Art

The Art Department at CVMS is a unique part of the school, providing a bright, inspiring and energetic environment for our pupils to develop their creative talents in Fine Art, Photography, Print, Graphics and Sculpture. We have two specialist rooms and aim to give pupils the practical skills to express their imaginative ideas effectively. Alongside this, we intend to foster investigative, experimental and interpretative capabilities, to ensure our pupils have a critical and analytical approach to art.

Our Department is equipped with a kiln, a printing press, Adobe Creative Cloud, screen printing facilities and a dark room. All of which help to provide pupils with access to various emerging creative skills and experimentation.

We wish to create an environment to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. We aim to ensure we develop personal attributes: self confidence, resilience, self discipline and are committed to the moral, ethical, Catholic and cultural development of our pupils.

Staff List

Ms Sarah Knight – Head of Art (specialist in drawing, printing and textiles)

Miss Tammie Gillard – Teacher of Art (specialist in sculpture and painting)

Ms Ruth Vella – Teacher of Art (specialist in 3D Design)

Curriculum

Across all key stages the curriculum is aimed at developing skills within our pupils to enable them to record and express their feelings, ideas and observations; and to develop their awareness and interest in artists, crafts makers, designers and how arts contributes to our society and that of other cultures.

Key Stage 3: First Form (Year 7) and Second Form (Year 8):

At Key Stage 3 we follow the national curriculum for art, which aims to ensure that all pupils:

Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and exploring their ideas and recording their experiences.
Become proficient in drawing, painting and sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques.
Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.

We work closely with primary school to ensure there is a smooth transition in our curriculum from Key Stage to Key Stage 3.

Our Key Stage 3 learning map can be found here.

Key Stage 4: Third Form (Y9), Fourth Form (Y10) and Fifth Form (Y11)

GCSE: Exam Board AQA Fine Art

The Art Department fully embraces the creative breadth of our subject area by offering a course in Art & Design: Fine Art. Pupils are able to build upon their success and interests from Key Stage. They are able to specialise in areas such as: drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture.

Pupils reflect critically on their own and other people’s work. They learn to think and act as artists and craftspeople, and develop an appreciation of art, craft and design, and its role in the creative and cultural industries that now exist.

Art GCSE allows for us to further extend practical skills, developed at KS3. Pupils gain increased confidence in their creative abilities and ideas are more self-directed. Pupils attend two lessons each week and are provided sketchbooks for each project.
Third Form is an opportunity to build upon creative skills, exploring drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. Pupils learn how to develop visual sketchbooks using a variety of media and new techniques.
Pupils complete two coursework units (60% of the total mark available) beginning in April of Third Form through to January of Fifth Form. These projects are thematic and pupils learn to; develop their own ideas, explore new materials and techniques, find inspiration from contextual and cultural sources, review and evaluate their art work, and create a final work in response to their ideas.
An exam unit (40% of the total mark available) commences in mid-January in the Fifth Form. With a range of starting points, pupils work independently for a number of weeks to prepare for a ten-hour exam in May. Two days are spent making a final outcome.
aster workshops are available for our Fifth Form pupils to support their exam and portfolio preparation.
Within our GCSE course we offer a range of outside of the classroom learning experiences; including trips to galleries and workshops within London and further afield. We work in Partnership with The National Portrait Gallery, The V&A, The Tate Galleries, The Mosaics Room and St Pauls School to support our pupils learning.

Key Stage 5: Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth Form

A-Level Art and Design provides pupils with opportunities to work more independently and develop personal responses to ideas, observations, experiences, environments and cultures in practical, critical and contextual forms.
In order to succeed at this level, students need a very high standard of skill in a variety of mediums and disciplines as well as an ability to analyse and research. There is a strong emphasis on realistic drawing in the new specs.
The specifications put forward from AQA for Art and Design require the students to put more emphasis on drawing.
As the course progresses, pupils will be encouraged to develop an independent, enquiring and creative approach to your studies and to express your ideas in conventional and unconventional ways through a variety of media. A commitment to hard work and meeting weekly deadlines is a prerequisite for success on this course.

