CHRISTOPHER WHITEHEAD
LANGUAGE COLLEGE AND SIXTH FORM
Welcome to the Art Department
Mrs T Jones
Teacher of Photography
Teacher of Art and Design
Teacher of Fine Art
- t.jones@cwlc.email
Mrs C Arif
Teacher of Art and Design
Teacher of Art Make-up
Teacher of Photography
- c.arif@cwlc.email
Miss J Price
Teacher of Photography
- k.ash@cwlc.email
Miss J Bayliss
Teacher of Photography
Teacher of Art Make-up
- j.bayliss@cwlc.email
Mrs A Wright
Learning Support Assistant for Photography
Learning Support Assistant for Art Make-up
- a.wright@cwlc.email
Students arriving at KS3 come from a range of different art experiences, CWLC teaches them the skills and techniques to execute creative ideas successfully so that when they leave us at KS5 they can produce work suitable for public exhibitions. All students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of media and examine a diverse range of artwork to build knowledge and understanding. Students are taught how to handle tools and materials and apply these to achieve realistic and more surreal and abstract imagery. Students achieve GCSE and A level results which are typically higher than the national average with our A level students consistently achieving 100% A* – C grades and GCSE students consistently achieving over 92% level 9 – 4. Daily art clubs allow students to build on classwork, complete homework, and meet deadlines for examination work with access to support and materials. Staff have high expectations and adapt teaching to ensure that the level of challenge meets the level of skill so that students have the highest possibility of success.
Year 7
In Year 7 students work in sketchbooks which are viewed as a portfolio of work. Projects focus on animals and the environment. Students use 2D media to learn how to apply marks creating the illusion of fur and feathers using imagery which they are all familiar with. They also explore local landscape and architecture, developing surreal and abstract compositions using line, pattern, shape and colour together with mixed media.
Year 8
In Year 8 students build on their technical skills and develop new skills in 3D. Work focuses on non-western crafts including the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico. Followed by the surreal portraiture of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Students investigate African masks, and contemporary artists using masks such as Kimmy Cantrell. They also look at how masks had an impact on Cubist artist Picasso and develop work with this in mind. During the final term students will consider Graffiti art and the culture behind its inception and how this has become more mainstream. The difference between legal and illegal work highlighting why illegal graffiti is a problem and the consequences of this. Why legal street art is applauded and profitable and how that has been used in local community projects. Students will also be introduced to the cartoon work of Jon Burgerman to develop designs of their own.
Year 9
Year 9 start the year with the project ‘You are what you eat’, using a range of media to create images of still life. They then develop their project in a more personal way thought the theme of Food, Fairground and Festival. They will be developing further skills in 2D application of media to create 3D effects. Finally students will make decisions on composition and media independently based on research and experimentation. They will create a personal response to their ideas that shows links with an artist they have chosen and produce a personal and meaningful response.
At Key stage 4, students have the option to study one of three visual arts courses, these include art and design, photography and art make up which focuses on body art and special effects make up for TV and film. In all three areas students produce a practical portfolio of work which includes between two and three units of coursework over the two years of the course. This work forms 60% of the total GCSE mark. During the second year, students produce a further portfolio of work on a theme set by the exam board, followed by a 10-hour practical timed test. This externally set project provides the remaining 40% of the total GCSE mark.
In art and design, students work on a broad theme which they can tailor to their specific interests. They will gather images on their theme using photography and experiment with a range of media to explore how they can represent these. Students take inspiration from artists, designers and craftspeople that they are interested in and use these as a starting point for developing their own work. Students will create several pieces of work, refining their ideas, creating a personal response to their theme.
In art make up, students use client led themed briefs as starting points to produce make up art and simple costumes. They learn how to use special effects make up for TV, theatre and film. Students explore with latex, face paints and grease paints using themselves as a canvass. They develop skills in Photoshop to edit and develop images of their work.
In photography students learn how to use DSLR cameras in aperture priority and shutter priority modes and well as manual modes. They develop skills in the basic principles of good photographic composition. Students learn how to use Photoshop to edit and be creative with their images. Themed units of work ensure students explore landscape, architecture, still life and street photography.
Within all the visual art courses, students work is marked holistically to reflect the four different assessment objectives which include:
- Developing ideas based on looking at sources including artists, craftspeople and designers.
- Refining work though experimentation with media, tools and techniques.
- Recording ideas through, mark making, making and writing.
- Creating a personal response.
