Art

Our Curriculum Intent

Through our curriculum, we aim to provide students with an experience that is exciting and challenging.  We ensure that our students combine practical skills with creative thinking, developing highly valuable and transferrable skills for future careers and life.  Through our Art curriculum, students are taught how to use formal elements within their artwork such as line, tone, colour, space, texture etc.  We ensure our curriculum is broad and balanced by including a variety of media, techniques and processes over the students’ studies.  In KS3 students will develop their skills and understanding with complexity and sophistication, so that they are able to make informed choices and work with increasing independence into Key Stages 4 and 5.  All our schemes of work are inclusive and diverse.  We ensure that we actively promote looking at the work of others, celebrating other cultures and encouraging diversity within the department.  Ambition and challenge in Art are seen by encouraging students to be independent learners.  We expect students to achieve in Art by applying a variety of skills from the wider curriculum together with those specific to Art to produce effective and considered artworks.  We also ensure that the students identify and resolve problems when exploring techniques, develop their own ideas and create ambitious artworks.  We encourage students to make informed decisions about the development of their own art, especially in KS4 and 5.  We also ensure that we have ambitious and challenging schemes of work by encouraging students to refine and develop outcomes to the best standard possible and build problem solving skills, which supports students in their further studies.  Our curriculum is designed to bring out the best at every key stage, providing our students with a strong foundation from which to excel in further Art studies. 

Our Learning Journey

Please click here to view our KS3 Art Learning Journey

Please click here to view our KS4 Art Learning Journey

Our KS3 Flightpath Descriptors

Our Flightpath Descriptors explain what skills, knowledge, and understanding we expect students to have at each stage of their education in this subject, linked to the grade this indicates they are working towards. 

Please click here to view our KS3 Art Flightpath Descriptors

National Curriculum Mapping

Our schemes of work are aligned with the National Curriculum and are designed to at least meet its requirements, going beyond them in many respects.

To access the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for KS3 Art & Design, click here. 

The National Curriculum Purpose of Study for Art & Design is as follows: 

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

KS4 Course Information

For information about KS4 courses, please refer to the KS4 Curriculum e-booklet.

Please click here for the KS4 Art exam specification.

KS5 Course Information

For information about the KS5 Courses available, click here.