Art - Key Stage 4
At GCSE we run three courses; Fine Art, Three Dimensional Art and Photography.
Year 10
Students follow teacher led projects in Year 10 which give them the confidence and skills they need to start to develop their mock exam project and later their externally set task. We begin with projects such as Natural and Manmade, Sea Life and Portrait.
Students will work through their ideas from a range of starting points such as a mind map or mood-board, and this will lead onto artist research stretching their deeper thinking skills that will then inform students' own work. We use Pinterest to enable students to look at a wide variety of inspirational images. Priestlands has a pinterest board for every project we study from KS3 through to KS4, we also have boards that contain tips and lessons on how to work with all art materials and techniques so students have art support that can be accessed outside of school hours.
Students will develop their skills in working with a full repertoire of 2D media depicting tone; colour; line; shape; form and pattern and building on their prior KS3 art knowledge. They have the choice of working in a sketchbook or on A2 paper as part of their GCSE portfolio and can experiment with canvas, printmaking techniques, photography, modroc or clay to inform a final outcomes that match their themes. Students are encouraged to be creatively independent and experimental in their ideas and throughout their projects.
The art department runs art clubs at both lunchtime and after school to support the learning and development of our students. We also offer specific workshops where students are invited to try out new techniques such as Collagrah printing or mosaics or large scale sculpture. We encourage links with our Design Technology departments to incorporate laser cutting or sewing into their ideas and experiments.
Year 11
In Year 11 teachers facilitate students’ journeys and guide them using our extensive knowledge and expertise. An example of themes or project starting points are; Natural/Manmade, Masks, Sea-life and Portraiture. Students will normally complete two projects which comprise 60% of their final grade. The exam paper, referred to as the Externally Set Assignment makes up the remaining 40%. For the externally set assignment students develop a project and outcomes based on their chosen starting point.
We run our art mock exam using a past art exam paper and give students a period of preparation time that will then lead into a one day mock exam based in the art rooms. This enables students to get an insight into the exam process for the arts and the preparation needed for a successful exam submission.
We give time to the refining and re-working of students' coursework submissions and final pieces, ready for moderation. Breakfast clubs and the usual art clubs are again offered in support alongside specific intervention workshops to those students that need any extra help in getting their portfolio together, and A* workshops to those students that want to stretch themselves further. We invite a professional arts practitioner in every year to deliver workshops based on their arts practice and using their chosen art discipline. We have in the past had portrait artists and printmakers in house that plan exciting sessions that will enhance existing portfolio themes. This gives students a better understanding of arts in the wider world around them, giving their own portfolio context.
At the end of the year our GCSE students have previously had the chance to exhibit their work at the local art gallery St Barbes. Priestlands and the arts have strong links to our galleries and the wider community, and this has given our students their first experience of exhibiting work in our own Priestlands pop up art exhibition that is then open to the public. A panel of students and outside artists work together to plan and curate the exhibition and award prizes on the private view. Views of the community have been extremely positive and comments have been made that the standard of Priestlands art work is extremely high.
AQA--3D-Design-Book-2013-2014.pdf