Art
Creative Arts Faculty
Why do we learn this subject?
In Art, pupils build powerful knowledge and learn distinctive ways of thinking, communicating and solving problems. The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils and is designed to build confidence, independence and readiness for the next stage.
Our curriculum journey
Year 7 – Building the foundations
Pupils establish the essential knowledge, vocabulary and routines of Art. They learn how to think and work successfully in the subject and connect new learning to their primary experience.
Year 8 – Developing knowledge and confidence
Pupils broaden and deepen their knowledge. They make stronger connections between ideas, apply learning in more demanding contexts and communicate with increasing precision.
Year 9 – Deepening understanding and independence
Pupils work with greater independence, revisit and connect important prior learning, and tackle more complex questions and applications. Learning prepares pupils for informed Key Stage 4 choices.
Year 10 – Applying knowledge at Key Stage 4
For pupils continuing the subject at Key Stage 4, knowledge becomes increasingly specialised. Pupils apply prior learning to the demands of the qualification, develop independent study habits and use feedback to improve.
Year 11 – Mastery and preparation for the next stage
Pupils connect and consolidate learning across the course, apply it to unfamiliar contexts, refine assessment and examination skills where relevant, and prepare for post-16 study, training and employment.
Knowledge that connects our curriculum
Observation, materials, techniques, artists, developing ideas and refining outcomes. These ideas are deliberately revisited so that pupils remember more and make increasingly sophisticated connections.
How pupils get better
Pupils improve in Art through explicit teaching, modelling, purposeful practice, retrieval of prior knowledge, increasingly challenging application, feedback and opportunities to explain, evaluate or refine their thinking.
Reading, vocabulary and communication
Pupils are taught the vocabulary and forms of communication that matter in Art. They read and interpret appropriate texts, questions, sources, instructions, data or representations and learn to communicate ideas accurately.
How we know pupils are learning
Teachers use day-to-day formative assessment, questioning, retrieval, pupil work and appropriate summative assessment to identify what pupils know, address misconceptions and plan next steps. At Key Stage 4, assessment also prepares pupils for the requirements of their qualification.
Beyond the classroom
exhibitions, creative projects and responses to local environments.
Where can this subject take me?
This subject develops knowledge and transferable habits valuable for fine art, illustration, architecture, fashion, photography, graphic design and film.
How families can support learning
Regular attendance, discussion about current learning, reading and completion of home learning all make a difference. Subject support includes Google Classroom, GCSEPod where relevant and sketchbook/portfolio work. Google Classroom remains the first point of access for home learning.
