Blue Coat CE School

Art & Design

Blue Coat School > Art & Design

Curriculum Intent

The intent of our Art curriculum is to provide a curriculum in Art that is broad, balanced and ambitious and considers the curriculum in its widest sense, ensuring that all pupils, no matter their starting points, backgrounds and individual needs, are afforded the same opportunities and an equal chance to succeed by embedding the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life, and essential knowledge needed to be educated citizens.

At all Key Stages, pupils will engage with scaffolded, carefully considered opportunities to record and analyse from observation, develop technical skills to aid personal expression and communication, develop visual literacy through an awareness and appreciation of art, craft and design from a range of cultures, make informed aesthetic and critical judgements, make connections between their own and others’ ideas and work, identify and solve problems, undertake research and organise and sustain independent work to completion developing a sense of achievement, self-awareness and fulfilment in the creation of art-works and a developing degree of self-knowledge as learners, as producers and consumers, and as visually and culturally aware young people.

KS3 is a strong foundation for KS4 and we interpret the requirements of national strategies to provide schemes of work that provide a solid foundation for the demands at GCSE by identifying starting points, waypoints and end points.  KS3 is an opportunity to provide those creative experiences that will bridge the gap disadvantage in school, to offer individual solutions for pupils to access the foundational knowledge pupils need in order to access and understand the further curriculum. We use Year 7 to consolidate and extend what was taught at KS1 and KS2 and teach at Novice level.

KS4 is a strong foundation for KS5 and we interpreting the requirements of GCSE courses to provide schemes of work that provide a solid foundation for the demands at A Level by identifying starting points, waypoints and end points.  KS4 is taught at Intermediate level and for all pupils is, challenging, supportive and relevant which enables all learners to gain a range of practical skills and understanding that will enable them to have the cultural capital to participate in wider society with confidence. 

KS5 is a strong foundation for life outside school and allows pupils to progress onto University Degrees or Apprenticeships. We interpret the requirements of A Level courses to guide individual learning pathways and is taught at Advanced level, encouraging pupils to apply theoretical knowledge & practical skills to a range of learning opportunities. Excellence within Art would mean each pupil leaving Blue Coat with an interest, curiosity, enjoyment and confidence in looking at, exploring and making works of art, craft and design with a sound grasp of practical skills that would enable them to have the cultural capital to participate in wider society.

Art-Curriculum-MapDownload

Teaching and Learning

In Art our we believe in delivering an ambitious yet highly inclusive curriculum to all. 

Our vision for Teaching & Learning is to ensure all students access the “full” curriculum and learn the breadth of content. 

Our staff have high expectations of all pupils and focus on embedding our 3Rs:  

  • Ready
  • Respectful
  • Responsible

All lessons focus on embedding the whole school Blue Coat approach:

  • Explaining and Modelling
  • Do & Practice
  • 4forAll Toolkit leading to inclusive practice:
    • Key words/Reading
    • Use of time
    • Chunk and check
    • Questioning
  • Appropriate verbal, written and visual feedback

Reading is an essential strategy within lessons. You will see staff applying the three reading strategies of:

  1. Jump in 
  2. 3 second rule 
  3. Echo reading

How can parents help?

The Story of Art is one of the most famous and popular books on art ever written and has been a world bestseller for over four decades. Professor Gombrich has written a simple and clear book which is for readers of all ages and backgrounds. He has combined knowledge and wisdom with a unique gift for communicating his deep love of the subject. The Story of Art tells the journey of the development of mark making since prehistoric times. It is a classic text that all art students should read. 

This legendary book is widely considered as the best, most readable account of modern art ever written.

Through each of the thematic chapters Hughes keeps his story grounded in the history of the 20th century, demonstrating how modernism sought to describe the experience of that era and showing how for many key art movements this was a task of vital importance.

https://www.tate.org.uk/kids Tate Kids is a great set of pages linked to the family of Tate Galleries, full of interactive and informative pages that change according to the current exhibitions. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts BBC Arts is the page that advertises all BBC Arts Television. It is a constantly changing menu that allows you to see current programming on the visual arts. 

Visits to our local galleries allow students to see artwork first hand and increase confidence in visiting such spaces and also knowledge about what does art look like. The Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry is free to visit and very welcoming. Other Galleries in the local area include Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Midland Arts Centre and  the IKON gallery, all in Birmingham. 

Options

  • WJEC Eduqas GCSE Art and Design (Fine Art) C651QS
  • WJEC Eduqas GCSE Art and Design (Textile Design) C653QS
  • WJEC Eduqas GCSE Art and Design (Three-Dimensional Design) C655QS
  • WJEC Eduqas GCSE Art and Design (Photography) C656QS
  • WJEC Eduqas A level Art and Design (Fine Art) A651QS
  • WJEC Eduqas A level Art and Design (Textile Design) A653QS
  • WJEC Eduqas A level Art and Design (Graphic Communication) A654QS
  • WJEC Eduqas A level Art and Design (Photography) A656QS

Enrichment & Experiences

We work hard to network and formulate many experiences and opportunities for students to work with people in the professional artistic community. As teachers, we are members of many art groups and forums and apply for all opportunities and funding. It is our aim to get our artwork seen by a wide audience, including the local and national community. Students work then is seen by a global audience, just as in the professional artistic community. 

<Embed Enrichment YouTube Video>

External Study Experiences and Visits Intent

It is our firm belief that students should work with artists and visit galleries as often as possible during their art education. Experiencing art first hand and engaging them with people in the arts community, lets them see the value of the creative experience. It is vitally important that students are fully prepared before their visits and then use what they have absorbed into their developing practice. The images that you see here illustrate what has happened in the Art department over the last 3 years.

Recent/Upcoming trips include 

The value of our study trips lie in the opportunities for intensive social and environmental experiences which cannot be reproduced in the classroom. These experiences can generate enthusiasm for learning and encourage levels of awareness about the work of artists and designers, which can be of lasting value.  


Paris residential  July 2023- students in Years 10 -13 are will experience, the Louvre , the Musee d’Orsay, the Pompidou Centre  and Monet’s Garden at Giverny. 

London May 2023 – day trip for Years 10 – 12 to visit the Tate Modern and the National Gallery

Compton Verney May 2023 – day trip for Year 12 Textiles to visit the Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain exhibition 

Art Department Study Experience to Paris July 2023Download

Team & Facilities

List the names of the team, qualifications, exam board experiences, industrial experience relevant to the subject.

Impact

2022 Results

  • GCSE Art & Design Fine Art, Photography & Textiles all achieved 100% Grades 9-4
  • A Level Fine Art, Photography, Graphic Design & Textiles all achieved over 83.3% A*-B
  • Overall performance is significantly above the national average for progress and achievement

Quotes from Pupils and Parents

  • Pupil – Art gives us a chance to be highly creative & has allowed me to succeed. My grade 9 allowed me to go onto study Graphic Design at Loughborough University. The fantastic teaching I experience has allowed me to achieve fantastic outcomes that were beyond what I could imagine. 
  • Parent – The Art faculty constantly go above and beyond for their pupils. The staff work tiredly to support my child in becoming the success they are today!  

Destinations

Destinations of students in Year 13 that took 1 or 2 A Levels in the Art Department.