Oaklands SchoolArt
Why is Art Important?
Art education connects students with their own culture as well as with the wider world. Art stimulates creativity and imagination. It also helps develop motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness. Art provides challenges for learners at all levels.
What is the aim of the Art curriculum at Oaklands?
The Art curriculum at Oaklands provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a special way of understanding and responding to the world. It enables children to communicate what they see, feel and think through the use of colour, texture, form, pattern and different materials and processes. Children become involved in shaping their environments through art and design activities. They learn to make informed judgements and aesthetic and practical decisions. They explore ideas and meanings through the work of artists and designers. Through learning about the roles and functions of art, students can explore the impact it has on contemporary life and that of different times and cultures. The appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts enriches all our lives.
Successes and Awards in Art at Oaklands:
Here at Oaklands, our Art department has achieved many awards and successes due to the hard work and creativity from our students. Some of our successes and awards have included:
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The only UK school selected to represent the Queen’s Jubilee for Art, with student work exhibited at St Paul’s Cathedral for six months.
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1st Prize (UK) – Sovereign Art Prize in conjunction with Philip de Pury.
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Student work selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
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Collaboration with the Royal Opera House, where students contributed to set design.
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Partnership with the BBC on an interior architecture project for the Stratford complex.
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Annual selections in the prestigious Stainer’s Painting Award.
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1st and 2nd place in national card design competitions with the NHS and Samaritans, including an NHS asthma awareness poster design.
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Letter of recognition from the Prime Minister for our winning art work ranked 1st and 2nd place in the Children in War and Migrations art competition.
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Annual Art Department exhibition at Mile End Pavilion.
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2nd Prize (UK) – Royal Watercolour Society student competition.
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Artwork featured in Sketch for Survival, raising awareness of biodiversity loss and species extinction.
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2nd Place (UK) – NHS England Digital Health Passport Poster Competition.
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3rd Place (UK) – Children in War National Art Competition.
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1st Prize – Water Only Competition, a major London art competition.
How is the curriculum in Art structured?
The Art curriculum in Years 7-9 explores visual elements as a grounding towards GCSE Art work from Year 10-11. The students explore many processes in Art such as photography, painting, printmaking, collage, drawing, sculpture and clay work.
The curriculum is well structured so that it ensures skill progression in all of these areas paired with a variety of stimuli to enable students to be creative in their response at each stage.
Topics covered in Year 7
- Visual Elements - line, shape, tone, form, colour and texture
- Drawing - variety of drawing techniques
- Colour - use of hues and tone with the use of paint, pastel and other mediums
- Analytical writing in Art - a variety of frameworks to engage in exploring
- Texture - use of texture and surface pattern in Art
Topics covered in Year 8
Pop Art - Pop Art themes includes:
- Food – bold, everyday items as art
- Superheroes – comic book style and iconic figures
- Classic Pop Art inspirations (e.g., Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein)
Art & Architecture
- Perspective is a technique used to create the illusion of depth on a flat surface or to guide how spaces feel in buildings. With extension tasks on Surrealism.
Social & Environmental Art
Art with a Meaning: Use Art to give voice to important social and environmental issues, including:
- Urban Art
- Immigration
- Climate change
- Women’s History Month.
These all encourage students to express ideas, raise awareness, and explore meaning through their work.
Topics covered in Year 9
Art and Design : Natural Forms
Subtopics
- Street and Urban Art
- Surrealism
- Pointillism
- Cubism
- Processes in painting techniques , drawing, printmaking and collage are explored.
Topics covered in Year 10
Art and Design : Natural Forms
Pupils learn from taking creative risks that help them to form and develop their ideas and to create purposeful, imaginative work with some originality. They demonstrate confident understanding and use of materials, processes and the formal elements, combining these thoughtfully to realise their intentions. They analyse and comment on their own and others’ work, appreciating how codes and conventions are used to express ideas in different genres, styles and traditions. They explain how and why their understanding of the work of others affects their own ideas, values and practice.
Photography
- Photographic Techniques including photography in a 5 mile radius of Oaklands.
Topics covered in Year 11
Art and Design : Art and Design Coursework
Topic Natural Forms / Exam unit topic set by Exam Board.
- Final ideas
Students be able to select and explore visual information to develop their work and be able to compare and analyse ideas, methods and approaches used in their own and others’ work, relating these to the context in which the work was made be able to select and explore visual information to develop their work be able to compare and analyse ideas, methods and approaches used in their own and others’ work, relating these to the context in which the work was made.
- Photographic Techniques including photography in a 5 mile radius of Oaklands.
KS4 Qualification title
- GCSE Art and Design
KS5 Qualification title
- A Level Art and Design
Practical tips/activities for parents to support learning at home
Revision study for Art GCSE can be obtained from Google Classroom. These documents contain support with reflective writing frameworks. Visits to art galleries help support students' cultural awareness in Art.
After School club is highly recommended for Study Support workshops which are run by the Art department until 5 o'clock.
Practising the use of drawing from objects, people and the environment is also highly recommended.
Curriculum Maps
Assessment Framework KS3
Department Homework Policies
