Arts education is essential in developing sensory awareness, enhancing sensibilities and emphasising in children, particular ways of exploring, experimenting and inventing because through the senses of touch, taste, sound and smell, children initially learn to respond aesthetically to their environment.
In “Handmaids”, the arts curriculum provides for a wide range of activities such as drawing, painting, inventing and constructing which are delivered in a structured and enjoyable way to enable children develop ideas through imagery by expanding their ways of exploring, expressing and interacting with the world they inhabit. It ensures that each child has a variety of enriching arts experiences in both two and three dimensional media through exploring and experimenting with a variety of art materials and media to enable them make sense of and to express their world in visual, tangible forms. The confidence and enjoyment that stem from these activities contributes positively to children’s sense of personal and cultural identity and have a positive effect on their learning in other areas of the curriculum.
Teaching Methods
The school advocates the value of teaching a foundation of basic skills and concepts. Children are introduced to both the visual language of art and to a set of core skills and principles from Nursery 1. From this basis, they will be able to quickly progress towards more sophisticated art work. The school also collaborates with external arts experts in implementing some lessons, makes use of galleries and resources to support teaching and encourages the influence of families and communities in developing creative arts skills and interest.
Each teacher works out art projects that are sensitive to the particular context of child, class, and curriculum so that the projects will be appropriate to the needs of the children that they teach. By this process, positive attitudes to learning are created, more creative and imaginative ways of thinking are fostered, and a greater sense of personal and cultural identity is developed in each child. It also assists in the development of fine motor skills, social skills and confidence in students.