Our art curriculum is designed to nurture creativity, develop technical skills, and encourage students to explore a wide range of artistic influences. Throughout the course, students will engage with both traditional and contemporary art forms, learning about key artists and movements while experimenting with different media and techniques. The KS3 course offers a broad, balanced curriculum in areas of Painting and Drawing, Graphics and 3D work, with some ICT. Students will be encouraged to engage critically with the work of others (artists and peers alike) and to demonstrate and develop their visual literacy through discussion and writing activities.

The year 7 curriculum covers the formal elements of art, including line, shape, form, texture, color, and composition. These foundational skills are developed through practical activities that help students understand how to create effective and expressive artwork.

Students then go onto explore the work of iconic artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Wassily Kandinsky, learning how their use of color, texture, and form has influenced modern art. Through studying their techniques and creative processes, students will gain inspiration and apply these ideas to their own work.

The Year 8 curriculum begins to focus on pattern, encouraging students to experiment with repetitive design elements, and introduces them to contemporary artists such as Brianna McCarthy, whose work combines bold patterns with powerful cultural narratives.

Students will then dive into Aboriginal Art, learning about its rich history and symbolic use of pattern and color, then later exploring Sea Life, where they’ll study marine life as a source of inspiration for their 3D artistic creations.

A significant part of the year 9 curriculum is dedicated to portraiture. Students will learn various techniques for capturing the human face and figure, developing their understanding of proportion, tone, and expression. They will study portraiture artists from both historical and contemporary contexts, gaining insights into different approaches to portraying identity and character.

This diverse and comprehensive curriculum fosters creativity, critical thinking, and technical skill development, ensuring students leave with a deeper appreciation for art and a strong foundation in artistic practice.