Following our curriculum philosophy of 'spotting and nurturing talent', we give Windmill the opportunities to discover themselves as musicians, artists, dancers, actors... and then support and encourage them to excel.
We are progressing towards Artsmark Gold in recognition of our passion and provision in creative arts.
Please see here for our minimum arts offer.
Music
We are committed to giving every Windmill pupil the opportunity to learn a strings instrument. We employ expert Music teachers (who are also accomplished musicians!) to lead weekly music lessons for all year groups. With three years' worth of this high quality curriculum behind them, children in Year 3 then spend a year learning to play stringed instruments (violins and cellos). Those children that show particular talent and/or interest are invited to continue receiving tuition during Years 4, 5 and 6 - all paid for by school.
We have mapped the sequence of our Music curriculum to ensure there is progression and variety throughout.
There are fortnightly singing assemblies, live music performances, singing celebrations for festivals and a thriving school choir.
Art
Our Art and Design curriculum is led by the National Curriculum, but we have enhanced it by making links with other subjects and themes. We value Art and Design as vital in children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum!
We aim for our Art and Design education to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think and evaluate more critically and develop a deeper understanding of Art and Design. As with all subjects, our philosophy is to spot and nurture talent.
We are committed to offering many Art and Design opportunities, allowing children to explore a range of media as well as exposing them to the works of famous artists, architects, illustrators, designers and sculptors. We are dedicated to teaching new skills and allowing children to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.
Windmill children will experience:
- Sculpture
- Printing
- Painting
- Colour Exploration
- Sketching
- Photography, including Video
- Textiles
- and much more!
As well as all the usual art and design each term, we have a dedicated Creative Arts Week for the whole school every Spring Term. Children do loads of collaborative working and exploring different styles and techniques in different art forms, including performing arts.
Please have a look at our Art and Design gallery.
Dance and Drama
We are passionate about providing opportunities for our children to participate in Dance and Drama. We can see how these experiences help children formulate and communicate feelings, enhance their perceptions – through responding / developing / evaluating – and physical skills – through control / use of movement.
Across the academic year, each class has opportunities to improve knowledge, skills and understanding of Drama and Dance and we guarantee this through our Deep and Diverse passports.
We know Dance and Drama activities help children develop essential speaking, listening and physical skills, so these subjects are also used to enhance learning across the curriculum. We often choose to work with professional performing artists and have found this engages and enthuses our children, nurturing their aspirations.
Collaborative workshops have helped to fuel our children’s passion for dance. During a recent Creative Arts week, children from Nursery to Year 6 joined in with Contemporary and Street Pop dance classes with a professional dancer and, as members of the Arts Network, we recently worked with other local schools and a professional dancer, culminating in a successful inter-school showcase.
We commit to the national curriculum aim of ‘pupils should be encouraged to adopt, create and sustain a range of roles.’ Drama is frequently used by teachers to give children a deeper understanding of the topics they study. Younger children use ‘Helicopter stories’ to develop their creative writing and oral story telling skills. Older children use hot seating, conscience alleys and freeze-frames to explore and understand character in their studied texts. Re-enacting a Victorian classroom, performance poetry, monologues and oral retelling of stories all help to bring learning to life.
We believe that all children should have the opportunity to perform and this is one of our guarantees in our Deep and Diverse passport. These opportunities help to develop creativity and confidence – vital skills for their future and our changing world. Class sharing assemblies and celebration assemblies are further opportunities to share knowledge and understanding with families and to practise essential speaking and listening skills.