Ashpark Primary School

Curricular Position Statement –Expressive Arts

Healthy         Hardworking       Caring          Kind

Why Expressive Arts?

Learning in the Expressive Arts will enable children and young people to:

• Experience the inspiration of the arts.
• Recognise and nurture their creative and aesthetic talents.
• Develop skills and techniques that are relevant to specific art forms and across the four capacities.
• Provide opportunities for children to deepen their understanding of culture in Scotland and the wider world.
• Enhance and enrich experiences of partnerships with professional art, companies, creative adults and cultural organisations.

What Learning and Teaching Approaches are used?

At Ashpark Primary, we promote high quality learning and teaching in the expressive arts.  Staff plan challenging and engaging learning experiences which motivate and sustain the interests of learners across the school.  Effective learning and teaching includes:

• Active learning to allow children to observe, experiment, experience and play.
• Using relevant contexts for learning to motivate and engage children.
• Appropriate and effective use of technology.
• Building on the principles of Assessment is for Learning.
• Collaborative and independent learning.
• Discussion and informed debate.
• Interdisciplinary learning experiences.
• Learning outdoors, field trips, visits and input by external contributors.

How do children progress through Expressive Arts?

Staff at Ashpark use the Ashpark Progression Pathways for Expressive Arts and record learning and teaching in our Discrete Planners. From August 2023, class teachers will use the Glasgow City Council Programme of Study to guide and support planning, teaching, and assessing Expressive Arts across the school. Our progression pathways ensure breadth and depth of learning across Early, First and Second Levels. Learners will develop knowledge and skills through focussing on the key organisers of:

• Art
• Music
• Drama
• Dance

The organisers recognise the special contribution made by each of the Expressive Arts.  At Ashpark, we encourage teachers to focus on local contexts in addition to national and international. Class teachers use this framework to provide children and young people with opportunities for effective interdisciplinary working by making connections across and between subjects.   Experiences and Outcomes are bundled to ensure relevance and coverage across each level of Curriculum for Excellence.

 

 

How are skills developed in Expressive Arts?

At Ashpark, the development of skills is an essential aspect of learning in the Expressive Arts and the Experiences and Outcomes provide frequent opportunities for applying these skills in new and more complex contexts.  Through the Expressive Arts Programme at Ashpark Primary, children and young people will develop skills including:

Art: Art and design concepts, through space scale, proportion, and perspective. Art and design technology, such as computer, software, and photography. Creating design briefs, including problem-solving and solutions. Activities involving the expression of personal ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Exploring form in three dimensions. Using a range of medium and medium to produce art. Experience of the visual elements of line, shape, form, colour, tone, pattern, and texture.

Drama: Understanding drama forms, such as play, comedy and pantomime. Using drama conventions, such as mime voice, and freeze frame. Exploring the arts technology, such as lighting, sound equipment and other enhancements.

Music: Performing to arrange of genres of music. Experiencing a range of musical instruments. Experience the dynamics of music through different degrees of loudness and quietness. Understanding, music, concerts, and being able to describe the ingredients of music, such as repetition, harmony, and syncopation. Understanding how pitch can be used in music. Understanding, timbre and distinguishing the tones of different instruments.

Dance: Choreographing and creating their own dances, using a wide range of movements. Creating a short pattern of movements that express and communicate, a mood, a feeling an activity or an idea. Creating routines which contain the body actions of travel, turn, jump, gesture, pause, and fall within safe practice. Engaging with theatre, art technologies, such as lighting and sound.

 

How do we assess Expressive Arts?

At Ashpark, assessment in Expressive Arts focuses on learner’s knowledge, understanding and skills in their studies of Art, Drama, Music and Dance.

The purpose of assessment in Ashpark Primary is:

• To identify pupils’ strengths, attainments and development needs
• To decide on the next steps
• To provide effective feedback to pupils in order to move learning forward
• To allow effective reporting

In all classes, teaching staff use the Write, Say, Make or Do approach to allow learners to demonstrate their learning within Expressive Arts.

Staff at Ashpark assess pupil’s learning formatively within lessons using a wide range of strategies. Pupil’s learning is recorded digitally and in subject jotters and is shared more widely on platforms such as Seesaw and X (formerly Twitter). During session 23/24, our DLOL will be trialling recording assessment on ‘Showbie’ in the form of a learning journal.  Teachers create a yearly floorbook where each subject will be celebrated throughout the year; including pupil voice. Pupils also select pieces of BGE work they are proud of and keep these in their black assessment folders.

Using this evidence and teacher professional judgement, teachers will make informed decisions using the Expressive Art’s Benchmarks about whether a learner has:

• Achieved a breadth of learning across the knowledge, understanding and skills as set out in the experiences and outcomes for the level
• Responded consistently well to the level of challenge set out in the experiences and outcomes for the level and has moved forward to learning at the next level in some aspects
• Demonstrated application of what they have learned in new and unfamiliar situations in order to achieve a level in Expressive Arts.

What is the link between Expressive Arts and other areas of the curriculum?

Expressive Arts experiences and outcomes encourage links with other areas of learning to provide learners with a deeper, more enjoyable, engaging, and active experience.   The Expressive Arts are an important vehicle for interdisciplinary learning experiences and cross curricular learning. Staff at Ashpark use Art, Drama, Music and Dance to consolidate learning and enhance the experiences of our pupils. The expressive arts offer opportunities for wider success within the school and combine during whole school activities such as our P1 and P2 Nativity and our annual Burns and ‘Ashpark’s Got Talent’ competitions. The Expressive Arts are also often used to promote and engage pupils in our wide and varied focus weeks throughout the year including art competitions, learning songs for assemblies and opportunities for children to perform at special occasions.

What key resources are used to support learning and teaching?

The key resources used throughout the school include:

• Glasgow City Council’s Expressive Arts Curriculum Framework
• https://education.gov.scot/media/ogyjyehk/expressive-arts-eo.pdf
• https://education.gov.scot/media/mvddi43h/expressiveartsbenchmarkspdf.pdf
• Glasgow City Council’s CREATE learning platform and YouTube Channel
• Glasgow City Council Social Studies Curriculum Framework/Progression Pathway