Art

Art at Hollinwood Academy is about ensuring every child can join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and recreational activities. Students are engaged and inspired by a challenging curriculum where they gain knowledge about the work of great artists and how art and design reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. These inform their own exploration of themes relevant to their interests and life experiences.

They learn observation through developing skills in recording line, shape, pattern, colour tone, texture, and through photography. They are given opportunities to develop this understanding and to experiment with a variety of mediums and techniques. They will be encouraged to playfully take risks and be open to notice the results. Through this they develop their own visual literacy and self-expression. This creative process can have a positive impact on self-confidence and self-esteem. They will create a sketchbook and final pieces where they can see their personal achievements and how they have progressed. They will learn about layout and how to make their sketchbook pages look interesting.

At Key Stage 4 they continue with the same structure as KS3 with the acquisition and development of: Knowledge, Experimenting, Observing and Making. They will present their work thoughtfully in a sketchbook which they will learn to use as a tool to work things out and journal their ideas and explain their processes. They are given a theme to start with but as they progress through the course they are guided towards exploring artists and themes linked to their personal interests. They will build a portfolio of work as they carry out purposeful investigations into artist research, and experiment with different media and techniques playing to their strengths. They will develop transferable skills that will serve them as employable creative citizen as well as using creativity as a way to nurture themselves. Throughout the creative process they will reflect on their success and make decisions by evaluating what they have done to take them forward. They will learn how to refine their ideas and produce impressive final pieces of art which show off their skills and communicate their intentions. At the end of the GCSE they will have designed and planned a final piece to make independently in controlled conditions and their work will be exhibited.