Art and Design  There are some brilliant young artists in our school. From the minute they arrive in year seven, students are encouraged to work independently on set and personal themes. Art has two main purposes. First and foremost it is used as a vehicle to encourage young people to be creative and inspirational using a recognisable range of materials. Not all Art ‘is about drawing’ and although it is an important skill it is not the only one.
Students in all years from year seven to eleven, engage with a diet of Art activities which are split, approximately sixty percent / forty percent, between two dimensional and three dimensional Art activities. We generally follow a ‘Fine Art’ diet, Drawing and Painting, Sculpture (Relief and 3D), Printmaking and Graphics. There is a stronger emphasis on three dimensional works than is evident in other centres. All students are issued with good A4 sketchbooks in KS3 and A3 Sketchbooks in KS4. The ‘centre’ of each project is contained within these books, with larger pieces naturally occurring along the way. There is a ‘sequence…in order’ that has to be gone through, particularly in KS4 to pass the GCSE course successfully. Year nine is used to introduce prospective candidates to this sequence. This style is now common across lots of Art departments.
Key Stage 3 Students follow one theme per term although this is flexible. As an example the current themes that exist in the department are;
Key Stage 4 Students follow one theme ever two terms although this is flexible. As an example the current themes that exist in the department are;
In all cases the first quarter of each book is concerned with 'links with others' (Artists), before we move onto other concerns. The department has had remarkable success at GCSE level in the past. Typically 60% of whom achieved an ‘A*- A grade', with 84% achieving an ‘A*- C grade'. We have been at and above these levels for a number of years.
At the end of year eleven a massive final display takes place in the school hall. Last June (2011) one hundred and five candidates finished the course and exhibited their work in this display. All candidates irrespective of ability were on display. |
Art and Design |