Vision Statement
Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. Our high quality art education will engage, inspire and challenge our students. The vision of the Art Department at St Oscar Romero School, is in tandem with the schools vision, which is to aim to be the best Art Department in the country, by helping every student to achieve their innate creative potential. The Art Department at St Romero’s believe a world class art, craft and design education provides students with personal expression, cultural understanding, creative and practical responses, promoting imaginative risk taking and solutions to our material, emotional, social and virtual world.
Our environment is full of visual, aesthetic and creative decisions in all we view and experience in the use of colour, proportion, shape, pattern, media and texture. All we see and consume has had a creative process and decision behind it, from buildings, bridges, advertising, websites, wallpaper and clothing. Since man and womankind were able to make marks they have made art of the world around them and from their imaginations, the cave paintings in Lascaux, France made 17,000 years ago are testament to this inbuilt urge to create.
Students’ knowledge of artists, designers, craftspeople and cultures will be broadened in their art, textiles and graphics lessons. As well as learning the history of art and the importance of cultural wealth, students will learn the rudimental skills of drawing and painting. Students will experiment with many different media and techniques using a variety of equipment from an industrial printing press to sewing machines you can draw with. Students will become confident in their artistic skills and become independent learners, able to discuss and compare artworks. Creativity is a way of life that consumes your whole being from childhood to adulthood, not just practically, but being a creative thinker. All businesses want employees who ‘think outside the box’, this is why we believe that being an artist is the highest accolade in any field.
The Team
Miss M Longman – Teacher of Art and Graphics
Miss C Williams – Teacher of Art
Intent
The Art Department’s intent at St Oscar Romero is to create a dynamic, inclusive and exciting department where students are able to express themselves in a visual way though a variety of mediums such as;
- Painting, drawing and printing,
- Sculpture, photography and animation,
- Fashion, interior design and textiles.
Our ethos is to challenge and support students to learn and master high level skills and enjoy the practical element of new exciting techniques in both two and three dimensional contexts.
Students will be supported individually and given techniques and solutions that suit their way of working and interest to ensure they make progress and produce individual creative work.
Implementation
All students in Key Stage 3 (Year 7-9) receive one lesson a week of Art and also an 8-10 week rotation of Textiles and Graphics as part of the Technology curriculum. This forms part of a broad and balanced curriculum, focused sharply on developing our students’ creative and aesthetic prowess.
Schemes of work are designed to increase in challenge, following a structured pathway that is rooted in the four GCSE assessment objectives and based on practical and technical skills. Schemes are planned and are always under review to provide all students with the current pedagogical practice and contemporary artists.
At Key Stage 4 students can embark upon a GCSE in Art, Textiles or Graphics where units are allocated in Year 10 whereas in year 11, starting points are chosen by students with an even greater emphasis on individual practice. GCSE Art students will gradually build upon skills, knowledge and ways of working learnt in Key stage 3 where they will progress to master previous and new highly skilled techniques. Students will learn about the role and purpose of individual artists’ work and art movement’s and the original academic genres. New techniques and media will be offered for the whole cohort and individually.
The four GCSE assessment objectives are:
- AO1-the study of artists, designers, cultures and craftspeople
- AO2-experimentation of media and development of ideas
- AO3-observational studies; written, photography, realistic drawing and painting
- AO4-a personal and individual final piece
There is an increased responsibility upon the learner to research and make individual exploration and self-manage their time thereby developing an important life skill. Student enrichment and raising of aspirations are key through; specific site, museum and gallery visits and in school workshops with visiting specialists and extracurricular clubs. All GCSE students’ work is displayed in the ‘new gallery look’ end of year exhibition.
