Art & Design

The Art department prides itself on inspiring and supporting our students to be independent, skilful, imaginative, curious and thoughtful artists and designers.

Through experiencing a vast range of skills, techniques, artists and designers our students gain the confidence to, take inspiration, question and explore the huge array of visual imagery that surrounds them, increasing their understanding of their visual world and the role they can take in it.

We believe our curriculum creates opportunities for students to experience processes and techniques across art and design and to specialise and develop their skills, preparing them to pursue further education and careers across the art, design and creative industries.

KS3

At Key Stage 3 students explore and create work covering a wide range of media and techniques including: painting, drawing and printing. Each year group discovers ways of communicating meaning through their artwork.

In year 7 they explore and develop the formal skills of Art, techniques and artistry styles on a range of exciting artists.

In year 8 they create 3D clay work, using Henry Moore as their influence, as well as learning how to produce Cubist images through looking at the Cubism movement. The summer term is concluded with the pupils creating exciting Calligram self-portraits.

In year 9 they look at Landscape watercolour painting, Pop Art, Impressionism and produce a final piece that is inspired by the events of Guernica and Picasso’s painting by the same name.

Throughout Key Stage 3 pupils are increasingly encouraged to develop their work independently, preparing them for GCSE Art and Design (Fine Art)..

Each year students build on their fundamental artistic and technical skills, including a practical application of scale, ratio and proportion supporting numeracy across the curriculum. Throughout KS3, students will build their cultural capital by evaluating the work of others and their own work, developing natural links with literacy through their analysis

KS4

Our current year 10 and 11 pupils are completing the Pearson Edexcel GCSE in Art and Design (Fine Art)

The two year course is split between a personal portfolio (coursework) which is weighed at 60% of the final grade and an externally set paper (exam) which is weighed at 40% of the final grade. The two-year course covers projects based on the genres of Still Life, Landscape and Portraiture. The pupils will look at various artists from the renaissance period right up to contemporary artist who are working today. The personal portfolio is covered during all of year ten and the first term of year 11. In the second term of Year 11 the pupils are given their exam paper and will spend twelve weeks preparing for their ten-hour exam (personal response) after the easter break.

The course is designed to allow pupils to develop their skills in creativity. The pupils are encouraged to experiment with a large range of materials and processes. They will develop drawing skills through lots of observational drawing and will increase their confidence in applying different materials.