Art

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Intent

At Oulton Academy, we are committed to the arts!  

Why?  

Easy answer: The creative arts fuel innovation and imagination, developing lifelong skills that help enable a student’s perception, understanding, productivity and wellbeing which is at the heart of our academy values. 

At Oulton academy we believe that high-quality Art lessons will inspire children to think innovatively and develop creative procedural understanding. We provide a broad and balanced curriculum with many opportunities to develop skills in a range of media and techniques. We use Art as a medium to express respect, emotion and thought to enhance students’ personal, social, emotional and cultural development, as pupils regularly discuss their own and others work with their peers. 

Objectives

Our curriculum is organised in such a way that provides our students with the opportunity to learn expected behaviours and be successful in their learning Our strategic intent is therefore very simple – we strive to create a curriculum which:

  • Supports the opportunity to learn new techniques, processes and materials, which over time builds to master skills and knowledge within the Arts.
  • Allows students to have a love for learning.
  • Challenges and supports individual needs.
  • Provide students with skills that are adaptable and transferable to many areas of education and life beyond school.
  • Build an ethos of high expectation and aspiration.

Implementation

To implement our intended objectives, we recognise that our curriculum has to be focused on mastery of skills, as well as introducing students to a wide range of Arts.

In Year 7 and 8 pupils will focus on mastery and knowledge of the formal elements. In Year 9, pupils will be introduced to a wide range of drawing, painting, printing, textiles and 3D skills. They will be taught resilience when using new challenging materials. Students will be expected to reflect on their own work, learn from their mistakes and find creative solutions. They will acquire knowledge that will inform future independent choices when devising outcomes for their own projects in Years 10 and 11. In the exam years, pupils will be encouraged to aim high and dream big creating aspirational projects.

Key Stage 3

Our Key Stage 3 Art curriculum provides students with the opportunity to learn the skills of drawing, painting, printing, collage and sculpture, as well as opportunities to explore textiles and photography.  All students are encouraged to develop independence and evaluate different creative ideas. Students are introduced to a range of historical and contemporary works whilst developing knowledge of the styles and vocabulary used by famous artists.

Key Stage 4

In Key Stage 4 through our discrete Art, Photography and Textiles curriculum, students are encouraged to be independent learners and form their own creative thinking. We aim to inspire students to embrace the subject and be resilient in all they do. Students are expected to take risks and experiment, then reflect on why some ideas and techniques are successful or not for a particular project. GCSE Art students will have the opportunity to develop their drawing, painting, printing and collage skills further.  GCSE Photography students are able to continue their creativity whilst working with digital manipulation skills, and GCSE Textiles students are able to build new skills in sewing, batik, design and fabric construction.  All students will also be introduced to new techniques, processes and materials within the creative arts.

Review and evaluate 

The Art department are themselves life long learners and so are reflective on all our practises, we are proactive in investigating best practise and sharing this learning and understanding across our network of schools. 

Further Information

If you require more detailed information, please email the Head of Department. Mrs Mcintosh:

Year 7

What will I be studying?

In Year 7 learners begin their Key Stage 3 journey.   Our aim is to expose students to a range of materials and processes, enabling all learners to develop their creative skills.  

 

Autumn Term: Ocean Zones 

Half Term 1:  Observational drawing, exploring line, tone and 3D form.  Colour Theory, mixing and blending. Introduction to analysing the work of other contemporary and historical artists. 

Half Term 2:  Design ideas focusing on pattern and shape.  Clay construction and decoration using relief and carving methods. 

 

Spring Term: Landscape 

Half-term 3: Black and White and colour painting skills. Exploring, comparing and contrasting different artist styles through written and visual means. 

Half-term 4: Design ideas encouraging student choice.  Students will learn how to create a batik, waxing and inking, then adding detail through hand stitiching. 

 

Summer Term: Portraiture 

Half-term 5: Students will learn about proportion and accuracy when recording facial features. Drawing and painting skills will be developed further, in response to looking at the work of other artists. 

Half-term 6: Students will explore collage and mixed media to develop a final outcome using skills learnt throughout the year. 

Careers Links

The Year 7 Art curriculum links to careers in design and fine art.  

How will I be assessed?

There will be three summative assessments throughout the year, during half-term 1, half-term 4 and half-term 6. Each assessment will be based on the final outcome for each project, focusing on the key skills learnt. 

