Art and Design
At Muswell Hill Primary School we believe and value creativity.
We recognise the importance of inspiring and engaging children to be curious about art and design. Our aim is to support our children in developing their experience of high-quality teaching and learning of art and design.
To support teaching, we use the Kapow Primary’s Art and Design scheme of work which aims to nurture pupils’ creativity, imagination and visual literacy, encouraging them to think like artists and designers. The intention is for pupils to develop the confidence to experiment, express ideas and communicate meaning through visual and tactile media.
The scheme promotes an appreciation of art as a powerful form of human expression, helping pupils to understand its role across different cultures, time periods and creative industries. It encourages children to value originality, take creative risks and reflect critically on their own work and that of others.
Kapow Primary’s Art and Design curriculum is structured around five strands that run through each unit:
- Generating ideas and using sketchbooks: taking inspiration from a range of artists
- Making: developing drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, mixed media, craft techniques and sculpture skills
- Formal elements: exploring colour, form, line, pattern, shape, texture and tone
- Knowledge of artists: discovering artists' work and techniques
- Evaluation: critiquing their own work and that of others.
These strands ensure a balanced coverage of the practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge pupils need to progress in Art and Design, while supporting the development of both creative confidence and critical thinking.
Kapow Primary’s Art and Design scheme of work covers the statutory guidance from EYFS (Reception) through to KS1 and KS2.
Each unit of the scheme covers specific content and aims of the Art and Design National curriculum. This ensures that every lesson contributes to a spiral progression of skills and knowledge, leading to the attainment of end-of-key-stage targets.
For EYFS, it details alignment with Early Learning Goals and Development Matters statements, providing transition and EYFS Art guidance.
We take every opportunity possible to showcase children’s work and hold an exhibition each year, taking on varying forms and have strong links with Alexandra Palace, PATN Haringey Arts network and Outreach at St Martins.
Over the past four years we have held events such as ‘A night at the exhibition’, ‘Fashion through the decades – including a whole school recycled fashion show’ linking sustainability to textiles to the history of costume. We held a ‘Sing me a picture exhibition’ linking music composition to seven focused artists from a range of genres. Our choirs composed seven original songs linked to the seven artists. All coming together for one incredible installation and performance.
This Spring (2026) we will be exhibiting our whole school project, ‘Photography as Living Archives’. At its heart, the project emphasises co-creation: teachers and pupils working together with artists, histories, and ideas to generate new meanings.
Photography becomes a living archive — not simply a record of the past, but a portal for exploring identity, memory, protest, and authorship. Working with an artist in resident, this is a DepART project supported by Haringey Creates and is a partnership born out of their initiative Creative Conversations to bring creative partners together. https://haringeycreates.com/
Our curriculum has been reviewed to ensure we study relevant artists who are local, rich in diversity and from across the globe over history. In Key Stage 2 some of our art aligns with other areas of our Humanities curriculum.
In line with the national curriculum 2014, the curriculum at MHPS aims to ensure that all pupils: https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/key-stage-1-and-2
