Art and Design

Course summary

Component 1: During the first term in the Lower Sixth, students take part in fast paced workshops in drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture. They are expected to make highly skilled responses to a theme in all four media, reviewing and refining their work with the aid of their teachers. Risk-taking is encouraged, trying new ideas is important and the ability to evaluate success and failure is essential. Alongside the practical outcomes, students are introduced to a range of artists, historic and contemporary, to help to inform their practical work. They are expected to develop their ability to talk and write about art, using appropriate vocabulary. During the third and second terms, students are expected to make more personal decisions about the direction of their work. By the first term of their second year, students are all working on a highly individual project theme, all the while referring back to the assessment objectives. Recent themes chosen by students have included 'Protest', 'Imaginary worlds' and 'Fragmentation'. They are expected to contextualise their own work in relation to those of others, and to evidence this they are required to write an essay of between 1000 and 3000 words. Component 2: The Externally Set Task is completed during the final two terms of the A level course. AQA release an examination paper with several themes. with advice from their teachers, students choose one of the themes from the paper. They have approximately 12 weeks to gather research and observations, experiment with materials and ideas, and create links between their work and others. The final outcomes to this body of work are made during a 15-hour timed examination.