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Art

Art

RATIONALE

The Art and Design curriculum at Cloughwood Academy is fundamentally driven by the belief that art is a powerful vehicle for personal growth, academic achievement, and preparation for a dynamic future. It directly supports the school's aims by:

  • Achieving Potential: Students are empowered to achieve beyond their targets in Art, with work celebrated throughout the school, fostering pride and a sense of accomplishment.
  • Developing Enquiring Minds: Through the study of influential artists like Matisse, Picasso, and Dali, students are exposed to diverse ways of thinking, encouraging them to think confidently, independently, and creatively.
  • Building Self-Esteem and Self-Discipline: The curriculum emphasises iterative processes, constructive feedback, and resilience. Students learn the discipline required to refine work, taking pride in their refined achievements and contributing to a positive community ethos by taking care of school displays. Art also serves as a vital tool for communication, self-expression, and fostering empathy, contributing to mental well-being.
  • Awareness of Others' Needs and Rights: Collaborative projects and shared resources in art lessons explicitly teach teamwork, mutual support, and effective tidying practices, fostering a sensitive approach to the needs and rights of peers.
  • Responsibility and Moral/Ethical Values: Art provides opportunities to understand human emotions and their impact, prompting students to ask 'why?', 'how?', and 'where?' beyond 'what?', thereby developing moral and ethical reasoning.
  • Tolerance, Friendship, and Integrity: Students learn to work effectively alongside others, overcoming personal barriers. The artistic process cultivates self-awareness and ethical reflection, encouraging honesty and authenticity, both in their art and character.
  • Secure Pathway to Employment, Further Training, or Education: In an era dominated by AI, creativity is paramount. Art is the only subject explicitly teaching creativity, enabling students to develop ideas from diverse starting points, equipping them with a vital skill for future success.

INTENT

The Art and Design curriculum at Cloughwood Academy intends to provide a rich, progressive, and challenging learning experience from Year 7 to Year 11.

  • Year 7: High-quality art lessons will inspire innovative thinking and creative skills. Pupils will develop proficiency in a range of media (drawing, painting, printing, collage, textiles, 3D) and be introduced to key art and design vocabulary. A strong emphasis is placed on reflection and evaluation, fostering independence in refining work, developing detail, colour control, finish quality, and presentation. Art also serves as a medium for emotional expression, enhancing social and emotional development.
  • Year 8: Students will demonstrate a wider range of technical understanding across processes, media, and materials. They are encouraged to take creative risks, experiment, and critically reflect on the success of their ideas. Proficiency in paper-based drawing and design is emphasised for communicating ideas. There is a greater focus on creating expressive work that conveys the artist's feelings and impacts the viewer. By the end of Year 8, students will possess a good knowledge of artists, craft makers, and designers, understanding the historical and cultural development of art forms.
  • Year 9: The extended architecture project aims to develop independent learners with critical thinking skills. Students will gain confidence in risk-taking and learn from experimentation with ideas, processes, media, materials, and techniques, thereby building strength of character. They will refine their ideas and techniques with increasing independence and deepen their knowledge of art, craft, and design within historical and contemporary contexts. This extended project also cultivates self-confidence, resilience, perseverance, self-discipline, and commitment.
  • GCSE (Years 10 & 11): The GCSE Fine Art course encourages active engagement in the creative process, fostering effective, independent learners with strong critical thinking skills. Through extended projects on chosen and externally set themes, students deepen their ability to develop and refine ideas and techniques with increasing independence. They expand their knowledge and understanding of art, craft, and design in diverse historical and contemporary contexts, societies, and cultures, further developing self-confidence, resilience, perseverance, self-discipline, and commitment.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Art and Design curriculum is implemented through a combination of practical exploration, critical analysis, and theoretical study, ensuring a holistic learning experience:

  • Practical Exploration: Students engage in hands-on work with a wide range of media including ink, pencils, watercolour, pastels, acrylic, gouache, 3D materials, textiles, and various printmaking techniques (etching, lino, mono, drypoint, woodcutting). Lessons are structured to allow for experimentation, skill development, and the creation of individual and collaborative pieces.
  • Critical and Contextual Studies: Major artists, their styles, techniques, and their roles in artistic movements are studied throughout each year. Students learn to analyse artworks, interpret meaning, and understand the historical, cultural, moral, social, and spiritual contexts that influenced them. Inference skills are developed through 'detective work' on artist texts.
  • Iterative Process and Feedback: Students are guided through the artistic process from initial research and idea generation to experimentation, refinement, and final outcomes. A strong emphasis is placed on self-reflection, peer feedback, and teacher guidance to encourage continuous improvement and the development of a 'growth mindset'.
  • Differentiation: Lessons are planned to accommodate diverse learning styles and abilities, with opportunities for both guided tasks and independent exploration. Higher-level challenges, such as 3-point perspective in Year 8 or independent project choices at GCSE, are provided.
  • Cross-Curricular Links: Connections are explicitly made to other subjects, such as Science (insect anatomy in Y7), Maths (patterns in Y8), and RS (Islamic art in Y8), enriching understanding and demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of art.
  • Portfolio Building: Throughout their time at Cloughwood Academy, students build a comprehensive portfolio of artwork that demonstrates their understanding of styles and techniques and illustrates their personal progress and development.
  • Safety: Explicit instruction and reinforcement of safe working practices, particularly when handling materials like acids in printmaking, are integral to the curriculum.

IMPACT

The impact of the Art and Design curriculum at Cloughwood Academy is measured through various outcomes, demonstrating students' holistic development and preparedness for future pathways:

  • Improved Artistic Skills: Students consistently develop and refine their technical proficiency across a wide range of media and techniques, evident in the increasing quality and sophistication of their artworks.
  • Enhanced Creative and Critical Thinking: Students demonstrate the ability to generate innovative ideas, experiment confidently, critically evaluate their own work and that of others, and make informed artistic judgments, applying keywords of art, craft, and design.
  • Developed Independence and Resilience: Through extended projects and independent tasks, students cultivate self-discipline, perseverance, and the ability to learn from experience, take risks, and confidently develop personal responses to briefs.
  • Strong Knowledge of Art History and Culture: Students acquire a deep understanding of artists, craft makers, designers, and the historical and cultural development of art forms, extending their knowledge of cultural imagery and language.
  • Personal Growth and Well-being: Students use art as a medium for self-expression, improving self-awareness, identifying and managing emotions, and fostering empathy, contributing to their social and emotional development.
  • Portfolio Achievement: Students compile strong portfolios that showcase their artistic journey, skills, and personal style, preparing them for further education, training, or employment pathways where creativity is highly valued.
  • Accreditation Success: Students achieve excellent outcomes in accreditation pathways, including the GCSE Art & Design and the UAL Award Level 2 in Printmaking, signifying their attainment of recognised qualifications.
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