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Art

What is ART?

Art and design is a subject that evolves practical, contextual and creative practices, through a range of exciting subjects, art movements and designers.

Sunnydown students will develop their interpersonal skills with a variation of learning strategies including errorless learning, having a growth mindset and encouragement of exploring their imagination. We encourage them to be empowered by their creative practice through a range of different art practices that utilize their strengths.

Why do we teach this subject at Sunnydown?

Art and design teaches students to explore their ideas, thoughts and feelings along with developing their fine motor skills. Art and design encompass our daily lives, ranging from the art of television, entertainment, advertising, design, illustration and photography. The study of the subject improves confidence, creativity and the art of learning from mistakes made in their own work and questioning their practice.

As a COIN school, Art supports our Sunnydown boys with the communication skill of being able to explain and validate ideas . When the Sunnydown student is engaged, it can improve confidence and problem solving along with other transferable skills that can be used in other subjects and everyday lives. It can provide links to history and their understanding, views and opinions of the wider world.

How do we teach Art at Sunnydown?

Sunnydown students are taught in an art studio where they experience projects across different mediums in art such as drawing, painting, digital art, sculpture, and collage.

Throughout KS3 students complete a series of projects, the foundation of which being the formal elements of art, shape, line, tone, colour, texture, and pattern. Their projects focus on a specific specialist art practice including drawing, painting, textiles, claywork, photography and digital art.

Students are also exposed to a range of contextual studies enabling them to develop their own artwork through the exploration of different processes and ideas. Our curriculum builds on developing fine motor skills, allowing students to experiment with a wide range of materials.

Towards the end of KS3 the Sunnydown boys develop an understanding of working as an artist and how contextual research is the basis for developing ideas with GCSE. Time is also spent looking at Art and Design careers and how the subject can be utilised in a vocational contact.

How does Art change at KS4?

The GCSE consists of Units 1 and 2 and the Sunnydown students will have the option of studying Fine Art, Photography or Design as part of our Key stage 4 curriculum. At key stage 4, students develop their artistic practice through various themes including Identity and Surrealism and an externally set theme by the exam board.

Within these themes’ students develop their own personal responses through experimentation of different mediums and media, research of a variation of appropriate artists and self-assessment. The Sunnydown students will document their GCSE work within an A3 portfolio and produce a final response for each unit inspired by their research and development.

Which exam board syllabus do we study at KS4?

All Sunnydown students will follow the Eduqas GCSE Specification. It comprises two units-Unit 1 which is delivered from year 10 to the spring term in January and Unit 2 which is the externally delivered Eduqas unit resulting with a 10 hour exam piece.