Skip to main content
Home Home
Main navigation
  • About

    About our school

    Vision and values
    Culture and wellbeing
    Safeguarding
    Key information and policies
    Ofsted and results

    Our community

    Staff
    Governance
    Ark schools
  • Curriculum

    Our approach

    Curriculum overview
    Digital
    Reading
    Special educational needs

    Subjects

    List by subject
    List by year group
    Choosing GCSEs
    Our careers programme

    Extended curriculum

    Overview
    Performing arts
    Sport
    Clubs
    Duke of Edinburgh
  • Admissions
  • Parent Hub

    Parent handbook

    Parent handbook

    Key information and resources for parents, carers and families.

    Parent hub

    Quick links

    Reporting absence
    Term dates
    School meals
    Uniform
    Payments

    Communication

    My Child at School (MCAS)
    Parent engagement
    Parent letters
    Guides and resources
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Jobs
  • Contact
User account menu
  • Support us

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Curriculum
  3. Subjects
  4. Art, Crafts and Design

Welcome to Art, Crafts and Design

Why do we learn art, crafts and design?
Our approach
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11

Why do we learn 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. 

Our approach

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.

  • Art Curriculum Intent (173.88 KB)

Year 7

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.

Autumn
Do we have an innate urge to leave a mark?

Formal Elements: line, tone, texture, shape, form

Context: Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Ellesworth Kelly, Mai Thomas, Karl Blossfeldt, Susannah Blaxhill, Vincent Van Gogh, Peter Randall-Page

Processes: drawing, photography, sculpture, printing, paper craft

Vocabulary: line, descriptive line, outline, contour line, shape, tone, observation, shadow, highlight, viewfinder, composition, texture, mark making, actual texture, implied texture, handmade, pulp, mould and deckle, impression, emboss

Spring
How and why do artists use colour?

Formal Elements: texture, colour 

Context: Impressionism (1865-1885), Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pointillism (1880’s – 1890’s), Georges Seurat, Fauvism (1900-1935), Andre Derain and Henri Matisse 

Processes: drawing, photography, painting 

Vocabulary: colour, primary, secondary, tertiary, harmonious, complementary, hot, cold, tint, shade, tone, hue, emotion, gesture, movement, perspective, mood, transcription

Summer
Who shapes our art histories and why? 

Formal Elements: line, tone, texture, colour, shape, form

Context: African ceremonial masks, Chinese opera masks, Mexican Dia de los Muertos masks and Venetian masquerade masks

Processes: drawing, sculpture 

Vocabulary: culture, symbolism, represent, scale, construction, relief, tradition, motif, appropriation, meaning, influence

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

Year 8

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.

Autumn
How do artists perceive and express themselves?

Formal Elements:  line, tone, texture, shape, form

Context: Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Egon Schiele, Claire Curneen, Jenny Saville, Desmond Houghton, Alberto Giacometti

Processes: drawing, sculpture

Vocabulary: identity, expression, mood, atmosphere, line of symmetry, stereotype, proportion, armature, depression, gender, (in)equality, representation, abstraction 

Spring
Why do artists challenge conventions? 

Formal Elements:  line, tone, texture, colour, shape, form

Context: Edward Collier, Cubism (1907 -1914), Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque

Processes: drawing, painting

Vocabulary: viewpoint, composition, geometric, representation, interpretation, abstraction, tradition, codes, conventions, perspective, colour, primary, secondary, tertiary, harmonious, complementary, hot, cold, tint, shade, tone, hue, transcription 

Summer
How have artists responded to and impacted upon the world? 

Formal Elements:  Line, colour, shape, form

Context: Charles Sheeler, Luke O’ Sullivan, Barnaby Bradford, Antonia Dewhurst, Nina Lindgren, Michael C. McMillen, Eric Cremers

Processes: drawing, sculpture,  

Vocabulary: perspective, horizon, orthogonal, vertical, horizontal, space, urban, cityscape 

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

Year 9

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.

Autumn
Is it possible to have a dialogue with art materials and, if so, what would they tell us?

Formal Elements: line, tone, texture, shape, form

Context: Eillen Quinlan, James Welling, Jurisiav Rossier, Jerry Reed, Francis Bruguiere, Brendan Austin

Processes: drawing, sculpture, paper craft, printing, photography

Vocabulary: manipulate, construct, structure, level, curves, translation, balance, scale, tension, flow, weight, mass, motion, mood, atmosphere

Spring
What does ‘play’ mean for artists, craftspeople and designers?