Every lesson includes verbal feedback, as well as regular iterative learning, together with half termly homework, to support and assess knowledge retention over time. 

Year 8

What will I be studying?

In Year 8 learners continue their Key Stage 3 journey focusing on mastery and knowledge development.   Our aim is to expose students to a range of materials and processes, enabling all learners to develop their creative skills further, revisiting skills and learning new techniques.

Autumn Term: Insects

Half Term 1:  Observational drawing, exploring line, tone and 3D form.  Developing and exploring mark making in different media. Learning about and responding to the work of others.

Half Term 2:  Design ideas focusing on steampunk and other artists.  A final outcome combing the skills and techniques learnt across the project.

Spring Term: Sculpture

Half-term 3: Mark making skills to capture texture using different media.  Learning about sculpture techniques focusing on using clay to create an outcome with an emphasis on curved and organic shape and form.

Half-term 4: Developing sculpture skills and techniques and creating sculpture work with an emphasis on angular and geometric structures.

Summer Term: The Built Environment

Half-term 5: Students will take photographs, learning about composition and framing. Observational studies using  the photographs to inspire as well as responding to the work of others.

Half-term 6: Students will create design ideas for a low relief panel based on the built environment, before creating their own panel using mod roc and other materials.

 

Career Links

The Year 8 Art curriculum links with careers in ceramics, design and fine art.

How will I be assessed?

There will be three summative assessments throughout the year, during half-term 1, half-term 4 and half-term 6. Each assessment will be based on the final outcome for each project, focusing on the key skills learnt.

Every lesson includes verbal feedback, as well as regular iterative learning, together with half termly homework, to support and assess knowledge retention over time.  

Year 9

What will I be studying?

In Year 9 learners complete their Key Stage 3 journey.   Our aim is to expose students to a range of materials and processes, enabling all learners to develop their creative skills further, revisiting skills and learning new techniques.  Students will be expected to reflect on their own work and be able to show resilience when exploring and developing their work further.

Autumn Term: Detail

Half Term 1:  Photography, watercolour and acrylic painting and Mono printing techniques will be learnt.

Half Term 2:  Developing ideas, creating Batik outcomes and hand stitching into the batk.

Spring Term: Activists

Half-term 3: Leaning about inspirational people who have campaigned for improvements to social and political issues. Creating visual work in response to different artists.

Half-term 4: Developing independent responses based on the activist and artist responses.

Summer Term: Surrealism

Half-term 5: Students will learn about Surrealism and how artists create surreal artwork in both 2D and 3D.

Half-term 6: Students will develop ideas around Surrealism and create their own imaginative and creative responses based on their development work.

 

Career Links

The Year 9 art curriculum links with careers in art, design, ceramics, photography and textiles.

How will I be assessed?

There will be three summative assessments throughout the year, during half-term 1, half-term 4 and half-term 6. Each assessment will be based on the final outcome for each project, focusing on the key skills learnt.

Every lesson includes verbal feedback, as well as regular iterative learning, together with half termly homework, to support and assess knowledge retention over time.  

 

KS4 - Art, Craft and Design

 AQA GCSE Art, Craft and Design

What will I be studying?

Students will build on key skills learnt through key stage three.  Students will focus on developing the use of formal elements in their responses.  Projects will include 2D and 3D responses through a range of media and materials.  Students will be expected to respond to artist stimuli, observational studies and provide independent ideas.

Career Links

The GCSE course will enable learners to progress onto A Level courses.  Careers such as architecture, interior design, fine artist, make up artist and sculptor are all available to those with an art GCSE.

How will I be assessed?

GCSE Art, Craft and Design students are assessed via four objectives.

Assessment Objective 1 – Developing Ideas

Assessment Objective 2 – Experiment and Refine Ideas

Assessment Objective 3 – Recording Intentions

Assessment Objective 4 – Purposeful and Meaningful Response

Each AO is equally weighted and students can gain marks from 0 – 24, totally 96 overall.

Coursework is worth 60% of the GCSE grade and consists of all work completed during Year 10 and the start of Year 11.

The externally controlled assessment is worth 40% of the overall grade and begins in January of Year 11.  Students are expected to work independently within a set time period.  The exam board sets a range of starting points, students will chose one to respond to. The independent responses will develop into a sketchbook of ideas and development and culminates in a 10 hour timed period to complete a personal response.

