Art

Art

Head of Department - Ms L. Connolly

Intent

The fundamental aim of the Art department is to promote the creative development of all learners in order that they achieve their full potential and to maintain an environment where students feel safe and supported in their learning. We aim to ensure all pupils including high achievers and those with SEND are able to access and succeed in Art. We offer the students the opportunity and experiences which are ambitious, challenging, interesting and motivating. This encourages them to take risks and to show resilience. We want the students to develop a lifelong love of learning in Art and to be reflective in their practice, this is essential in their educational and personal development.  

At KS3 students begin a programme of study designed sequentially towards the demands of KS4 following the guidance from the national curriculum aims. We assess students at the beginning of year 7 to understand prior knowledge obtained in KS2 to help plan our curriculum.

We aim to develop over time during KS3 a number of areas: 

• To be able to creatively express ideas and experiences 
• To be able to analyse and select appropriately the work of different artists and from different cultures and local artwork and make connections to their own work. 
• To be able to experiment with a range of media, techniques, and processes relevant to intentions 
• To be able to organise and develop ideas relevant to given theme and own intentions 
• To be able to produce skilful final outcomes 

The curriculum is planned to develop the key skills, knowledge, and techniques to make the necessary progress towards KS4 and to prepare them for further opportunities and future needs within the creative industry. Pupils voice is also used to inform curriculum development.

The GCSE course is geared towards the requirements and demands of the AQA GCSE syllabus. Pupils are encouraged to respond to starting points with their own individual and personal ideas which they are to develop through sustained and independent study to a suitable outcome. Pupils are encouraged to work using their own initiative, utilising the skills and practices of the previous years in order that they become fluent in the art making process. 

The practices of conducting independent research and recording ideas are vital, particularly in preparation for the art exam. Both skills are undertaken regularly as part of directed homework’s and continued independently. 

We celebrate student’s achievements through displaying work in our own and local exhibitions and enter students into live competitions.

Implementation

Our Art department has established a safe learning environment for all students, they feel supported and secure in both lessons and in extra-curricular clubs to continue their creative journey.

Our curriculum is designed to build upon prior knowledge, develop understanding, skills and techniques as well as tackling challenging concepts. The journey that the students undertake has been carefully considered and key themes have been mapped out and sequenced to support, deepen and embed all students’ understanding. The projects are designed to challenge and enhance students’ experiences and enable them to take risks in their developmental work to produce creative outcomes.

As students undertake a 3 year KS3 they have sufficient time and opportunity to develop their ability and confidence with materials and techniques. The Art formal elements are introduced in Year 7 and these become a toolkit for them to use when they work on more creative, expressive and personal projects further along their journey in Art. At KS4 students are provided with a variety of themes to better suit each individual interests and creative styles. Our learning context also promotes the understanding of the creative design industries, their role in the economy and how they can lead to exciting career opportunities.

We are committed to creating high quality teaching resources and are always adapting learning strategies to promote progress for all individuals. The Art of Annotation and Art vocabulary guides in all books have proved a valuable aid to improve literacy and the quality of annotation and is often set as an extended learning task.

With links to local galleries we are able to promote and celebrate students work (Atkinson Art Gallery, CHET young Artist of the Year, Dot Art company) and we also hold our annual exhibitions which showcases student’s talents and achievements.

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