Quick Links

Useful Links

Committed to excellent standards of teaching in partnership with a variety of local and national organisations contributing towards system-wide improvement.

Visit Site

GSO Test

Art and Design Programme of Study

Key Stage 3 

 

Year 7

Year 8

Rotation 1 

Art

Students will learn the order of the colour wheel and general colour theory - including primary, secondary and tertiary colours within a tropical scheme of work. They will study the work of current artists and create their own personal responses using a wide range of mediums and techniques. References to colour blending and grid drawings will enable students to learn and understand the basic fundamentals of art and will enable them to continue their skills in Year 8. [1,2,3,4,5]

Students will study the art movement Pop Art and look at a broad range of artists who have created work in response to the theme. Skills such as observational drawings, grid drawings, colour blending and colour theory will be revisited from Year 7 and developed further. They will learn to critique and analyse the artwork of a different genre using subject-specific keywords. [1,2,3,4,5]

Rotation 2 

Graphics

Students will be introduced to Photoshop by step-by-step tasks to create a digital mythical creature. The initial study of a work by a modern digital illustrator is followed by a hand-drawn personal response to help plan their own design. Students learn how to use Photoshop to manage files, understand digital resolution, obtain source images and manipulate them. Additional skills follow by adding special effects for further realism and adding and manipulating text. These fundamental Photoshop skills are then developed further in Year 8.

[1,2,3,4,5]

Students will study Typography by weekly tasks that build upon previous learning. Students will study the work of two typographic designers, and Op Art, to inform their own work. A variety of media will be used (collage, hand drawing in a variety of drawing media, and Photoshop) to create letter designs with an understanding of positive and negative space. A strong thread is maintained by encouraging students to analyse and use their previous designs to inform and create their next. The final work embodies numerous skills by starting with a hand drawing which is then scanned and rendered in colour digitally in Photoshop.

[1,2,3,4,5]

Rotation 3

Photography

Students will be introduced to how cameras capture light to create photographs. Students will explore the work of historical Photographers such as Karl Blossfeldt and Anna Atkins to learn about the basic concepts of exposure. Students will learn about the Formal Elements of Art and Design and will explore these to create a range of different photographic outcomes, including traditional cyanotype prints, macro photography, collage/photomontage and Black & White Photography. Essential Photoshop skills will be explored such as: Applying basic image adjustments, resizing and duplicating layers and applying the selection tools to manipulate images.

[1,2,3,4,5] 

Students will dive deeper into how cameras work by exploring the fundamentals of exposure in greater detail. Students will analyse and investigate the work of historical and contemporary photographers such as Eadweard Muybridge and Slinkachu to learn about freeze/blur motion and depth of field. Students will learn about the hidden rules of photography and unpack what makes a photograph successful. Students will hone their photoshop skills further with a range of image manipulation techniques, such as a wide variety of image adjustments, filters, layer masks and blending modes to create a series of stylised outcomes in the Pop art and Surrealist styles.

[1,2,3,4,5]

Extra-curricular provision 

All key stage 3 students are invited to attend various Art and Design clubs, these take place after normal school hours. Photography and Animation Club: In this club, students are encouraged to embed knowledge taught in lessons and are given the opportunity to explore the Photographic Genre of Stop-motion Animation. [1,2,3,4,5]

 

Art and Design Programmes of Study: Key Stage 3

Department of Education - Purpose of Study

Students should be taught:

  1. to use a range of techniques to record their observations in sketchbooks, journals and other media as a basis for exploring their ideas
  2. to use a range of techniques and media, including painting
  3. to increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials
  4. to analyse and evaluate their own work, and that of others, in order to strengthen the visual impact or applications of their work
  5. about the history of art, craft, design and architecture, including periods, styles and major movements from ancient times up to the present day.