Art and Design

Art and Design shares a building with the Music department. It commands a suite of rooms which includes a large cellar area that is used for storage and project work. Recently a welding bay has been constructed in the courtyard space attached to the building. The department also uses rooms in the CDT building for Ceramic projects and Textiles.

Art and Design enjoys great popularity within the college community, which is reflected in the large numbers that opt for it. G.C.S.E. and A level results are extremely good clearly demonstrating depth of success throughout the ability range, in this respect, the department prides itself in catering for all pupils wishing to pursue it at examination level, believing that:

'Art is not just the preserve of the talented few but the right of everyone'

To this end a wide range of options and opportunities are offered to pupils. Staff in the department, are committed to a programme of work, that addresses both historical and contemporary trends in art. At sixth form level pupils are introduced to philosophical issues related to Art in a modern context. Staff, are also committed practitioners and exhibit their work in the annual department exhibitions within the college and in galleries throughout the wider community.

Key stage 3 pupils are offered a broad based curriculum, which introduces them to a range of techniques and approaches. Pupils fill their sketchbooks with prepared surfaces in mixed media, which are then imaged with selected themes and personal responses, as a result, many of them swell with creativity and lead to very exciting and ambitious outcomes.

Options in the department include: Painting and drawing in a variety of media, mixed media, textiles, ceramics, welded metal sculpture. Opportunities for fashion are currently being developed and this increasingly popular addition will be featured in the end of year exhibition.

Pupils enthusiasms for the subject are supported by a flourishing extra-curricular programme which includes holiday workshops, lunchtime and after school clubs. Pupils use this time to either seek advice with problems they are encountering, or advance ambitious projects.

The department has done much to embrace the wider community by exhibiting its work in professional galleries and also linking itself with community projects and commissions such as the London Victoria Station mural and the Greenall Partnership Sculpture. Partnerships have been created with business and industry, which have received recognition for the department on both a local and national scale.

New initiatives are currently being researched and piloted in the department, some of which will be implemented into schemes of work and the Arts curriculum which include: A design element which seeks to explore the impact of the artist as designer in society. Literature/poetry, as a means of creating visual images. A number of our pupils have successfully transferred their literary skills into the practical work that they have produced.

The results clearly indicate that such methods have enriched the visual aspects of their work and at the same time added a cognitive dimension to a process known to most as a purely practical activity. Experiments are also currently being conducted in a similar way with Music (acoustic and electric guitars) These experiments are designed to discover how such music can stimulate expression and deepen engagement in the practical work that the pupils produce.

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