Art

The visual arts provide the opportunity to promote a sense of awe and wonder at the world around us, allowing each student to learn and develop through their own personal experiences.

Experimentation with materials and processes is encouraged to enrich those journeys, and to promote resilience through a trial and error ‘hands-on’ approach, promoting a deeper understanding and broader knowledge base.

All year groups contribute towards the end of year art exhibition and fashion show.

Year 7

In year 7 students study a variety of topics which are designed to provide a strong base from which their knowledge of art and design can grow.

Students are given the opportunity to initiate a sketchbook and embark on an exploration of colour through researching artists such as Mondrian, Kandinsky and Picasso, as well as experimenting with how we can record textures and patterns in our artwork as depicted by Heather Galler.

Team work and communication skills enable the students to create artwork in the style of a researched artist and to take part in various Arts activities that allow the students to learn from each other, further developing those skills.
Students develop their knowledge of the various artists, trialling skills/techniques and media, taking inspiration from the world in which we live.

Year 8

Throughout this year, students are given the opportunity to develop their sketchbook techniques, studying a variety of topics aimed at building upon their knowledge gained in Year 7.  They are taught how to record and investigate shape, colour, texture and patterns using a variety of materials, skills and processes, exploring media and taking inspiration from the world around us. Artists such as Juan Miro and craftspeople from differing cultures, provide the opportunity to learn new skills and to be able to recognise and appreciate the similarities and differences in art around the world.

Throughout the year, they will be introduced to the Arts Award scheme which will allow them to make creative choices and set themselves challenges, explore the arts and share their skills and achievements.

Year 9

Sketchbooks continue to be used for working into in Year 9, encouraging students to personalise their work by using them as reference books that contain images created in the style of other artists and as a visual notebook of skills and processes that have been learned.

The world around us continues to offer inspiration, introducing tribal and textile artwork. This is explored alongside and through the evolution of mankind and the need to record/draw and to make to provide shelter. Customs and traditions are also explored as we take a trip through India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, introducing artists along the way.

Team work and communication skills also have a greater focus in this year, enabling students to step into the role of teachers and work towards the next level in their Arts Awards.

Years 10 and 11

The art curriculum devised for these two years is set up to allow the students to follow several accreditation pathways, including the Arts Award and GCSE, as well as various Art/Craft options and may be linked to drama and music projects.

Students initiate a sketchbook and embark on a revision of their colour work through raised surfaces and textiles. Projects that are undertaken include Architecture and Portraiture, and include the study of such as Van Gogh, Escher, Opie, Warhol and Schwarz. These then lead to an exploration of skills and processes to include silk screen printing, collage, heat disperse dyes, layering and stitch.

Students are encouraged to develop their knowledge of artists through personal research and trialling skills/techniques and media that inform their work.