Impact
As a result of the quality of the curriculum and teaching and learning in Art, Graphics and Textiles, we are proud to celebrate that students receive a truly outstanding education in our subject. Our results over time are illustrated in the table below.
| % 4 (standard pass) | % 5 (strong pass) | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 77% | 65% | +0.23 | 5.2 |
| 2020 | 100% | 96% | N/A | 7.0 |
| 2021 | 100% | 100% | N/A | 7.4 |
| 2022 | 100% | 90% | +1.32 | 6.5 |
| 2023 | 100% | 100% | +2.33 | 6.96 |
Our GCSE results are consistently in the top 1-5% of the country with a broad range of practical and artistic skills fully developed by our learners. In addition to the outstanding outcomes achieved by our students, the highest reward for us as teachers is the pride we gain in developing creative and expressive students where their art education has enriched education as well as encouraging them to develop an appreciation of the beauty of art in later life. We fully believe that a well-rounded art education supports our students in building confidence, encourages calculated risk-taking and a sense of individual identity.
Inspiration
Students are offered enrichment through; extracurricular clubs, competitions and museum gallery visits including the end of year Art Exhibition in school and Arts Award.
The Art Department at St Oscar Romero’s wants to offer all students’ extra-curricular creative experiences in KS3 and KS4 whether or not students take a creative pathway at GCSE or if it is a career they will follow.
KS3
- Years 7-9 are offered Arts Award Bronze which is regulated by Arts Council England and Trinity College London. Students explore the four parts of Arts Award Bronze; research an arts practitioner, make an art piece, visit a gallery or museum, usually Pallant House, Chichester or The Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, and share an arts skill with another student.
- The art department exhibition features; art, textiles and graphics work from KS3 & 4 students. All students in KS3 take a tour of the school exhibition and have the opportunity for their work to be entered and featured.
- Year 9 students are invited to take part in GCSE workshops in; art, textiles and graphics, learning skills and techniques of a higher GCSE level when considering their GCSE options.
- Year 8 students have a four week drawing programme and access to cacti first hand drawing relating to their unit ‘Landscape/ David Hockney’.
- Year 7 students have a four week first hand drawing programme of exhibits from the Booth museum, Brighton of the taxidermy birds relating to their ‘Fantastic Birds and Beasts’ unit.
KS4
- Years 9-11 are offered Arts Award Silver which is regulated by Arts Council England and Trinity College London. Students will explore the four initial parts of the Bronze award and also; plan an arts leadership project including the practical issues, lead the arts project, work with others on the arts project and review their arts project.
- Year 10 art students will have two visits linked to the two units of work in year 10; Still Life at the National gallery, London and Portrait at the National Portrait gallery, London for drawing and research.
- Year 10 art students participate in an ‘in-house’ Portrait workshop by the Royal Academy outreach programme.
- Year 10 textile students will have a two visits linked to the two units of work in year 10;
Oceanic at the Sea life centre, Brighton and Cultural Identity at the Pavilion, Brighton for photography, drawing and research. - Year 10 textiles will also have a visit to a London gallery, usually the V & A museum to see a fashion design exhibition.
- Year 10 textile students participate in an ‘in-house’ fashion illustration workshop by the Central St Martin’s outreach programme.
- Year 10 graphics students will have two visits linked to the two units of work in year 10; Photographic Identity, The Photographers Gallery, London and Posters in Time at the London Transport Museum for drawing and research.
- Year 10 graphics students participate in an ‘in-house’ Architecture workshop by the Royal Academy outreach programme.
- Year 10 art, graphics and textile students are invited each year to take part in school arts based projects. The current school projects are; a St Oscar Romero stencilled portrait and font design in spray paint on the exterior of the building and eight stained glass window designs for the school chapel, representing the school houses and saints. Previous projects have been; the school large scale wooden cross inspired by the El Salvadorian crosses designed by Fernando Llort ,a friend of St Oscar Romero, the St Romero interior mural inspired by the artist LLort and large scale spray painted murals at St Mary of the angels church, Worthing.
Future plans
- Visit to a Head office of a UK fashion company and/or interior designer company
- Worthing costume gallery with archive access visit.
- Zoom meeting with fashion/interior designer Arkaduisz.
- Workshop and Q&A with local Sussex artist Julian LaBass.
- Previous students to support with technique workshops.
- Visits and workshops with HE providers.
- Further linking of curriculum to Arts careers.
- Links with FE and HE in the local and national area to provide workshops and visits to these establishments.
