Welcome to the Art & Design Department
Art and Design is a popular subject within the curriculum at Coloma. The study of Art and Design encourages pupils to extend their creative skills and enriches their lives by providing a unique kind of knowledge of the world.
The Art facilities consist of three specialist rooms: two large studios and one smaller offer the students the opportunity to work in a wide range of materials and across several disciplines, including drawing and painting, textiles, fashion, printmaking, sculpture and design. The department has a large library of art and design books and resources.
We have an ‘open door’ policy within the department which allows students to continue with their work before or after school or at lunchtimes and each qualification as set out below culminates in a summer exhibition to celebrate the students’ work.
The Art Department has been proud to play its part in the British Council’s ‘Rivers of the World’ project. This exciting venture involves schools from thirty-four countries linked with London schools to produce artwork in response to City Rivers.
We have been successful in entering the younger students for national and local competitions, for example, most recently, Animal Aid and the Sunrise competitions. Upper school work has also been successfully submitted to the Saatchi Gallery School’s Competition.
Visits to galleries are a regular part of the curriculum for examination groups. Younger students may visit exhibitions which are appropriate to the KS3 curriculum. We also welcome visiting speakers from all areas of artistic practice to broaden students’ knowledge and understanding of our subject.
Curriculum Content
Key Stage Three
Key Stage Three curriculum builds on the primary Art curriculum. Over the three years the students have the opportunity to extend their experiences in a wide range of media. They will develop their drawing, painting, printmaking, textile and construction skills, working individually and collaboratively. Critical understanding through independent research and class discussion of the work of other artists and practitioners is an essential part of the course. Students will learn to understand the degree to which the visual arts have direct bearing on their daily lives, through the design of the clothes they wear or the houses they live in to the cutlery they use.
Year 7 Scheme of Work
During year 7 pupils will develop their own responses from the study of the artist Hundertwasser. Through drawing, watercolour and their developing design skills the pupils will create their own individual final pieces. As their skills mature they will explore colour and style through the work of Van Gogh.
Year 8 Scheme of Work
During Year 8 pupils make use of the natural world to expand their techniques in experimenting wide variety of materials to produce a range of images. These studies enhanced by the work of two wire sculptors develop into low relief sculptures. The pupils then look to man-made objects for inspiration for a painting project inspired by the work of Margaret Morrison.
Year 9 Scheme of Work
At the beginning of Year 9 pupils embark on a reduction printing project based on typography. They gain inspiration from the work of Peter Blake and Javier Mariscal before designing their own lino print design. In the second half of the term they are introduced to the work of Duchamp before developing their own painting project inspired by an artist of their choice.
Key Stage Four - GCSE Art & Design
GCSE Art & Design - EDEXCEL Code: 2FA01 - Specifications
Course Content - What Will I Study
You will be given challenging themes and projects that will enable you to explore many ideas and materials in an open ended yet structured course. You will be able to explore both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional materials.
You will be given experiences that will enable you to develop skills in drawing, painting, new technology, printmaking and 3D construction using a wide range of materials.
Looking at the work of other artists, designers and craftspeople is a compulsory component of the course. Visits to museums and galleries during the course will give you opportunities to carry out first hand research from art work and artefacts. You will also be expected to undertake visits independently.
You will use written commentary to review critically and evaluate both your own work and that of other artists.
How will my progress be tested and examined?
Unit 1: 60% of GCSE Qualification
A Personal Portfolio in Art and Design which includes 45 hours of controlled assessment time undertaken in class; homework is also part of the personal portfolio. The personal portfolio includes all preparatory sketchbooks and final pieces. Work is internally marked and externally moderated and must show evidence of all the assessment objectives.
Unit 2: 40% of GCSE Qualification
Externally Set Assignment (ESA) consists of one ten hour examination based on an externally set theme and twenty hours of controlled assessment which is internally marked and externally moderated and must show evidence of all the assessment objectives.
Progression - How will the study of Art and Design benefit students’ future education and career?
- You can progress from GCSE to AS and A2 Art and Design
- You can proceed from these courses to a foundation course at a college of Art and Design and then onto a degree course
- You have a wide choice of courses from which to choose, for example, Graphic Design, Textiles, 3D Design, Product Design, Theatre Design, Fine Art, Fashion, Hair and Beauty, Special Effects for Stage and Theatre, History of Art, Museums and Gallery courses, Interior Design, Jewellery Design, Shoe Design, Games Design, Photography and Digital Media courses
- Many other courses require an Art qualification (either GCSE, AS or A Level) as desirable, for example, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Horticulture, Dentistry, Plastic Surgery, Hairdressing, Beauty, Floristry, Retail Display, Pattern Cutting and Photography
- You will gain practical skills that are transferable to all aspects of your life
- You will have opportunities to express yourself in a visual form, become visually literate and develop a critical vocabulary.
