Art education is vital in giving students an understanding of our culture and the traditions that it is rooted in, ‘enquiry, curiosity, and creativity are fundamental to learning and are stimulated by cultural experiences’.  Art allows pupils to think about moral and religious issues which have often been subjects for artists.  Our art curriculum at Clyst Vale gives students opportunities to look at different societies and cultures throughout history, giving students alternative views on reality and ways of doing things.

 

Art can bring life to something which was spoken or read, thought or felt.  Rather than being merely an activity which is a leisure pursuit, art enriches our culture and is central to our lives.  In order to make sense of the increasingly visual world we live in we must learn to become visually literate.

 

Using the National Curriculum as a basis the department aims to:

 

Provide a challenging, balanced, stimulating curriculum which promotes students’ understanding of themselves, their identity and personal culture by building on their own interests and prior learning.

 

Develop in our students an awareness of how art and design is firmly rooted in a culture and how art and design affects our everyday life and our being in the world, through visual and tactile forms.

 

Provide methods of teaching and learning such as formative assessment which enable students to learn how to learn through structured programmes of study and differentiated learning targets.

 

Develop visual literacy, aesthetic understanding and competent use of the formal elements.

 

Help students to take part in dialogue with themselves and others about art by identifying what is common and what is distinctive in their own art and the art of others.

 

Develop students’ artistic vocabulary and language skills to enable them to formulate their own ideas and opinions when reviewing, modifying and evaluating work and setting personal targets.

 

Teach transferable practical and cognitive skills for realising ideas, making their own work and manipulating materials, tools and techniques.

 

All this is fostered through a caring and supportive ethos which puts strong and positive relationships at the heart of everything we do.  Students work and the confidence and sense of worth it engenders is celebrated throughout the college and wider community.

 

Art & Design is a highly successful subject at Clyst Vale and has a central role in the College’s achievements. Progress made by students is dramatic in KS3, and both GCSE and A Level results reflect a high level of achievement in comparison to national and local pass rates. The department currently consists of one full time and three part-time members of teaching staff, each bringing high levels of expertise and experience to our subject area.