Art

The art department at Whitley ensure that each student has a creative and inspiring experience of art during their time here.

All of the art teachers in the department have a variety of specialist skills from fine art, textiles and illustration to photography. We work together to share these skills and teach students different practical skills. Key to everything we do is drawing. We encourage all learners to practice their drawing skills through a variety of different methods. Students are also encouraged to produce 3D work as well as 2D. We have a kiln to fire clay and a dark room to enable students to develop their own black and white photographs.

As we are an RSA academy, we have established links to royal designers that will run workshops and develop projects with our students. This opportunity gives us valuable links for our learners to find out about working in the art and design industry and gain different skills that are not on offer in other establishments.

KS3

In key stage 3, students are learning different skills and techniques that they may need if they chose to go on and study art or photography at GCSE level.  The projects that we develop encourage learners to use different media, materials and equipment. They will study different artists, both historical and contemporary, and will be encouraged to talk about their work.  At the end of the project students will be encouraged to create their own final piece in response to the work they have completed.  They will also comment on their own work, to develop their evaluative skills.

In Year 7 learners have one lesson a week.  They will complete two projects, a still life project and portraits project.

In Year 8, learners have four lessons over a two week timetable. They will complete two projects, a hat project and an architecture project.

In Year 9, learners have one lesson every two weeks.  They will complete a project based on Food.

KS4

Pupils begin their KS4 journey with us in Year 10 by selecting to study a visual arts subject, and studying their chosen option for two years until the end of Year 11.

For pupils choosing to study Visual Arts we offer;

Fine Art

Pupils produce practical and critical/contextual work in some of the following areas including; drawing and painting, mixed media, textiles, sculpture, installation, printmaking, lens-based and/or light-based media: photography.

Photography

Pupils produce practical and critical/contextual work in some of the following areas including; Manual camera skills using Nikon DSLR’s, Photoshop and manipulating techniques, and traditional dark room work.

AQA GCSE in Art and Design – Fine Art or Photography

Both Fine Art and Photography are structured and assessed in the same way and share the same four assessment objectives. Pupils are introduced to a variety of experiences exploring a range of media, techniques and processes. Pupils are guided to explore drawing for different purposes and needs. They are encouraged to explore relevant images, artefacts and resources relating to a range of Fine Art or Photography. Personal responses to these are then shown through practical and critical activities. Pupils are assessed using the four assessment objectives.

The four assessment objectives are:

The courses are structured and assessed as below:

The full specification can be viewed on AQA’s website or by following the link below:

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/art-and-design/specifications/AQA-ART-GCSE-SP-2016.PDF

Drama and Performing Arts

The Drama and Performing Arts Department aims to develop student’s confidence and creativity through the exploration of emotions, relationships and wider society. Throughout their studies, the students focus on building transferable skills that can be used in a variety of contexts in the future. These skills include cooperation and negotiation within groups, articulation of feelings and opinions and the evaluation of other’s work.

Performing Arts at Whitley is passionate about giving students opportunities within Drama and Music inside and outside of the classroom. Our experienced drama specialists deliver engaging and exciting lessons that inspire students to participate in an active learning environment.

Key Stage 3

Drama at Whitley is taught to all students in Year 7, 8 and 9. Initially we work on the development of skills, such as confidence, communication and the ability to work as a team. These skills are then developed into working as effective group members to create thoughtful practical performance work influenced by themes, scripts and the world around them. All of this is then transferable beyond Key Stage 3 where students have the option to take the subject at Key Stage 4 level.

Throughout their study, they will explore many topics including Theatre from Different Cultures, Shakespearean Drama, Devising from a Stimulus, Mask Work and Horror and Tension.

Throughout key stage three, they will have the opportunity to explore careers in the creative arts industry by working in key job roles within their group. The roles that students regularly take are:

• Director
• Actor
• Stage manager
• Sound technician
• Set designer
• Costume designer

Key Stage 4

At Key Stage four, students have the option to study BTEC Level 2 in Performing Arts. This course allows the students the opportunity to study, and be assessed in a variety of performing arts disciplines. These include:

• Drama
• Dancing
• Singing
• Music
• Costume and make-up design
• Set and props design
• Front of house
• Marketing

BTEC TECH AWARD IN PERFORMING ARTS

How does the course work?

The course is made up of three components: two that are internally assessed and one that’s externally assessed. Our three-block structure, explore, develop and apply, has been developed to allow students to build on and embed their knowledge. This allows them to grow in confidence and then put into practice what they have learned.

Our assessment structure is also designed so that students can build on what they learn, and develop their skills, as they move through the course.

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