Art & Design

Staffing and Role:

Mrs M Horner: Acting Head of Art
Mrs F Rimmer: Art teacher
Mr S Homewood: Art teacher

Vision Statement:

Art and Design is a popular subject at Testbourne Community school. Students opting to take the course at GCSE can opt for Art, Craft and Design or Photography. The GCSE course will cover a broad range of skills and students will explore a wide range of 2D and 3D media. They will also research and analyse artworks from a range of historical artists and those working today. They will be taught also how to develop ideas documenting each stage as they progress.

Both the Art and Design and the Photography GCSE require students to follow paths of independent research within the framework of the subject. In this sense they are uniquely placed within the curriculum to offer study skills directly akin to those in higher education, so can offer a valuable learning experience no matter what ambitions students may have for their future.

The departmental aim therefore at Testbourne Community School is to work towards providing an environment which nurtures and actively encourages creativity and talent. Practical work develops through an ethos of praise and constructive dialogue between student and teacher. Students are exposed to a wide range of media and techniques and develop their appreciation of art through the generation of their own work and through the opportunity to see artwork online. It is the ambition in the future to take students to art galleries and sculpture parks to view art first hand. All students are encouraged to have ownership of their ideas, developing work with guidance from the teacher with an emphasis on reflecting on the work as it progresses. Reflection on their artwork is key to success.

Art

Year 7-9 Curriculum Overview Art

Year 10-11 Curriculum Overview Art

Photography

Year 10-11 Curriculum Overview Photography

In Year 7 we explore the key elements of Art including Line, Tone, Colour and Texture. In Year 8 and 9 we will complete a range of projects investigating different artists and cultures. We also experiment at using a range of materials and approaches from painting, collage, photography, Adobe Photoshop and clay.

KS4 Students have the option of taking either GCSE Art & Design or GCSE Art Photography (AQA) and will join a high performing department where both subjects are consistently highly subscribed. We, therefore, demand the best from our students, both academically and artistically. The GCSE is marked from both a Portfolio of work (Unit 1: 60%) and the Exam project (Unit 2: 40%). Students have the opportunity to exhibit some of their work, inviting parents, staff, and members of the public to view the excellent work produced.

In Art & Design we cover many of the basics, whilst challenging and introducing new medias and techniques. You will given more freedom of choice as you personalise your own projects and become more independent with your work.

In Art Photography we will teach you how to use a Canon DSLR camera and how to edit images using Photoshop CS5. Like Art & Design you will be given more freedom of which starting point or which artist(s) you chose to use in projects.

GCSE Art AQA Specification

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/art-and-design/gcse/art-and-design-8201-8206/specification-at-a-glance

List of artists by themes: Artists & Themes - The Arty Teacher

Take your child out to interesting locations to collect photographs they could use in their projects.

Allow them a space where they can spread out and work. Ideally this would be a place they could also leave their work, as it may need time to dry, or there may be too much to continually pack everything away each time.

Encourage experimentation and new ideas. Give new ideas and suggestions, but be prepared it may not be taken on.

Due to staff illness some extra-curricular clubs have been cancelled for the remainder of the summer term.

We offer a number of different clubs for all abilities and all year groups. These include Clay Club, Art Club, Photography Club and KS4 Support Sessions. We also run various competitions and challenges throughout the year. GCSE students also have the opportunity to go on a daytrip to create site-specific work for their projects and to gain an insight on working in the real world.

We offer three clubs after school, clay club and Manga which are held alternate Tuesdays alongside the photography club for KS3 students held every Thursday Lunchtime.

In addition to this we offer Year 11 course catch up sessions on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday after school. It the ambition of all teachers in the art department to help secure the best possible grade for each student.

Further information

For more details, please contact Mrs Horner, Acting Head of Art, and Design at: m.horner@testbourne.school.