Throughout Art A Level we challenge students to think, act and speak as if they were working within the profession. We do this by teaching students to become visually literate, building on the skills that they have learnt during their GCSE Art, Photography and Graphics courses. They are taught to read, interpret and find meaning in images, artefacts and resources; exploring and taking inspiration for use in their own work. We do this by giving students first-hand experience of Art, through opportunities to engage with practitioners and examples of both current and historical art and design from a broad range of cultural contexts. We integrate this within the curriculum through taught lessons, workshops, visits to galleries and residential trips. Recently this has included trips to local and London galleries, workshops with local artists, life drawing classes as well as a residential trip to New York. Students are encouraged to become independent practitioners, exploring their own ideas and direction within their work. We support this through one to one tutorials within lessons as well as group feedback sessions, enabling students to learn from and inspire each other. Purposeful exploration of materials and techniques all foster artistic and design awareness, understanding, knowledge and skills. We provide learning contexts that promote the understanding of the creative design that lead to exciting career opportunities. The A level course is split into 60% coursework and 40% exam. Students will have 4 hours a week of taught lessons and will supplement this through independent study. Students have access to their own art studio specifically for Year 12 and 13 students from 8am to 4pm every day to support this.