Art & Design Department

Key Stage 5

Why study Art?

If youwish to continue and expand your interest in Art beyond the GCSE examination, this is a stimulating and varied course. In addition to developing existing skills, the course is designed to introduce you to a wider appreciation of the subject and to challenge you with new applications. You may work in a wide choice of media including painting and drawing, sculpture, ceramics and printmaking.

What will you Study?

Year 12 - AS Level

At AS students will produce a coursework portfolio which is worth 50% of the AS marks and they will produce a full project for the externally set examination unit which is worth 50% of the AS course.

Year 12 – Still Life

As an introduction to the course and an opportunity for students to practise their skills students are placed around a pre setup traditional still life. They will use easels and donkeys to work at and will week by week produce sectional observations of the still life in a variety of styles and media.
After approximately 4 weeks the students will then begin spending 2 of their 4 weekly lessons working on a thorough project based around the theme “Still Life”. The expectation is that they will explore and develop a number of ideas whilst investigating media at the same time culminating in either 1 or 2 final pieces.

Year 12 – Media investigations and techniques and processes exploration.

Students will spend the other 2 of their 4 weekly lessons exploring media and techniques with workshop style sessions. Students will be introduced to various printing processes along with collage, monochrome, mixed media, several drawing techniques and some 3D media such as mod-roc and wire and clay.

Year 12 – Externally set Assignment

This is an externally set assignment which will offer the students a choice of titles to choose from. They will interpret their chosen title into a thorough and developed project culminating in a 5 hour piece of work produced under exam conditions. The students will have approximately 10 weeks to produce the preparation work towards the final piece and will receive week by week guidance of the tasks expected to be achieved.

Year 13 - A2 Level

At A2 students will produce a coursework portfolio which is worth 50% of the A2 marks and they will produce a full project for the externally set examination unit which is worth 50% of the A2 course.

The AS course marks provide 50% and the A2 course marks provide 50% of the final overall A2 result

Year 13 – Personal Investigation

Students must produce a personal investigation based on an idea, issue, concept or theme.  It must also be supported by 1000-3000 words.
At the end of the AS course students will be given a list of possible titles for their practical studies. Alongside this practical project, where they explore an idea, they will keep a daily journal/log of their thoughts and discoveries. This will form the supportive text required and will also be a written account of their journey.
The practical work will still be annotated in a critical analytical nature and will fully explore their ideas culminating in a series of at least 3 final pieces.

Year 13 – Externally set Assignment

This is an externally set assignment which will offer the students a choice of titles to choose from. They will interpret their chosen title into a thorough and developed project culminating in a 15 hour piece of work produced under exam conditions. The students will have approximately 10 weeks to produce the preparation work towards the final piece and will receive week by week guidance of the tasks expected to be achieved.

Method of assessment

At the end of each year all components will be assessed via internal and external moderation.

Future prospects

Art lends itself to a variety of fields such as: Advertising, Architecture,Art Direction,Art ducation,Art History,Art Criticism, Art Conservation, Art Therapy, Commercial and Industria lDesign, Fashion Design, Fine Art, Film and Television, Gallery Direction, Gaming, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Product Design, Publication Design, Studio Art,Visual Art and Web Design.