Art

Art & Design at Headlands offers a broad and balanced curriculum that aims to inspire, educate and challenge pupils with a wide range of artistic disciplines, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to experiment, invent and create their own works of art from KS3 through to GCSE and A Level.

The KS3 curriculum provides a range of projects which exposes students to a large variety of art skills such as drawing, painting, sculpture work and print-making, all designed to help students develop a love for art and share their ideas, experiences and imagination, whilst exploring new and interesting techniques.

There are opportunities for students to discover many different art movements and influences in culture, along with specific artist research to help aid their understanding of Art & Design. KS3 students are encouraged to evolve their creativity into small projects throughout the year, inspiring them to design and make a purposeful and meaningful response.

Students are offered the option to progress into KS4 and KS5 with GCSE Fine Art, A Level Fine Art and A Level Photography with the largest UK examination board, AQA. Lessons are carefully sequenced, designed and differentiated to support the progress of students who have a range of thematic approaches.

As they progress, students are able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They are also offered opportunities to explore and appreciate how art and design both reflect and shape history, as well as contributing to the culture, creativity and wealth of our modern world.

Building on the knowledge and skills developed at KS3, both KS4 and KS5 students are provided with projects which allow them to express themselves in a confident and individual way. There is more emphasis on independent projects. These projects provide 60% of students’ final grades and offer a large range of choices and directions in which to take them.

An externally set assignment provides the remaining 40%. Based on set questions from AQA, students are able to develop their own ideas and outcomes through personal investigations.

The Art & Design Department are dedicated to engendering students’ productive, creative and innovative participation in the world of visual arts inspiring them to move forward into further and higher education and employment, as well as gaining some essential skills for life.

The success of our curriculum is evident in our students’ results and in the confidence with which they take the next steps in their education or employment journeys. We also judge our curriculum’s success on the ways that students develop a love of learning and the new work that graces our school’s corridors every year.

Find out more information about our art curriculum by clicking the links below.

Get more detailed information on what students look at on a term-by-term basis in each year group by clicking on the links below.

Click on the links below to see how students are assessed in Years 7, 8 and 9.