions using resources in unique ways
• Nurturing children’s confidence to try new things
• Fostering children’s resourcefulness and resilience to enable them to take risks and learn from their mistakes

   IMPLEMENTATION STATEMENT:

Being an artist is valued and promoted through direct teaching and purposeful learning opportunities across different themes throughout the year.

• We use planned themes and capitalise on unplanned moments that present themselves to talk about line, shapes, colour, form and texture.
• We look at the work of famous artists as part of our topic work to provide children with opportunities to learn about different techniques and styles.  
• We encourage observational drawing and drawing skills are often modelled by staff. This learning is then reflected within the provision where children have opportunities to practise and refine these skills independently.

For each curriculum theme we have identified the artistic knowledge and skills that we will teach ensuring that knowledge and skills are regularly revisited. We cover the following themes:

All About Me and All About the World: through this topic children will learn about lines and shapes through self portraits and different materials

Bonfire Night and Christmas - Exploring colour and colour mixing

Investigation weeks - Joining materials and exploring textures

Garden and Growing - Creating closed shapes and continuous lines

Minibeasts: through this topic children will learn about form through sculpture

Under the Sea: through this topic children will learn about colour and texture through collage and painting

Opportunities are also provided for children to express their own creative ideas by exploring, experimenting and combining materials to create different effects.

Creative areas, inside and outdoors, are resourced with a wide range of tools, media and materials and are organised in a way that encourages children to be independent in their choices and decisions. We recognise and use the links between being an artist and gross and fine motor development and provide vertical surfaces and large areas where children can stand enabling them to have greater stability and more control over the tools they are using.

In the provision adults promote children’s creativity and imagination by valuing their ideas and encouraging freedom of expression. They support and facilitate children in the application of their artistic knowledge and skills. 

Creating things is valued and promoted through direct teaching and purposeful learning opportunities across all planned themes throughout the year.

We use planned themes and capitalise on unplanned moments that present themselves to encourage children to design, make and evaluate.

• For each theme we have identified the knowledge and skills that we will teach ensuring that they are regularly revisited.
• We provide children with a purpose to design, make and evaluate products that move, are structurally sound and are healthy and safe for example through building, cooking, sewing and making products.
• We include opportunities for children to assemble and disassemble objects to learn more about how things work.
• Opportunities are also provided for children to practise and apply what they have learnt in different contexts and for a variety of purposes.

The environment has two focused areas: the Construction area and Creative Workshop, inside and outdoors, which are resourced with a wide range of equipment and tools. They are organised in a way that encourages children to be independent in their choices and decisions and to use their knowledge to find solutions and use resources in unique and innovative ways.

Both areas include resources to plan their ideas. 

In our provision adults promote children’s creativity, originality and problem solving by valuing their ideas and encouraging them to make connections in their learning, take risks and learn from mistakes.

 IMPACT STATEMENT:

      By the end of my time at St Francis Xavier I will know how to…

• Mould and sculpt                                                                          
• Express my imagination and creativity

• Use different techniques
• Express my own ideas
• Control and manipulate different tools
• Combine different materials to create different textures
• Create 2D and 3D representations
• Draw myself to include head, body, arms,
• Share and talk about my creations
• Explain the processes I use
• Use props and materials in my role play Talk about famous artists
• Make different tones and shades of colours
• Solve problems
• Control and manipulate different tools
• Design and plan
• Make a structure strong, stable and balance
• Evaluate my work so I can make improvements
• Express my imagination
• Be creative and innovative
• Share and talk about my creations
• Talk about and identify what different materials can be used for
• Join materials together

Expressive Arts and Design: Being Imaginative and Expressive

INTENT STATMENT:

In Early Years we capitalise on children’s innate desire to listen to, make and explore sound by:

• Providing freedom for children to be curious, experimenting with and creating their own music
• Reinforcing children’s responses to sounds and encouraging composition and performance
• Cultivating children’s desire to be inventive and imaginative allowing them to express their creativity in ways that are personal to them

        In Early Years we capitalise on children’s innate desire to move by:

• Providing freedom for children to be expressive, experimenting with and creating their own series of movements
• Reinforcing children’s responses to music and encouraging choreography and performance
• Cultivating children’s desire to be inventive and imaginative allowing them to express their creativity in ways that are personal to them

     IMPLEMENTATION STATMENT:

Music is valued and promoted through direct teaching and purposeful learning opportunities across our provision.

Different genres are played to provide opportunities for children to listen to, appreciate and explore sounds, instruments, beat and rhythm. The genres covered vary from Pop to Flamenco to African.

Singing is an integral part of the daily routines and children are taught new songs as well as practising songs they already know. Over the year they develop a wide repertoire of songs and rhymes that they know by heart.

A weekly music session is also delivered focusing on musical knowledge and skills.

Our music area  and outside stage are resourced with a wide range of untuned and tuned musical instruments and beaters, familiar songs and rhymes and equipment to play and record music. It is organised in a way that encourages children to be curious about sound and confident in experimenting with ways of combining different sounds.

We recognise and use the links between Dance and Music and provide children with a stage where they are encouraged to perform themselves and appreciate others’ performances.

In our provision adults promote children’s creativity and imagination by valuing their ideas and encouraging freedom of expression. They support and facilitate opportunities for children to rehearse, refine and develop their musical skills.

Dance is valued and promoted through direct teaching and purposeful learning opportunities within our provision.

A weekly dance session is delivered focusing on dance knowledge and skills. We recognise the direct link between Dance and Physical Development and use the discreet sessions to practise balance and coordination through core work, building strength, crossing the midline and symmetrical movements.

We use our annual themes and the relationship between Dance and Music as a stimulus to plan opportunities for children to experiment with and create their own dance movements. Children also have access to a stage, instruments, recorded music, costumes and props where they are encouraged to be inventive, imaginative and perform themselves and appreciate others’ performances.

In the provision adults promote children’s creativity and imagination by valuing their ideas and encouraging freedom of expression. They support and facilitate opportunities for children to rehearse, refine and develop their dance skills.

IMPACT STATMENT:

By the end of my time at St Francis Xavier I will know how to…

• Express likes and dislikes about music
• Compose and perform
• Manipulate and combine sounds
• Follow a rhythm
• Express my imagination and creativity
• Share and talk about my creations
• Sing a range of rhymes and songs
• Play untuned and tuned instruments
• Keep a steady beat
• Perform

• Express my imagination and creativity
• Join and sequence of different moments
• Share and talk about my movement

• Transfer my weight from one body part to another
• Balance
• Negotiate space
• Move their body in different ways and in different directions
• Move in time to music