Academic Departments - Art

The art department is a very lively and exciting department. The girls achieve fantastic results in all years and at GCSE level, last year 2007-2008, three of the students achieved 100% and were in the top ten in the country.

The department is very vibrant throughout as show by the many displays of student’s work around the school as well as within the department.

The department is made up of three specialist Art rooms, including a Sixth Form Studio with a computer area and printing press, an extensive Art reference library area, a small dark room and a kiln room. 

The KS3 schemes of work are designed to set a sound foundation for studying Art and Design to GCSE and beyond.  In Years 7 to 9 every girl has one double lesson of art per week, where they are taught about the key elements in the visual language of art and Design, line, tone, texture, colour, form and structure. Nearly all the work is project based with projects usually lasting about a term.

Although the projects in Years 7 to 9 are very much teacher led, the girls are often given a choice of activities to complete a project.  Every project has a sound contextual base ranging from Logo Graphics and the work of Rousseau in Year 7, an ethnic theme, Pop Art and Picasso or Klimpt in Year 8 to Georgia O’Keeffe and the contrasting styles of Nick Park and Giacometti in Year 9. During Year 9 the girls are introduced to Textiles and spend a term researching, designing and making a cushion.

All Key Stage 3 pupils are given a specialist Art sketch book where they build information through research and experimenting with different methods and media.  Through this they are able to develop their ideas and final outcomes to a very high standard.

Art and Design is offered as a GCSE subject in Year 10 where the girls study the unendorsed syllabus offered by Edexcel.  The course is made up of 60% course work and 40% examination.  The coursework is then sub divided into two units where the students are encouraged to use a wide range of media and disciplines.  All projects are supported by in-depth research and development work in the form of a work journal or sketch book.  At the end of the two year course the girls display their work in an exhibition. This is moderated and then opens to the school and parents to view.

The GCSE results achieved are always of a high standard with a very high percentage of the girls achieving A and A* grades.

The students studying A level Art and Design have their own Sixth Form Art Studio with a special computer area and a printing press. Many of the students who study A level Art and Design go on to study art at Art College, The London College of Fashion or to study architecture at university, but others take this subject for the diverse and exciting opportunities it gives them to express themselves.

The Edexcel unendorsed Art and Design syllabus is followed.  One of the highlights of the school year is the GCSE and A level Art exhibition held at the end of the Summer Term.  Two of the girls studying A level art this year have taken on an extra project to design and paint a mural at Clarendon Junior school as part of St David’s outreach programme and links with our local community.

Regular Art trips to the London Galleries take place for all year groups plus in recent years trips have gone to New York, Barcelona and Berlin.

The Art rooms are always open and the girls are encouraged to come at lunch times and after school to work on their art.  A clay club runs Wednesday afternoons.

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