  A GCSE in Art and
Design opens doors to a whole range of careers. The creative industries employ over
1.5 million people and the sector continues to grow. It could lead to opportunities
after the course that vary from painting a mural to designing a kettle, from planning
an exhibition to creating a web page.
Art and Design is also a life skill that contributes specific qualities towards
the learning of our students. It gives them the opportunity to stimulate creativity
and imagination in different and exciting ways.
Years 10 & 11
- In Year 11 students study three units of work during the course.
The initial unit is structured to enable students to understand the course criteria.
- Students are encouraged to become self-motivated and are offered
a broad based theme to work from. Within each assignment each student should include
evidence of the following:
- Make drawings, colour studies, notes, take photos – to record
what they find, think about, decide upon in relation to the topic. These could be
in the form of a work journal, or design sheet, whatever is appropriate.
- That they have tried to understand meanings, make judgements
and comparisons of artworks. Be aware of the time, place and reasons they were made.
- The use of whatever is available to help the student explore
the topics eg. Pictures, ideas and information. Develop ideas, creating and experimenting
with different art materials and techniques, making alterations and improvements
as they go on.
- Production of their own, individual work as they have planned
it. Using skills gained from looking at the work of others which should have been used to help their final outcome.
|
|
|
 The course also requires each student to:
- Keep a sketchbook in which the weekly
homework will be done. Students are expected to spend one hour per week on the homework.
- Complete three assignments over the course of study, as directed by the teacher.
- Mount an exhibition of their work at the end of the course.
- Produce an examination
piece that is also mounted and displayed alongside the coursework.
|
Coursework assignments will be assessed using the appropriate assessment objectives
at the end of the unit of work. Targets will be set that and time allocated to revisit
the assignments in order to achieve the targets set by the teacher.
The final exhibition
of the students work will take place in May. The coursework and terminal examination
are marked out of 60 according to the examination board’s criteria listed previously.
The exhibition is then awarded a final grade by the examination board. The practical
examination piece carrying 40% of marks and the coursework 60%.
|
|
|
The opportunities
vary, and could lead to a variety of career choices such as – Architect, graphic
artist, animation, fashion design, furniture design, electronic imaging, interior
design, illustrator, environmental designer, broadcasting, photo-journalism, footwear
designer, packaging designer, prop/scenery designer, ceramic artist, printer….to
name but a few. You may wish to consider GNVQ, A level or vocational A level in
Art and Design. Alternatively, a good grade at GCSE will also help you move on to
any AS, A level or vocational A level course.
|