Vision and Philosophy
“You can’t use up creativity, the more you use the more you have” Oscar Wild
The Colne School of Art believes that everyone is creative, everyone has ideas, but how best can we communicate those ideas to the world using visual language?
We aim to make Art accessible to all through a varied curriculum that encourages exploration; cultivating students who are resilient, independent, and culturally aware with a sense of discovery. We hope our students leave having gained life-long skills in being able to explore and communicate ideas.
“Art is the most intense form of individualism that the world has known”
Every artist is different and we encourage pupils to be creative, take risks and develop their own artistic style to help communicate individual ideas. Our teachers aim to inspire students through exciting lessons that celebrate student’s work and make Art engaging and enjoyable to all students.
Cultural Capital
In Art subjects we are in a strong position to enhance our student’s cultural capital in lessons and with extra or super curricular experiences too.
Our Art curriculum is built upon an understanding of art history and artists. In lessons we expose students to art all the way from the Renaissance to contemporary art practices and to art styles from across the world. Students get the chance to debate and discuss controversial artworks in lessons and learn how to articulate their opinions on art. At GCSE level we encourage our students to see ‘the bigger picture’ and explore how practitioners are influenced by the world around them. We also encourage our GCSE students to create responses inspired by their own perceptions of the world they live in.
In addition to lessons, all students are given the chance to explore a new art subject in the termly ‘Spotlight’. Plus KS3 students have the chance to take part in super curricular art workshops each year and GCSE students use gallery visits to experience art first-hand and enhance their exploration of new projects.
Curriculum Journey
This is a map to show the learning journey in Art/Photography from year 6 through to further education and possible careers.
ART Curriculum map 2021-2022.pdfOverview of the learning journey in Photography
Year 10
Year 10 in GCSE Photography is all about learning ‘Advancing Skills’- Pupils advance and translate their previous skills from Art to suit Photography. They re-visit subjects such as self-portraits, perspective and colour theory but in more advanced ways using skills suited to their chosen subject.
GCSE Photography begins with a Basic Skills Portfolio including an Introduction to Photography, Composing a Photograph and Colour Theory. This is followed by Abstraction; exploring methods used to create non-objective images. Pupils will experiment with extreme macro images and capture movement using long exposure. Students are encouraged to take creative risks, experiment more with their images and develop original methods of presenting photographic pieces. In the summer term of year 10 students begin preparation for a mock exam based on the theme of Identity; pupils experiment with hand rendering methods over photographs inspired by Rankin’s Destroy project. They also learn how to take self-portraits, beyond the selfie. They sit the 5 hour mock exam at the end of year 10 using what they have learnt in the project to create a photographic piece.
Year 11
Year 11 in GCSE Photography is all about learning ‘Embedding Skills’- students need to show that prior learning is embedded in final coursework and exam projects. They are able to apply skills and knowledge with independence and increasing individuality.
From September students work on a major project Pop Photography; a project that explores the influence of Pop Art on Photography. Students study the work of Andy Warhol- recognising how people, objects, repetition and colour can convey the appeal of popular culture. They also look at Robert Rauschenberg and start to incorporate found objects and hand rendering to create layered images that reflect their opinions on current issues. Finally, the Externally Set Assignment; a theme set by the exam board, students have 10 weeks to prepare a project and final idea, then 10 hours in exam conditions to create their piece. Previous themes have included Reflections, Fragments and Past, Present and Future.