Art

Departmental Aims

• To give all students the opportunity to create Art using a variety of media.
• To develop students’ awareness and knowledge of the work of other artists.
• To develop each student’s ability to draw in a variety of media.
• To give all students the chance to express ideas through visual language.
• To increase students’ awareness of the visual language of Art and how it can be most effectively used to communicate ideas.
• To achieve the best possible exam results for all students.
• To support and advise students as they explore University and future career options.

Facilities

• Superb facilities in the well-equipped Art studios.
• Specialist dark room with black and white and digital photography equipment.
• Well-equipped ceramics studio and kiln.
• Dedicated departmental IT facilities / Art library.

Class 6-8 Curriculum

In Year 7, students will have three lessons of art per cycle. They will be taught within the three main disciplines of: painting, printmaking and sculpture and drawing. It will be the teacher’s aim to introduce pupils to a coherent approach to Art and its skills and set in place the fundamental elements of Art and Design. Skills such as colour mixing, use of tone and line will be paramount, as well as art history and imaginative work. The aim is that students will have one study trip per year relating to one of the topics they are studying during the course of the year.

In Year 8 all students have two periods of Art per cycle, during which the main disciplines are taught: Painting and Drawing, Printmaking, Textiles, Ceramics and Sculpture. During the year students will build on what they have learned and experienced in Year 7. They will develop their imagination, art techniques and craft skills. Students will be taught in an atmosphere where learning through doing is encouraged. In Years 7 and 8 all students take the course.

Year 9 is seen as the foundation year for GCSE. It is considered essential that students complete this year prior to studying GCSE Art. It is expected that, by Year 9, students should have mastered the basic skills of painting, printmaking and sculpture and should be able to work with a more independent approach to the subject. They ought to be able to demonstrate their ability to make good artistic choices based on skills learnt in previous years.

Drawing skills will be developed using different media and students should be able to respond to a subject both through their considered approach to media and the use of observational drawings as a tool to develop an understanding of objects. They should be able to draw from both natural and man-made forms and be able to modify and adjust work as it progresses.

Co-curricular, Enrichment, Extension and Support

• Art Club is offered to all students in Years 7-9 on Monday to Friday lunchtimes.
• On Wednesday the Department offers a Photography Club for both B&W and Digital Photography for Years 7-9.

GCSE Curriculum

We deliver the Edexcel GCSE Course across Years 10 and 11 using the Departments in house Schemes of Work which place practical coursework at the centre of the lessons. The GCSE comprises two coursework components which make up 60% of the final GCSE grade and an examination paper given in February of the Year 11 exam year giving the remaining 40% of the overall marks.

Co-curricular, Enrichment, Extension and Support

The Department offers a lunchtime and after school Art club for students, allowing them the opportunity to develop and refine their coursework with Art Department staff on hand to offer advice and support and to help students to refine their work. Year 11 study trip to develop student’s ability and skills in researching material from primary resources – a key component of the GCSE requirement.