Through our art lessons, students will gain the skills and knowledge, from the work of artists, architects and different cultures, to inspire their creativity. These influences will allow all students to explore a wide range of media, to develop their record and experimentation work. To prepare all learners across all key stages in art, we will promote literacy, numeracy, British Values and diversity to stretch and challenge all students.
For all students in art to be successful, we encourage independent learning from a teacher set theme, or starting point. This allows students to develop their own idea and taking risks to achieve a personal meaningful response. Opportunities are available for students from all years, to attend a variety of Art clubs, on a weekly basis. In addition, competitions are offered to all year groups, promoting a love of learning,
Key Stage 3
Year 7:
The focus for year 7, is to develop their knowledge of drawing and sewing skills, and understand the importance of colour theory within art. Students will explore tonal drawing, developing ideas and artist research, to complete three final outcomes in chalk and charcoal, clay and textiles.
Year 8:
Within year 8 students will build on their skills developed in year 7, to continue to understand how artists and cultures influence their own ideas and outcomes. Students will explore a variety of media, including drawing, textile techniques, painting, oil pastel, printing and clay.
Year 9:
To refine students skill set within Art and Textiles, in preparation for GCSE, Year 9 will focus on the importance of exploring subject specific vocabulary, to build on both their drawing skills, and literacy skills.
Year 10:
AQA GCSE Art, Craft and Design.
Students will begin their GCSE art course, following a teacher led set theme. Throughout year 10 all students will develop work that is linked to the four assessment objectives set by the exam board. Students will learn the skills to enjoy, produce and engage with their art, exploring both comtempory and historical sources as inspiration. They will learn to improve their record skills and refine work, by exploring and experimenting with appropriate media, materials and techniques. Students will be encouraged to visit art galleries and exhibitions to stretch their creativity and challenge their own learning.
Year 11:
AQA GCSE Art, Craft and Design.
As students move in to their second year of their GCSE Art course, they will continue to develop their drawing, literacy, experimentation and processing skills. This will support all students to plan and complete a series of final outcomes, to meet the coursework requirements for their personal portfolio. Students will then be issued with their externally set assignment to complete an independent learning piece in exam conditions. Throughout the GCSE course students will be made aware of Post 16 opportunities and the importance of art in the wider world.
Through discovery and experimentation, we are the able to inspire students to express their creativity. Students learn to work independently, and with resilience to gain skills for life as well as skills for the world of work. The Creative student has a fascination with the world around them, wanting to be part of researching, recording, designing, and influencing it. In turn they become well rounded individuals with a broad knowledge and appreciation of design and manufacture in the modern world.
Key Stage 3
Through Design and Technology lessons, we intend that students will develop skills and knowledge in order to promote a sustainable future. They will learn how to stay safe in workshop environments and learn how to work productively with others in order to promote a culture of learning and collaboration.
Year 7
Within year 7 this manifests itself in knowing how to safely experiment with CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacture), learning how to accurately draw and manipulate designs and prepare them for manufacture. Students will complete a jewellery project that involves designing using biomimicry and modelling techniques.
Year 8
Within year 8 students will build on prior learning and develop their technical drawing abilities in order to make a board game.
Year 9
Within year 9 students further their creativity and making skills to manufacture a wooden storage product. They will build resilience working independently as well as in a team and applying their knowledge of working with CAD and CAM.
Year 10
Vocational Certificate Level 2, Engineering
Within year 10 this course introduces students to a host of new technologies, helping them to gain practical skills and understanding to inspire a lifelong interest in engineering. Students will learn applied maths skills, essential in the world of work, and learn about the different aspects of engineering design and manufacture. Engineering drawings will be created by hand, and also by using 2D and 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) techniques.
Year 10
GCSE Design and Technology
Within year 10 students will gain awareness and learn from wider influences on Design and Technology including historical, social, cultural, environmental and economic factors. Students will get the opportunity to work independently and collaboratively when making, and apply technical and practical expertise. This GCSE allows students to study core technical and designing and making principles, including a broad range of design processes, materials, techniques and equipment.
Year 11
GCSE Engineering
During year 11 students use the skills and knowledge they have acquired in year 10 in order to complete a project-based controlled assessment design and make task, and prepare for the written exam. The controlled assessment task is specified by the exam board at the end of year 10 and carries a 40% weighting, the exam 60%.
Year 11
GCSE Design and Technology
During year 11 students use the skills and knowledge they have acquired in year 10 to complete a project-based controlled assessment design and make task and prepare for the written exam. The controlled assessment task is specified by the exam board at the end of year 10, and carries a 50% weighting, as does the exam.
Through food lessons, we intend that students will gather the skills and knowledge in order that they will be safe; learn how to be physically healthy through nutrition; have an awareness of how food is grown and produced in order that they can make healthy, wise choices in an environmentally unstable world. Students will learn how to cook in an increasingly skilful way in order to sustain a healthy diet; through life; for themselves and their families to be aware of cultural diversity.
Key Stage 3
Year 7:
Within year 7 this manifests itself in being able to experiment with flavours and ingredients whilst learning to use the hob; oven; weighing scales; being accurate and safe whilst using equipment. Also learning about the basics of nutritional guidelines through the use of the Eat well guide.
Year 8:
Within year 8, students will build on the skills learnt previously, and make nutritionally balanced and ever more skilfully constructed meals. Students learn about foods from different cultures, which leads them to choose more interesting ingredients and expands their tastes and understanding of the world around them.
Year 9:
With an accent of provenance; diversity and food science; students are challenged with the knowledge of creating dishes in readiness for GCSE. They master the skills needed to create meals, adapting food to suit their needs. Food science plays a big part in what they are taught so that they know why ingredients behave as they do when prepared and cooked.
Year 10:
AQA Food Preparation and Nutrition.
Students learn all the high level skills needed to create all types of foods and meals. We learn about the macro and micronutrients, and how they are important in the body. Students create great foods showing lots of skill. We learn about food science and the functions of ingredients as well as food hygiene and safety. Food provenance and the environment around us is a key area for students’ knowledge. Students experiment to solve problems.
Year 11:
During year 11, students use the skills and knowledge that have learnt in year 10 to complete two controlled assessment tasks and prepare for the written exam. Both controlled assessment and exam are weighted 50% each. In the controlled assessment: task 1 is a food science experiment, and task 2 asks students to create food suitable for either a special diet; a culture or a life stage.
At Key Stage 3, students begin by mastering the fundamentals of file management and data presentation. These skills are foundational for creating both personal resources, such as revision schedules, and professional, technical documents. Students then progress to exploring E-safety and data security, with an emphasis on understanding their accountability in managing and protecting data under regulations like GDPR. They learn to recognize potential online threats, understand how they develop, and adopt themselves and others.
Students also explore the fundamentals of coding, learning how to develop apps and design games as part of their introduction to programming. In addition, they are introduced to video editing, which allows them to creatively present their ideas using multimedia tools. These practical projects foster problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking while building confidence in working with digital tools.
AAt Key Stage 4, students explore more advanced topics, with a particular emphasis on computer science principles and practical programming skills. They will develop an understanding of computational thinking, algorithms, and programming techniques, which are foundational to creating solutions in the digital world. Game design serves as a practical and engaging application of these concepts, allowing students to write, test, and debug code while exploring areas such as abstraction and problem-solving. These skills align with the UK’s computer science curriculum and prepare students to tackle real-world challenges in a variety of fields.
This curriculum highlights that ICT and computer science are not confined to careers in technology. Instead, they provide students with the tools to thrive in any career, empowering them to unlock their full potential in an increasingly digital and interconnected world.