Year 7 Interlace
Students explored art elements of line and pattern through studies of Celtic and Islamic interlace, Insular Art, and Norse Art. They studied the looping, braiding, and knotting of decorative geometric designs through observational drawing, and they applied their observations and creative sketches to produce interlace designs in a ceramic relief tile.
Year 8 Masks
Students built on previous studies in portraiture with seminars about masks from different areas of the globe: the masks of the damas of the Dogon people in Mali, Noh masks in traditional Japanese theatre, Venetian Carnivale masks, and those of the Mexican Dia de los Muertos festivities. They then created their own 3-dimensional masks using a variety of materials.
Year 9 Coffee Portraits
Students learned about Vik Muniz's Pictures of Garbage– a series of portraits of Rio de Janeiro's garbage pickers made from recyclable materials that flood into the world's largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho. Students were challenged to consider the wide variety of materials that can be used to make art and the ways in which material can direct a viewer's understanding of an artwork. In this project, they recreated iconic portraits by tracing the image onto tracing paper and building up value with ground coffee.
Year 10 Still Life
Students established foundational knowledge in the elements of art, the principles of design, and various compositional strategies, which they further developed through still life observational drawing, painting, collagraph printing, and collage. They learned about Vanitas, Sensationalist, Post-Impressionist, and Pop Art approaches to still life and applied their insights to explore varied approaches and possibilities in the genre.
Year 11 Portraiture
Students explored the visual and conceptual elements of portraiture through life drawing, painting, printmaking, and collage. They also built on studies in human anatomy to consider wider issues of culture, identity, and diversity. Art historical and contemporary references were discussed, including Baroque, Fauvist, and Cubist approaches to portraiture, as well as the work of Cindy Sherman and Kerry James Marshall. The term culminated in a self-directed final project in which students chose one of four themes to generate a creative and personal response to the genre.
Years 12 & 13 A-Level
The A-Level Art & Design programme offers a flexible but demanding 2-year course for aspiring artists, designers, and prospective university students to assemble a portfolio of completed artworks. In this time, students are challenged to hone technical skills, build critical and conceptual awareness, and improve the clarity by which they communicate their creative voices.
They are expected to engage in independent, thoughtful, and comprehensive research; rigorously investigate medium, content and function, the work of contemporaries and artists of the past, and realise their personal artistic objectives.