A-Level Art: AQA Fine Art:

Component 1: Personal Investigation

60% of A Level. No time limit. 96 marks
Pupils work as independent artist, choose the direction of their work, subject matter etc.
Tutorials, guidance and support form staff.
Further supported by written element of 1000-3000 words, set and marked by the teacher/centre and moderated by AQA

Component 2: Exam / Externally Set Assignment

40% of A Level. Preparatory period + Supervised time 15 hours. 96 marks
Externally set Question for sustained investigation.
Paper distributed on Feb 2nd
Work produced will be marked by the centre and moderated by AQA

In Lower 6 (Year 12), you have the opportunity to explore and build your confidence in a variety of mediums and techniques at a very high level. The first term explores working with drawing, painting, photography, animation, figurative drawing with a live model and sculpture. Independence is paramount and you will be given a theme to develop through exciting investigations and critical understanding.

Personal Investigation begins in term 2 of Lower 6 (Year 12) up until term 2 of U6 (Year 13). This involves an analytical essay of no less than 1,000 words alongside art work which is related to the art based topic chosen for the essay. This work is completely independently based upon the area of study chosen.

Students will regularly visit galleries in London, which enhances knowledge of artworks and helps to develop creativity and styles. A trip abroad in collaboration with DT is also available alternate years.

Where is might lead:

Choose a foundation year at art schools such Central Saint Martins, City and Guilds or Camberwell. Or a specialised art or design degree.

There are range of art and design careers: fine art, illustration, animation, landscaping, architecture, graphic design, theatre, fashion and product design; to name a few. The creativity, analysis and visual awareness required for art A Level will prove advantageous in careers such as advertising and marketing.

Twilight Sessions

Twilight sessions are held for GCSE and A-Level pupils to work in the department and utilise all equipment, materials available to complete their weekly tasks or homework. Guidance is also available from members of staff. This is a perfect opportunity for pupils to catch up if they have missed a lesson or have been absent. Pupils can be accommodated to work in the Art Department each evening, Monday - Friday.

Outside the Classroom

Our Art Department offers a range of outside of the classroom learning opportunities. We have recently been working in partnership with The Wallace Collection, The Mosaics Room, The V&A and The West London Partnership of Schools; to offer our pupils workshops and talks related to Art within religion, future career pathways, ceramics, developments in architecture, art and AI and art in societies and cultures.

Our KS3 and KS5 art clubs also take part in a range of creative activities, including making Christmas crafts to sell at our annual Christmas stall as part of Portobello Market.

This year the department and school community will be partaking in the Artsmark; an award accredited to schools by the Arts Council England: https://www.artsmark.org.uk

The Department is also in the midst of planning to offer pupils at KS4 and 5 who have not chosen to study art at GCSE or A Level, the opportunity to continue to develop their creative interest and skills and gain an Arts Award, a recognised qualification leading to UCAS points: https://www.artsaward.org.uk

We also run competitions for both Lower School and Upper School to partake in, within the school and nationally. In the past year competitions have included our annual Christmas Card competition, Black History Month Competition and our annual Portrait competition. Additionally we have taken part in the Mayor of London’s 4th plinth competition, War Through Children’s Eyes, with two of our pupils coming first and second place this year; and The Royal Academy of Arts Young Artists Summer Show.

Trips & Visits

The School’s location in the heart of London provides us with the opportunity to take our pupils on a number of trips to galleries, workshops and museums in the City and further afield.

Our GCSE and A Level pupils in the past year have attended trips to: The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, both The Tate Modern and Britain, The V&A and The Wallace Collection and have attended lectures by practicing artists and art historians in association with St Paul’s School.

As with all departments within the school, we off our lower school pupils the chance to participate in art activity days at the end of the year. In the past years during these days pupils have taken part in graffiti workshops and street art tours, visited galleries in Brighton and in London.