Art & Design
| Curriculum Lead: | Mrs J Armitage |
| Staff: | Miss A Elliott |
Curriculum Intent
At Bishop Rawstorne, our aim is to provide a broad, stimulating and inclusive curriculum that fosters a love of Art and develops all students’ creativity and cultural understanding regardless of artistic ability. We want our students to think and act like artists, designers and craft- makers, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment with, embrace risk taking and develop their creativity whilst encouraging their own personal expression. Our curriculum is planned and sequenced so that students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of different media, techniques and contextual sources are progressively built upon. Embracing visual literacy, students will explore a range of artists both past and present, as well as crafts-persons and cultures, developing their analytical and critical thinking skills. Their sketchbooks will be a journey of discoveries and a platform to record skills, information, develop their ideas and evaluate their work to the best of their ability.
Programmes of Study: Art
Curriculum Implementation
Art & Design at KS3
In Year 7, students will learn about the formal elements, including tone, colour theory, line and form, and apply this to their work. They will learn about the work of different artists and their use of a range of media. They will learn approaches to drawing and composition, and gain experience of using a wide range of media in the development of their art and design skills.
In Year 8, students will consolidate and extend their drawing skills through a focus on drawing from direct observation, and the development of tone and texture. They will develop their research skills through cultural and artist-related studies, and expand their knowledge of media and processes including textiles and 3D elements.
Art & Design at KS4
The GCSE course offered is AQA Art & Design.
In Year 9, students begin their GCSE studies by undertaking a series of workshop-style sessions to further develop their skills across various themes. They will gain further knowledge and confidence in using an extended range of art media and techniques. They will continue to develop skills or working from direct observation, as well as learning about the work of other artists.
In Year 10, students are encouraged to begin to think and work more independently, exploring project themes through researching the work of artists and developing their skills with media they explored in KS3 and Year 9. Students will consider the four Assessment Objectives as they progress through their coursework portfolio, showing evidence through their sketchbook work and final outcomes, in preparation for Year 11.
In Year 11, students will utilise all skills learned throughout the past two years to work towards a mock exam in the Autumn term, culminating in a final concluding piece of work produced in a 2-day, 10-hour mock examination. In the Spring term, students will receive their final exam paper (with a wide choice of topics) and begin to research, plan, prepare and experiment, ahead of completing the final concluding piece in the Summer term exam.
Curriculum Impact
Marking and Assessment
In KS3, students’ work is marked using a variety of peer and teacher assessment, including verbal and written feedback using Assessment for Learning principles.
In KS4, students’ work is regularly teacher assessed through feedback sheets and discussions between teachers and students. Students are given the opportunity to reflect and improve upon their sketchbook work, both in lessons and independently.
Examinations
Year 11 – 2-day, 10-hour mock examination in the Autumn term
Year 11 – 2-day, 10-hour final examination in the Summer term
(Examinations at GCSE are purely practical and all preparation takes place in sketchbook work ahead of the exam itself. There is no written paper.)
Careers and Progression
The art & design GCSE course is purposely broad-based, enabling students to go on to study a wide range of art & design courses at college, including areas such as fashion & textiles, photography, film-making, graphic design, fine art and architecture.