Formal Elements: line, colour, shape, form

Context: Pop Art (1950’s – 1960’s) Wayne Thiebaud, Claus Oldenberg

Processes: drawing, painting, sculpture

Vocabulary: popular culture, represent, proportion, structure, scale, revolt, commercial culture, mass audience, mass produced, expendable, colour, primary, secondary, tertiary, harmonious, complementary, hot, cold, tint, shade, tone, hue, transcription

Summer
How does art make people/institutions/ideas powerful?

Formal Elements:  Line, tone, texture, colour, shape, form

Context: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Shepard Fairey, Guerrilla Girls, Soviet Union propaganda, Chinese dissident artists, editorial/political/satirical illustration

Processes: drawing, painting, installation

Vocabulary: editorial illustration, commission, satirical, graphic, propaganda, dissidence, manifesto, protest, performance, installation, collective, degenerate, transformative, socially engaged practice 

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

Year 10

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.

Autumn
Why do artists collect and hoard objects? 

Line and Sculpture

Formal Elements: line
Context: Pupils select own contextual influence, examples could include, Katharine Morling, Martin Senn, Michael Craig Martin, Lisa Milroy
Processes: drawing, photography, sculpture
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present
Link to Prior Learning: Key Stage 3 core knowledge of line and sculpture skills

Spring
Why might a scribble have value?

Texture and Printing

Formal Elements: texture
Context:  Pupils select own contextual influence, examples could include, Giorgio Morandi, Henry Moore, Vincent Van Gogh, Peter Randall-Page, Jasper Johns
Processes: drawing, photography, printing, paper craft
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present  
Link to Prior Learning: Key Stage 3 core knowledge of texture and printing skills

How does contrast help establish the illusion of distance? 

Tone and Drawing

Formal Elements: tone
Context: Pupils select own contextual influence, examples include, Karl Blossfeldt, Susannah Blaxhill, Jim Dine, Jan Groover, Florence Henri
Processes: drawing, painting, photography
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present
Link to Prior Learning: Key Stage 3 core knowledge of tone and drawing skills

Summer
Is it possible to always describe how artwork makes us think, feel or act? 

Colour and Painting  

Formal Elements: colour
Context: Pupils select own contextual influence, examples could include, Fauvism (1900-1935), Pop Art (1950’s – 1960’s) Colour Field (1950’s and 1960’s), Sarah Graham, Liz Jones, Audrey Flack, Vanitas (1600’s)
Processes: drawing, painting, photography
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present
Link to Prior Learning: Key Stage 3 core knowledge of colour and painting skills

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

Year 11

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.’

Autumn
What is my personal response to the theme Collections? 

Personal Response

Formal Elements: line, tone, texture, colour, shape, form
Context: pupils independently select their own influence (s)
Processes: pupils independently select their own processes
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present
Link to Prior Learning: Draws together all the knowledge, understanding and skills developed in the Component One Introductory Project 

How do I present a personal and meaningful response to realises my intention(s)? 

Personal Response

Formal Elements: line, tone, texture, colour, shape, form
Context: pupils independently select their own influence (s)
Processes: pupils independently select their own processes
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present
Link to Prior Learning: Draws together all the knowledge, understanding and skills developed in the Component One Introductory Project 

Spring
Theme: Paper released 2nd January

Formal Elements: line, tone, texture, colour, shape, form
Context: pupils independently select their own influence (s)
Processes: pupils independently select their own processes
Concepts: develop, refine, record, present
Link to Prior Learning: Draws together all the knowledge, understanding and skills developed in Component One  Paper released 2nd January 

Summer
Exam  

The 10-hour period of sustained focus during which pupils produce their final response(s) to the theme.

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

  • Drama
Footer
  • About
    • Welcome
    • Culture and wellbeing
    • Team
    • Policies and reports
  • Curriculum
    • Our approach
    • Subjects
    • Extended curriculum
    • Careers and destinations
  • Admissions
    • Secondary
    • In Year
  • Parent Hub
    • Term dates
    • Attendance
    • School meals
    • Uniform

Image
Ofsted logo

Image
Living Wage logo

info@arkblake.org
020 3443 9000

Ark Blake Academy, 2 Morland Rd, Croydon CR0 6NA

© Ark Schools | Privacy