art & Design

This course will give you the opportunity to work with a wide variety of two and three-dimensional media including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. At first you will be asked to explore a series of key areas which will introduce you to a range of ideas and techniques.

You will begin to understand how to develop your own ideas from your research, looking at and commenting on artists’ work to inspire your own.  You will produce vibrant and individual sketch books that document your ideas and show how they have progressed.  You will practise and improve your observational drawing and refine your technical control across a wide range of media.  As you become more confident you will be able to choose how to structure your own ideas, working from a given theme and specialising more in your preferred media.

You will learn through exploration and experience, undertaking practical tasks and developing your skills through practise.  You will be taken on visits to art galleries and collect visual information by drawing and taking photographs. You will record your thoughts and annotate the work that you produce including written work related to your research and the work of other artists.

If you love designing, making, drawing, imagining and creating things, this is the course for you. You will do well if you are open to new ideas, like experimenting with materials and like to practise and perfect your work. You should be interested in looking at the work of artists, designers, architects and crafts people and are prepared to give your opinions.  You should be keen to work independently in class and at home, and willing to commit to the 60% coursework requirement.

You will be taught in mixed ability groups allowing you to achieve the top grades if you work hard, whatever your skill level is at the start of the course.  Each group has four learning sessions a fortnight in which you will begin to create your artwork.  You will be expected to continue this process at home, using a minimum of an hour and a half each week to complete Independent Study. 

Our examination board is AQA and we follow the Art and Design: Fine Art course. As part of the course you are expected to produce outcomes in at least one of the following disciplines:

• Drawing / painting

• 3-Dimensional studies

• Printmaking

• Alternative media

You will follow a project based course throughout the three years. Cohort 9 consists of shorter half termly projects which introduce you to skills and techniques as well as the process followed with a GCSE project. In Cohort 10 you will complete approximately one project over two terms. Each project consists of a sketchbook of preparatory studies and a final piece.  These combine to form your personal portfolio, which is followed, in Cohort 11, by an Externally Set Task.

The Externally Set Task follows the same format as the personal portfolio, a sketchbook of studies and a final piece, which is created over a two-day controlled assessment period.

Your work will be graded as follows:

• Unit One – Personal Portfolio = 60% (Coursework)

• Unit Two – Externally Set Assignment = 40% (Exam)

After completing each project you will be assessed using the GCSE Art and Design assessment objectives to show you how you are progressing, to identify your strengths and to help you improve.

The four assessment objectives are:-

• Develop ideas through investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating critical understanding of sources.

• Refine work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media materials, techniques and processes.

• Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions as work progresses.

• Present a personal, informed and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language.

Each assessment objective is worth 24 marks.

After your GCSE in French, you can choose to carry on and study French at college as an A Level subject or to study on an IB course. 

A GCSE in Art and Design will allow you to access a large variety of courses and career options at post 16. Colchester School of Art at Colchester Institute, Colchester 6th form, Braintree 6th form and Suffolk One all offer post 16 Art courses.

You can explore some of the options at the following sites:

Colchester Institute (http://www.colchester.ac.uk/courses/in/art-and-design/)

Colchester 6th Form College https://www.colchsfc.ac.uk/departments/art/

Braintree 6th Form (http://www.braintreesixthform.com/courses/as-and-a-level-courses/as-a2-art-design-fine-art)

Suffolk One (http://www.suffolkone.ac.uk/courses/alevel-courses/fine-arts/)

You may choose to study Art as one of your A-level choices, or you may prefer to specialise in Art straight away by selecting a UAL or BTEC Diploma. All of these courses will continue to develop your skills as well as helping you to produce a portfolio of work that will be required for degree level applications or interviews within the art and design industry. There are a huge range of careers within the industry.  The National Careers service website is a great place to begin exploring some of the many options.

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobfamily/Pages/artscraftsdesign.aspx

Miss Ginn, Subject Leader for Art (hginn@honywoodschool.com)