Art and Photography
Art in Your World:
It is our ambition in Art that by the end of Key Stage 3, all students will understand the beauty of the world in which we live, exposing students to a diverse and wide range of human activity at local, national and international levels. We want students to understand the meaning Art plays in our lives and how it helps us to understand the world we live in, how central it is to our culture, our emotions and our self-awareness and the influence it can have on broadening experiences of every student.
We begin in Year 7 with projects to ensure key techniques and knowledge are developed, looking at texture, tone and colour before we move on to project based work covering a range of different mediums with a diverse artist influence. This enables students to experience a variety of different skills and techniques, building on the previous skills they have learnt and increasing the skills they are developing. This allows students to flourish as artists and become independently creative, confident in expressing themselves. Students will develop reading skills to be able to read like an artist using biographical information, identifying techniques and developing their research skills to support their project work. We focus on developing all students’ ability to work hard towards deadlines, key to successful project planning supporting the RSHE curriculum and whole school values of ‘Work hard, be kind, no excuses’ ensuring they take personal responsibility for independent and creative work.
The curriculum is sequenced to ensure progression of skill and to build confidence. Cross-curricular links with geography and music for projects such as Cultural Masks strengthen knowledge. Projects are thematically structured, ensuring the core knowledge and skills form throughout the key stages, moving from 2D to 3D art in Year 7 or moving from 3D drawing to 3D clay. Regular revisiting of procedural knowledge ensures students remember more about both the techniques they have covered and the artists who have influenced. This is supported by knowledge organisers.
Our mission is to celebrate artwork through exhibitions, rewards and competitions, to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art. Art nurtures creativity, innovation and cultural diversity for all peoples across the globe and plays an important role in sharing knowledge and encouraging curiosity and dialogue. Through Celebrating ART, young people can also be inspired to develop into future artists, curators, educators, creative participants and evaluators.
