Art
Curriculum intent
The Art & Design curriculum at Harris academy Beckenham is stimulating and vibrant, embracing both two and three-dimensional work. We aim to encourage creativity and imagination. The creative process is a balance of thinking and acting creatively. It involves taking risks in order to progress and produce original outcomes.
For further details of the Art curriculum please see the documents at the bottom of the page or contact Ms. N. Ruddock.
The Art & Design Department celebrates the individuality of each student whilst taking their studies further into GCSE and A Level. Our curriculum has been designed to cater to all abilities and aptitudes for this subject and to guide our students to out-perform their initial capacity. A range of techniques, processes and methods, using traditional media and digital languages, will prepare our students to demonstrate creativity and confidently develop skill sets to create a body of work drawn from their experiences and surroundings.
Within the department we embed a basic skill set of formal elements: line, tone, shape and form, colour, texture and pattern. Students immerse themselves in the fundamental practical skills required to construct and deconstruct concepts and forms from KS3 to KS5. This is achieved through the understanding of the formal elements and applying them into a series of visual works. Observational study is a core component of the basic skills and drawing from real things is a key starting point in many of the projects. Projects can vary from year to year but are linked to the basic skills.
We are committed to developing students’ knowledge of Art history including contemporary concepts and advances in art. We nurture creativity by helping students to establish original purpose and intention in their work - stimulating and rewarding curiosity and exploration by encouraging confidence and the willingness to take risks, building on intrinsic motivation and facilitating opportunities for choice and discovery.
We ensure students discover social and cultural diversity through the study of the issues that shape our own lives, our communities, beliefs and the wider forces of globalisation.
We create opportunities for all students to access an inclusive and personally differentiated curriculum appropriate to their individual aspirations. We develop the individual through independent and collaborative work often seen in the Art & Design industry.
Homework is an important part of the curriculum and the use of a sketchbook encourages independence, imagination and good practice.
Implementation
At Key Stage 3 students will identify what it means to draw; to create marks on paper and record the world around them from direct observations. They will gain knowledge about what is meant by observational drawing which impacts their own approaches to visual recording. Students, through repetition, are taught to build on their drawing skills to develop pieces which show greater fluency and growing control in the mastery of drawing techniques. Simultaneously students critique the work of others to identify how proportion, tone, colour and mark-making can be applied to create realism. As students’ progress into year 8 students further refine their skills and mastery of different approaches to visual recording through examining portraiture; questioning how others record reality from their own perspective; understanding how others generate Art is a vital tool in supporting students to progress as emerging artists.
At Key Stage 4 students are expected to demonstrate skills of autonomy and independence to generate their own works of Art. Students learn the processes required to develop, produce and refine their own outcomes, experiment with materials and produce purposeful and innovative pieces which are well informed by a rich knowledge of contextual research. Students develop the skills of being to appropriately select and apply materials with high levels of ability, critiquing their work with fluency. Students, no matter what their own starting points, are encouraged to develop a love of learning for the Arts. Art and Design is a subject critical for developing and fostering student diversity at HABE.
Impact
We nurture creativity by helping students to establish original purpose and intention in their work stimulating and rewarding curiosity and exploration by encouraging confidence and the willingness to take risks, building on intrinsic motivation and facilitating opportunities for choice and discovery. We ensure students discover social and cultural diversity through the study of the issues that shape our own lives, our communities, beliefs and the wider forces of globalisation. We create opportunities for all students to access an inclusive and personally differentiated curriculum appropriate to their individual aspirations. We develop the individual through independent and collaborative work often seen in the Art & Design industry. We ensure students recognise the importance of sustainability within the Art & Design world. Homework is an important part of the curriculum and the use of a sketchbook encourages independence, imagination and good practice.
