Welcome to Art, Crafts and Design

Art, Craft and Design, as a combination of disciplines, defines and promotes visual literacy. As young children we learn to interpret images long before we become fluent in the written word. Visual literacy enables us to communicate and comprehend successfully and meaningfully in an increasingly imagesaturated world. In the words of artist and art critic John Berger, “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognises before it can speak. But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world.”1 Art, Craft and Design is about visual literacy and communication and is an understanding of visual culture and practice. For Ark Blake Academy pupils, it provides a channel of communication beyond text and the ability to ‘seize their greatness’ without words. 

The Art, Craft and Design curriculum is ambitious, challenging and inspiring. The curriculum is mapped backwards from university study, Key Stage 5 and Key Stage 4 so all pupils are empowered to unlock their ability to ‘seize their greatness.’  The design of the Art, Craft and Design curriculum is built out of several design principles alongside the wider Design Principles of Ark Blake Academy. These provide focus for learning experiences as well as the breadth and depth of skills, knowledge and understanding. The art curriculum design principles include:

• Deep and well-rehearsed use of the formal elements provide the foundation for pupils to access powerful knowledge.
• Knowledge of art, craft and design from acknowledged masters are given equal value as nonwestern, female and contemporary artists. This provides breadth of art history.
• Mastery in drawing, painting and sculpture crafted from depth in procedural knowledge.
• Drawing and mark-making skills are learned and assimilated so they become second nature.
• Knowledge and skills build cumulatively across the curriculum in a meaningful order.

In Key Stage 3, the Art, Craft and Design curriculum is designed to firm the foundations achieved at Key Stage 2. Pupils are led through three thematic investigations a year, such as ‘The Built Environment,’ ‘Identity’ and ‘The Natural World.’ As pupils progress in their mastery of knowledge and skill, they learn more about processes and terminology of different arts and become familiar with an ever-wider range of artists, crafts people and designers.

In year 7, pupils engage with three thematic enquiries: The Natural World, Landscapes and Colour Theory and World Masks. Through these themes, pupils are introduced to the formal elements of art and their foundation vocabularies. This vocabulary allows pupils to describe, evaluate and express an opinion on works of art, craft and design. In the autumn term, pupils learn the importance of keen observation and gain a good grounding in basic drawing skills, using line, tone and texture. In the spring term, pupils gain an understanding of colour theory and how artists within in Impressionism, Fauvism and Pointillism used colour to respond to their surrounding landscapes. In the summer term, pupils gain a foundation set of sculptural skills, exploring Western and Non-Western cultures and their use of artefacts in rituals, theatres and celebrations.

All Year 7 subjects Next Year 7 Subject - Modern Foreign Languages

In Year 7, pupils have acquired the knowledge of the formal elements and their breadth of application using a wide range of materials and processes. In Year 8, pupils explore the codes and conventions of portraiture, still life and cityscapes. The depth of this knowledge grows across the three thematic enquiries, Identity, Multiple Viewpoints and The Built Environment. Pupils build on their foundation vocabulary, as they compare and analyse visual concepts they study in context to culture and time.  Pupils revisit core drawing skills in the autumn term learning the principles of facial proportion, and also build on wire sculpture skill sets to include armature techniques. In the spring term, pupils gain confidence in their colour mixing and paint application techniques in response to still life compositions and Cubist artists. In the summer term, pupils will study their environment and produce perspective images in a range of media and using a range of processes.

All Year 8 subjects Next Year 8 Subject - Modern Foreign Languages

In year 8, pupils gain their knowledge of the codes and conventions in art. Pupils also developed skills in judgement and evaluation to be able to adapt and refine their work and recognise the influence of context and time. In year 9, pupils use their understanding of codes, conventions, genres, styles and traditions to inform their own judgments and strengthen their artwork. Pupils will increase their proficiency in handling different materials and purposefully use tools and techniques across the three thematic enquiries. In the autumn term, pupils construct, manipulate and deconstruct the concept of sculpture, pushing its boundaries using paper. In the spring term, pupils play with the concept of image and question the dominant approaches to art, culture and traditional view on what art should be. In the summer term, pupils examine the powerful role of objects and images in movements for social change. Pupils produce objects and images to communicate disobedience.

All Year 9 subjects Next Year 9 Subject - Modern Foreign Languages

In Key Stage 3, pupils have mastered knowledge about art processes and context as well as skills of generating ideas, making and evaluating art craft and design. During an introductory project in year 10, pupils are introduced to aspects of the course working with a diverse range of materials and techniques in drawing, painting and sculpture workshops.

All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Modern Foreign Languages

Pupils in Year 10 began to create a single project, which reflects a sustained and indepth period of study. In Year 11, pupils are given ownership of the theme Collections and an emphasis is placed on developing individual directions and building independent work practices, whilst relating their work to that of other artists and designers in both a contemporary, cultural and historical context. In response to the externally set exam paper, pupils will be able to approach the timed sustained focus with a clear plan of how they will realise their intentions, demonstrate understanding of visual language and ultimately ‘seize their greatness.’

All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Modern Foreign Languages