Art

Introduction

The art staff cover the specialisms of Drawing and Painting, Graphics, Textiles, Sculpture and Ceramics. The art department consists of two studios and a computer room. We’re open most lunchtimes for those students wishing to do more art work.

When students start at Hamstead Hall they’ll begin by looking at Colour through the work of various 19th and 20th century artists. Then they will explore pattern through the work of Asian and Islamic cultural artefacts before moving on to line art through the work of Konrad Gesner.

Pupils produce coursework (a portfolio) throughout Years 10 and 11, which must demonstrate their ability to respond to a stimulus, develop ideas and experiment with a broad range of processes, techniques and materials. Throughout the course, pupils will be given the opportunity to work in a wide variety of art media including paint, print, textiles and clay. Photography and drawing are also essential skills that pupils will develop over the duration of the course.

Curriculum Intent and Vision

Our inclusive curriculum is one of ‘success for all through hard work and harmony’, promoting the values of pride, persistence, patience, preparation, and progress.

The curriculum within Art and Design is broad and balanced, and goes above and beyond the national curriculum. It is well developed and planned carefully to ensure progression in complexity and intellectual challenge from Key Stage 3 to 4. We believe that all pupils have the potential to succeed in at least one area of this subject so the curriculum covers a wide range of art disciplines in order for pupils to discover their strengths. The curriculum provides opportunities for deep learning and mastery of subject expertise. Our learners become independent, articulate, and critical thinkers. It develops inquisitive minds that make connections in the world around them.

The curriculum and learning environment are highly inclusive, removing barriers to learning, to enable every pupil to achieve. We have high realistic expectations of all learners. Appropriate assessment and target setting is deliberately ambitious in a quest to bridge the performance gap between different groups of pupils and raise aspirations, thus engendering a sense of personal pride in achievement.

Pupils’ own community, heritage and traditions are some of the starting points to engage, build on learning and develop cultural capital. The curriculum is designed to make learning memorable through creative and practical activities but time is included for pupils to reflect on their own work and the work of others. It promotes the SMSC, mental and physical development of pupils, preparing them for responsibility and experiences in later life. Learning is enjoyable and our careers provision ensures students are ready to pursue interests further in the future as active citizens.

Our pedagogy of learning is driven by educational research and cognitive science. The curriculum is mapped sequentially and adopts a thematic approach supported by high quality resources. Cross curricular links enable pupils to revisit and recall previously learnt knowledge and make it cohere in their long-term memory. We strongly uphold “success for all through hard work and harmony”.