INTENT:

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that all our students are able to achieve and make progress throughout KS3 and into KS4 and beyond.  At Manor Croft Academy we enable students to create and imagine, express and experiment, adapt and develop.  We aim to engage, inspire and challenge our students, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to appreciate art whilst experimenting, inventing and creating their own works of art.

We designed the curriculum at Manor Croft so that students can start with the foundation of the formal elements and then refine, develop and build upon their skills as the key stages progress. We place a high value upon the importance of drawing, making and experimenting.  Students investigate ideas through visual language, exploring techniques, materials and processes through their own practical work.  As student’s progress throughout KS3 they will be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of Art, Design and the world around them.  At KS4, students are encouraged to think as an artist and be creative, take risks, be experimental and ambitious with their sustained units of work.

IMPLEMENTATION:

The Art & Technology faculty encompasses a wide variety of disciplines at KS3 that allows students to delve into and explore a multi-specialism carousel, with a range of dedicated teaching staff, over 3 years. The areas we cover at KS3 are:

Within each area, students will research and investigate cultures, artists, designers, sculptors and photographers that will inspire and add context to their understanding and work they produce.  At Manor Croft, starting in Year 7, we embed the concept of assignment themes, as students would be expected to work this way in KS4.  Our themes are:

We believe that working this way introduces the students to approaching projects and themes in a range of ways, utilising a vast array or materials, techniques and processes.  We also aim to embed Memorable Moments and trips into our schemes of work that help inspire and engage students in the assignments and at KS4.  These visits provide a wealth of opportunities to capture vital primary source images and incomparable exposure to famous and important works of art.

At Manor Croft, our aim is to sculpt passionate and reflective pupils through our curriculum. It will guide them into having a brave approach when developing skills with media and their techniques, using the physical act of art as a tool for looking, experiencing and learning.  Understanding and applying the formal elements of art across all disciplines: line, shape, form, tone, texture, pattern, colour and space, are vital in underpinning creative work and successful students and this is reinforced throughout the entire curriculum at KS3 and 4.

IMPACT:

Ultimately, we are committed to nurturing resilient, ambitious and curious art & design students, who have a new found appreciation and love for the subjects, who will embed creativity along their educational journey, in their own futures, careers and everyday life.

Photography at GCSE provides our pupils with a range of different ways to express their individual creativity. It also aims to enable pupils to develop a natural sense of wonder and curiosity about the world they see around them. Through studying a diverse range of artists throughout history pupils will develop their critical thinking and cultural appreciation. Contemporary artists and google itself also provide inspiration and stimulus for pupils to aspire towards.

Pupils will develop proficiency in drawing, painting, understanding colour and shade, photography and its manipulations. They will be given opportunities to experiment, invent and create their own works of art in the styles of artists studied. Skills developed here can be transferred to many subjects and into the future; resilience, independence, analytical and reflective skills and most of all ambition.

Progression into KS4 art or photography provides more opportunities to look deeper into the culture and inspirations behind artists’ work. Analysis using key art vocabulary is included in all projects, alongside the history of the artist, and the meaning communicated within the images.

For GCSE we currently cover 2 short projects and a major project.