Art and Design

Overall Intent

A Curriculum that is accessible, engaging, and creative with a strong focus on the development of skills, acquired knowledge and quality of outcome through a variety of disciplines. We want the curriculum to foster a love of art, whilst instilling confidence in students own ideas, abilities, and skills. We want the curriculum to provide the skills required to execute ideas in a variety of mediums and introduce students to a wide variety of creative disciplines to show the different facets to our subject for example, drawing, painting, printmaking, 3D, photography, illustration, and textiles. Through the curriculum we will also raise awareness to diversity, covering artists from the past and present, different genders and social classes whilst introducing career paths and opportunities if choosing to enter the creative industries.

The Magic of Art

Within art anything feels possible, we arm our students with the intelligence of imagination and as imagination has no limits, we are constantly stimulating progress through our curriculum.
Art education at HGS is not seen as a luxury and it is available to all and is accessible to everyone.
It develops motor skills, language skills, social skills, risk taking, problem solving and inventiveness.
We encourage students to think freely and develop creativity and expression.
Creativity is essential for creating well-rounded, well-prepared learners and leaders.
Developing creative intelligence enables students to develop the world around them and can also be used to explore difficult concepts from history, politics, science, and maths in a visual manner; it therefore connects students with their own culture and the wider world.
Students can explore their own interests and passions and communicate their own ideas, which in turn motivates as students are heads of their own destiny.
The world needs the imaginative minds of young people for the development of tomorrow, and we are working with passion to ensure we achieve this through sharing a love of art.

Key Strengths in the curriculum

HGS follows the AQA specification in Art & Design

Excellent creative practitioners who are very passionate, supportive and flexible in terms of subjects they can teach (we all love our subject)
Many teachers produce and exhibit their own work
We book the national trends for recruitment, retention and results
We are highly valued in school
Complete freedom and individuality are encouraged at key stage four and five
All pupils can access art and design
A diverse range of subject specialisms across teaching staff
We are very different from other subjects within the school curriculum and students like that
We have excellent technician support
We celebrate the success of students regularly through exhibitions, display and the use of social media
Our breadth of extracurricular opportunities through competitions, visiting artists, workshops, trips & art clubs
Cross curricular support with stage sets, Remembrance Day, history, school Christmas cards and music

REACH values in ART

Respect in Art means….	Exploring other cultures, societies and points in time. Acknowledging and appreciating the work of others. Being sensitive and open to other people’s opinions, ideas and beliefs. Taking care of the work of others within the environment. Taking care of materials and equipment. Listen whilst others are talking.
Excellence in Art means…	Making connections with the work of others and using this to develop your own practice. Expressing original/imaginative ideas Producing creative work demonstrating high levels of skills and ambitious visual literacy. Reflecting critically on your work and progress, always striving to make improvements. Working independently and setting your own goals through self-reflection.
Adventure in Art means…	Having the confidence to express your ideas and opinions Exploring issues that impact upon the world and are relevant to your life and the lives of others. Developing your own ideas and independence. Working in a wide range of subject areas with a wide range of materials and techniques. Taking risks with your creative practice in order to develop new ideas.
Commitment in Art means….	Visual research beyond the classroom by recording the world around you, visiting galleries, museums and exhibitions. Taking responsibility for your own learning. Perfecting and practicing the things you find challenging. Asking questions to deepen your understanding. Accepting that the creative process never stops there is always more to be done. Striving for exceptional progress in development of skills, use of materials and development of ideas.
Honesty in Art means…	Being willing to accept and respond to feedback Being prepared to have your own opinions whilst being sympathetic to the opinions of others. A willingness to share your ideas, thoughts and opinions with your teacher and the group.