Art and Design/Photography at Millom School
The Art Department teaches a wide range of disciplines and encourages pupils to explore a variety of approaches. We hope to encourage a lifelong appreciation of art, and the inspiration and encouragement for pupils to participate and create artworks of their own.
All pupils are provided with a thorough grounding in draughtsmanship, painting, composition, colour theory and three dimensional work. Our photography students are taught camera, lighting, and digital techniques. This allows them to grasp the basic technical skills before going on to develop their individual styles.
Taught by:
Mr D Grange
Miss R Hughes
KS3 – Art at Millom School
Each year group in KS3 will produce 3 units of work that cover a range of craft and design techniques and develop an understanding of the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
Year 7
Pupils will be working from direct observation and secondary sources, the projects will range from Aboriginal art, self image and natural and man made forms. The processes covered include painting, printing and collage.
Year 8
The three units covered in year 8 are Native American Art (creating a Totem Pole), Objects and Viewpoints (studying the work of the cubist artists) and Our Surrounding. The ability to analyse by comparing and evaluating works of art continues and the techniques range from Papier-mâché, painting and collage.
Year 9
This year group will have a broadening experience of more complex painting techniques such as wet on wet wash, stencil designs, partial use of photography, as well as primary recording skills in both drawing and painting in a wide variety of media. The units covered are the Mexican day of the dead (Mask Designs), Still life (focusing on the work of Pop artists), and decoration (decorating a skateboard in a style that reflects street art).
Extra-curricular activities
There is currently an after school Art club for KS3 which also introduces pupils to photography.
KS4 – Art and Design/Photography at Millom School
The G.C.S.E. course provides an opportunity for students to be introduced to a variety of experiences exploring a range of lens-based and light-based media, techniques and processes, including both traditional and new technologies.
They should explore relevant images, artefacts and resources relating to lens-based and light-based media from the past and from recent times, including European and non-European examples which should be integral to the investigating and mark making process. Responses to these examples must be shown through practical and critical activities which demonstrate the candidates understanding of different styles, genres and traditions.
AQA Examination Board
Coursework 60%
External Examination 40%
All Students must meet the four assessment objectives.
Each objective is worth 20 marks.
Deadline Dates
Coursework– All units must be completed by the end of the Autumn term in year 11.
Examination titles given in January.
Examination completed in March/April.
KS5 – Art and Design/Photography at Millom School
Art and Design at this level is a challenging but rewarding subject that combines the intellectual with the practical and requires a high level of energy and commitment. There is a lot of fun amidst the independent thinking and the creative effort! This is an essential subject for those wishing to pursue a career in any of the creative industries.
The aims of the course is to enable our students to learn how to develop and produce personal creative work within an art and design context, understood across a broad number of creative disciplines. To analyse their own visual work as well as evaluate and learn from work by other artists, designers and crafts people.
Candidates may be entered as Fine Art or Photography depending on their area of interest.
AS unit 1 is the creation of a portfolio of work, which examines and learns from the work of others – through written and visual analysis, experimenting with materials, processes and developing expressive techniques and ways of responding. Students produce a personal response to a given theme, which expands further techniques and processes gained from class exercises into personal visual work(s).
AS unit 2 is a broad theme, set by the examination board for personal interpretation, to be completed within a 10 hour supervised time plus preparatory period.
A2 unit 3 is composed of an analytical written and visual contextual study in an area of particular interest to the individual, which nurtures a unit of practical work and encourages their personal art and design interests to a higher level of enquiry and attainment on a theme of their choice.
A2 unit 4 is an externally set unit centered on a broad theme, undertaken at the end of an extensive and intensive three to four months preparatory period of research and visual development studies. Students in their A2 year will tend to specialise in a discipline of their choosing.
Other Subject Combinations
History of Art is an obvious choice to complement this subject, and would help support all aspects of it. However, good subject combinations vary according to what students want to study at university or college. Architecture and interior design require art, mathematics and preferably physics; chemistry or physics are good additional subjects if photography is to be studied. With ceramics, glass and textiles, combinations of sciences help students understand and develop the many complex technical problems inherent in those subjects.
Potential Degree Courses and Career Choices
Studying AS or A2 art can lead to a huge range of university degree courses in Architecture, Interior Design, Interior Decoration, Surface Design, Fashion, Textiles, Glass, Ceramics, Exhibition Design, Photography, Film, Video and Television, Animation, Illustration Graphics, Product Design, Furniture Design, Fine Art and Community Arts.