Cheam School

The main aims of the Art & Design Curriculum are:

● To give pupils the opportunities to experience and compare different approaches to art, craft and design working individually, as a group and as a class. This includes the locality, the past and present and a variety of cultures, Western and non-Western. This learning contributes to an art, craft and design vocabulary and the ability to support views on their own artwork and that of other class members, also that of other professional artists.

● To develop visual perception, where pupils are taught the creative, imaginative and practical skills to express, record and make images or artefacts. They are shown how to use materials, tools and techniques for practical work in accordance with health and safety requirements. The seven artistic disciplines at Cheam are drawing, painting, printmaking, pottery,sculpture, textiles and ICT.

How these aims are to be fulfilled:

There is no Common Entrance Curriculum for Art & Design, therefore we follow the National Curriculum for Key Stages 2 & 3. These Schemes of Work provide the framework for the three projects completed by each form every academic year. These schemes are adhered to in the main with slight variations according to the teacher and class ability. Every opportunity is used to allow for learning difficulties, with the Department working closely with the LS and EFL Departments to ensure all pupils are differentiated for. The artistic process is the same each term, with different themes. The structure is as follows: investigation and discussion, selection of visual sources, choice of appropriate media, producing forms of expression and evaluation of work. In the State system Art is mainly assessed by pupils achieving eight levels at school. At Cheam they are assessed in a group at the end of each class, by two effort grades each lesson and term, and three subject reports a year.

Although Art is not a core subject, the skills learnt in the subject are fundamental to a child's overall development at school, providing unique ways of engaging in the world we live in. They develop a visual language to experience and understand spiritual, moral and cultural issues; thinking and problem solving skills; social and communication skills and opportunities to express and understand emotion.