Key Stage Three

At Key Stage 3, all students have one period of Art per week of one hour and ten minutes.  They follow a varied course of study, which caters for all abilities and encourages all students to achieve success.

One project is set per term, within which the students will use a wide range of media and processes with the aims that they are stimulated and challenged. 

Drawing is always important in every project as a fundamental means of looking at and discovering the world in which we live and how it is put together.

Students will look at a large variety of resources, ranging from ancient to contemporary art and crafts, sculpture, architecture and from all different cultures.  This will help students to communicate their own ideas and responses in a personal and imaginative way.

GCSE

The Art Department aims to enable each student to discover and realise creative potential, to develop an understanding of the artistic achievements of their own and other cultures, to develop an appreciation of the arts by building skills to express ideas through the artistic media and to identify criteria for making creative judgements.

Art and Design complements literary, mathematical, scientific and factual subjects.  It is especially concerned with the development of visual perception and aesthetics.  It is a form of communication and a means of expressing ideas and feelings.

The IGCSE Art and Design course aims to encourage personal expression, imagination, sensitivity, conceptual thinking, powers of observation, an analyticalability and practical attitudes.  It should widen cultural horizons and enrich the students.  It combines a breadth and depth of study to include a wide range of abilities and individual responses.

The aims of the syllabus are to stimulate, encourage and develop: an interest in, and a critical awareness of, environments and cultures; an ability to identify and solve problems in visual and tactile form; confidence, enthusiasm and a sense of achievement in the practice of Art and Design; the technical competence and manipulative skills necessary to form, compose and communicate in two and three dimensions; an ability to record from direct observation and personal experience; knowledge of a working vocabulary relevant to the subject; experimentation and innovation through the inventive use of  materials and techniques; the ability to organise and relate abstract ideas to practical outcomes.

Students follow the Cambridge IGCSE syllabus which has two components: fifty per cent of the IGCSE is made up of coursework, which is assessed internally and fifty per cent is examination-based which is externally assessed.

A Level

Art and Design is a form of expression and communication. It is concerned with the visual perception and aesthetic experience, and forms a language in addition to those used by literary, mathematical, and scientific subjects.

The Art and Design syllabus is designed for students who wish to extend and develop their studies in this subject.

Most of the work is practical or studio based, so that students develop their abilities of observation and analysis of the visual world, sensitivity, skill, personal expression and imagination.

Students will be expected to select and communicate information relevant to an idea or theme and evaluate this in a systematic way. They should demonstrate their ability to select and make critical judgements and show a developing appreciation and cultural awareness through personal ideas and images.

The course aims to stimulate interest, enjoyment and personal enrichment, as well as providing an introduction to artistic exploration.

Students can follow the one year AS level course, or follow a staged assessment route to A level by taking the AS qualification at the end of Year 12 and, subject to satisfactory performance, continue to take the final examinations at the end of Year 13. 

Students follow the Cambridge syllabus which comprises of four components:

The first year of studies for AS level is made up of two components:  Coursework (20 per cent) and a controlled test (30 per cent).

The second year of studies to complete the full A Level completes the other two components:  Coursework (30 per cent) and a Related Study (20 per cent).