Every lesson includes verbal feedback, also ongoing iterative learning, personalised targets, together with weekly homework, to support and assess knowledge retention over time.

Which examination board am I following?

Exam Board: AQA

Specification: GCSE Art, Craft and Design

Website (including the specification): https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/art-and-design/gcse/art-and-design-8201-8206/subject-content/art,-craft-and-design

 

 

KS4 - Photography

AQA GCSE Photography

 

What will I be studying?

Students will build on photography skills learnt through KS3.  Students will focus on developing the use of photographic language – composition, camera angles, lighting and focal points within their own work. Students will be expected to respond to artist stimuli, observational studies and provide independent ideas.  Students are able to choose their starting point, during Y10 the general themes will include options to enable students to focus on landscape, people or still life.  Y11 will be a previous exam question paper to prepare students to their own externally set paper.  Students will be expected to take photographs out of school, the camera on a smartphone is a fantastic asset – photographs can be uploaded onto the one drive account and accessed from home and during lessons.  There are digital cameras for use within lesson time.

Career Links

The GCSE course will enable learners to progress onto A Level courses.  Careers such as forensic photography, lifestyle photography, fashion photography, editorial and reportage photography are all available to those with a photography GCSE.

How will I be assessed?

GCSE Photography students are assessed via four objectives.

Assessment Objective 1 – Developing Ideas

Assessment Objective 2 – Experiment and Refine Ideas

Assessment Objective 3 – Recording Intentions

Assessment Objective 4 – Purposeful and Meaningful Response

Each AO is equally weighted, and students can gain marks from 0 – 24, totally 96 overall.

Coursework is worth 60% of the GCSE grade and consists of all work completed during Year 10 and the start of Year 11.

The externally controlled assessment is worth 40% of the overall grade and begins in January of Year 11.  Students are expected to work independently within a set time period.  The exam board sets a range of starting points, students will choose one to respond to. The independent responses will develop into a sketchbook of ideas and development and culminates in a 10 hour timed period to complete a personal response.

Every lesson includes verbal feedback, also ongoing interative learning, personalised targets, together with weekly homework, to support and assess knowledge retention over time.

 

Which examination board am I following?

Exam Board: AQA

Specification: GCSE Photography

Website (including the specification): https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/art-and-design/gcse/art-and-design-8201-8206/subject-content/photography

 

Which websites should I use to support my learning?

https://www.youtube.com/c/quentincarpenternatureofflowers

This is a bank of easy to follow tutorials on how to develop skills using photoshop.

KS4 Textiles

AQA GCSE Textiles

 

What will I be studying?

In GCSE Textiles students will learn a range of new skills, while simultaneously building on knowledge from KS3. All students will begin year 10 by producing a body of work through written and practical means. Through artist research, observational studies and independent ideas, students will explore a range of textile materials to respond to a central theme. This will include learning skills in drawing, designing, hand stitching, machine stitching, batik wax resist, inking, dying and fabric construction. In year 11 students will continue to build on learning, while being encouraged to progress their own independent ideas. Students will have the opportunity to specialise in fashion items later in the course if interested, once the skills needed are developed and refined. 

Career Links

The GCSE course will enable learners to progress onto A Level courses.  Careers such as interior design, fashion design, constructed textiles are all options available to those studying
Textiles at GCSE.

 

How will I be assessed?

GCSE Textiles students are assessed via four objectives.

Assessment Objective 1 – Developing Ideas

Assessment Objective 2 – Experiment and Refine Ideas

Assessment Objective 3 – Recording Intentions

Assessment Objective 4 – Purposeful and Meaningful Response

Each AO is equally weighted, and students can gain marks from 0 – 24, totally 96 overall.

Coursework is worth 60% of the GCSE grade and consists of all work completed during Year 10 and the start of Year 11.

The externally controlled assessment is worth 40% of the overall grade and begins in January of Year 11.  Students are expected to work independently within a set time period.  The exam board sets a range of starting points, students will choose one to respond to. The independent responses will develop into a sketchbook of ideas and development and culminates in a 10 hour timed period to complete a personal response.

Every lesson includes verbal feedback, also ongoing iterative learning, personalised targets, together with weekly homework, to support and assess knowledge retention over time.

 

Which examination board am I following?

Exam Board: AQA

Specification: GCSE Textiles

Website (including the specification):

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/art-and-design/gcse/art-and-design-8201-8206/subject-content/textile-design