Art Curriculum Vision
The vision of Art in The Mendip School aims to provide opportunities for all learners to access the creative process, to express themselves and to foster independent learning, with a meaningful imaginative outcome. Within their journey, learners will develop a resilience through engaging with materials and techniques to solve creative challenges. Learners will be given freedom to explore and experiment, discovering possibilities and limitations that will expose them. Through engagement and a willingness to learn, students will gain tools to equip them for the future. The holistic nature of Art as a subject will redefine and transform, and as a consequence it will promote positive mental health and well-being, enhancing students’ lives.
To view our art framework please click here
Intent
Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to inspire and to motivate. The Art curriculum intends to offer an enriching experience, with a positive impact on personnel well-being; developing relationships with other people, encouraging empathy, and cultivating respect.
Students will investigate a variety of inspirational sources from the world around them. They will be pursuing numerous inspirational artists, designers and craftspeople from various backgrounds and cultures that have graced this world, and throughout time.
Embedded at the core of the art curriculum is providing students at the Mendip school with necessary tools to equip them for their next step, and this will encompass learners to think creatively, express themselves, solve problems, self-reflect, and develop ideas.
Implementation
The art curriculum aims to provide a programme of study for all students that lays the groundwork for students to confidently communicate in visual and tactile form, familiarising them with the principles of Fine Art and Design.
The core of the curriculum is to harness individuality and develop ideas and recordings uniquely meaningful to individuals. Learners will be invited to be adventurous and to confidently communicate through purposeful challenges.
Carefully planned differentiated lessons, provide students with clear structure where students can feel confident to experiment within a safe environment.
All students have access to at least one hour per week, and are predominantly taught by a specialist teacher. GCSE Art is provided for students who wish to pursue a qualification. Following the AQA syllabus, they will be required to sustain an intense interest and link their work to a recognised artist or craftsperson, showing they can develop ideas and communicate their reflections. Although this at times can be challenging, the outcomes can be immensely rewarding.
Impact
The impact of art is notoriously difficult to quantify due to the intangibility of “creativity” and the intrinsic value of art. Often during art lessons students can transition between conscious and unconscious processes and to quantify these outcomes with robust evidence is impossible to regulate.
The Arts Council commissioned a report in 2015, which focused on the framework of assessment, and included seven quality principles:
- Striving for excellence and innovation
- Being authentic
- Being exciting, inspiring and engaging
- Ensuring a positive and inclusive experience
- Actively involving children and young people
- Enabling personal progression
- Developing belonging and ownership.
The Art curriculum at the Mendip School provides a framework to measure both formative and summative assessment. The purpose of formative assessment is to monitor student learning and provide ongoing feedback to staff and students. The goal for summative assessment is to evaluate student learning as an outcome. At the end of an instructional unit outcomes will be evaluated by comparing it to the B Level benchmark. Assessment informs planning and targets for personalised learning for each student. Other means of evaluating progress is achieved through Evidence for Learning, Learning Walks, Sketchbook Evidence, Moderation and Lesson Observations.