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THE PRIMARY ART
AND DESIGN
SUBJECT LEADERS
HANDBOOK
Part one: The role of the Subject
Leader in Art and Design
‘Irrespective of initial training, further and
regular INSET is essential to maintain good
subject knowledge and develop expertise.’
Some Head Teachers choose to rotate
co-ordinating roles around their staff;
and while this does offer additional
career experience, the practice can be
counterproductive if teachers are
required to occupy a new role with
regularly renewed limitations in their
expertise.
Having accepted the role, what are
the key responsibilities of the post?
Raising the profile of Art and Design
in the school
Inevitably, in many primary schools,
priority and status are usually given to
the co-ordinating roles related to
literacy and numeracy, as these areas
are key indicators when evaluating the
performance of the primary school
pupil against national criteria. It will be
of no surprise to read that OFSTED
wrote in the 2000/01 summary report
that ‘The successes of primary art built
up over several years are under threat
on two fronts: increasing numbers of
schools are allocating less time for art
and design; and there is a growing
tendency for art and design to be seen
solely as servicing other subjects.’
Thus the pro-active art and design
subject leader must explore ways of
raising the profile of the subject within
the school and ensuring that it is given
independence and status.
Many of the additional roles and
responsibilities of the subject leader
are generic. In addition the content of
each National Curriculum subject also
presents discrete challenges; for
instance a practical subject such as art
and design presents special problems
related to organisation and management
of artistic media. The following sections
summarise these key responsibilities
which will be considered in more detail
in forthcoming sections of the handbook.
Key Responsibilities
Development planning
In order to do this effectively the
subject leader must audit practice in
the school, identifying subject
strengths and areas for development,
as well as recognising the limitations
of the school in terms of teacher
expertise and resources.
Development needs will have to be
prioritised if a number of areas are
identified, and they will vary according
to the school context. Not everything
can be done at once. The final
outcome of this process, if structured
appropriately, will produce a
development plan that is the focus for
change, and provide a development
‘diary’ to inform outside agencies,
such as OFSTED or the LEA.
Establishing a policy and scheme
of work for art and design
This is a key responsibility for the art
and design subject leader. Without
such documentation there cannot be a
coherent and consistent whole school
approach to the subject. The art and
design curriculum should be broad,
balanced and address National
Curriculum requirements.
A ‘policy’ is a general statement of
intent related to key aspects of the
delivery of the subject, presenting aims
and objectives, assessment strategies,
strategies for differentiation according
to ability, principles for inclusion, etc.
The ‘scheme of work’ (or curriculum
plan) outlines the programme of skills,
knowledge and understanding that will
be taught to each year group
consistently to ensure progression.
In order that staff ‘sign up’ to these
important documents they need to be
involved in their development through
a series of staff development
activities. The art and design subject
leader will need to have an
understanding of the essential contents
of a policy, and the procedures that are
necessary to ensure that an effective
and usable scheme of work is
established. It is helpful, if the school
has no current scheme of work, to use
as a template for planning a sample
overall plan, which can be modified
according to school needs.