Visual Arts
The production of art is a universal practice that spans the entire history of the human race. From earliest times, human beings have displayed a fundamental need to create and communicate personal and cultural meaning through art.
The processes involved in the study and creation of visual arts are central to the development of capable, inquiring and knowledgeable young people. The study of visual arts and the journey within it encourages respect for cultural and aesthetic differences, and promotes creative thinking and problem solving.
Visual arts continually create new possibilities and can challenge traditional boundaries. This is evident both in the way we make art and in the way we understand what artists from around the world do. Theory and practice in visual arts are dynamic, ever changing and connect many areas of study and human experience through individual and collaborative production and interpretation.
In their visual arts lessons students are taught to work in a variety of media developing a broad range of technical skills and knowledge. These skills are delivered along side historical and contextual information of art movements and investigations of appropriate artists. The schemes of work are developed around the National Curriculum programmes of study. In non-core subjects the programme of study simply contains two sets of requirements:
- Knowledge, skills and understanding
- Breadth of study
The knowledge skills and understanding in the programmes of study identify the aspects of art and design in which the pupils can make progress:
- Exploring and developing ideas
- Investigating and making art, craft and design
- Evaluating and developing work
- Developing knowledge and understanding
Investigating and making includes exploring and developing ideas and evaluating and developing work. Knowledge and understanding should inform this process.
The breadth of study refers to the contexts, activities, areas of study and range of experiences through which the knowledge, skills and understanding are taught:
- Exploring a range of starting points for practical work including themselves, their experiences, and natural and man made objects and environments
- Working on their own and collaborating with others, on projects in two and three dimensions and on different scales
- Using a range of materials and processes, including ICT
- Investigating different kinds of art, craft and design in the locality, in a variety of genres, styles and traditions, and from a range of historical, social and cultural contexts
Students in Years seven, eight and nine have a teacher directed programme that is designed to develop a solid foundation of arts practice and contextual understanding. The balance starts to shift as students work towards choosing their IGCSE options. From this point students begin working from a central theme or idea and are encouraged to take more responsibility for their work, from conception to realization. The objective of this shift in direction is to develop the independent learning skills that students will require for the successful completion of the IGCSE course. These skills are critical for Year 12 students to taking the IB Diploma in Visual Arts.
