Art & Design
What is it about?
Art at Sir John Leman High School is a popular and exciting subject and attracts students who wish to be actively engaged in the pursuit of original and ambitious work, explore working with different media and develop their own personal creativity. The department offers traditional teaching of the essential skills of drawing and painting to help students develop confidence in their work and encourages them to explore a range of approaches to the subject. As a department we believe very strongly in encouraging pupils to develop their own personal styles of working and then to produce work that is a reflection of their own creative imaginations. We seek to inspire in students a love of the visual arts in all of its forms and support them in exploring the creative process independently. Students’ work is displayed around the school and they are encouraged to visit art galleries and museums to further their understanding.
What sort of work is done?
During the GCSE course, students produce a portfolio of coursework which includes one project, plus additional work, covering all the assessment criteria, and an exam unit.
The assessment criteria focus on:-
- Analysis and evaluation of artists’ work and different cultures
- Planning design ideas and exploring media
- Observational drawing ability
- Quality of final outcome/s
Extended Learning tasks throughout the course consist of recording ideas, observational drawing and painting, research into relevant artists and completing any outstanding coursework.
How is it assessed?
Students produce a portfolio of coursework (60% of the final grade) which includes one main project and additional work exploring a variety of skills, and responding to different artists.
Students are given the exam paper in January of year 11 when they start work on preparatory work for their exam. The preparatory work linked to their chosen question is extremely important and is worth 75% of the exam mark so it is essential that students are producing some of this work at home.
Students will then have a ten hour exam broken down into separate sessions in which to produce their final outcome/s. This is worth 40% of the final grade
How important is coursework?
Very - coursework is 60% of the overall grade.
What qualification will I get? What could it lead on to?
- AQA Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Art and Design (Fine Art)
This may enable you to develop personal interests or to pursue this further at A level and degree
Career directions could include:
Fine Art, Architecture, Design, Illustration, Theatre, Animation, Teaching, or work in other creative industries such as Film, Television or Advertising, Museums and Galleries.
