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"Castle School Education Trust is committed to high quality education across the primary, secondary and sixth form key stages. Our schools cover the South Gloucestershire area. We encourage independence within each school within a strong framework of values."

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Mangotsfield Secondary

  • Year 7 Information Evening - Monday 7th October - 6pm - 7pm

Art and design

Why do we study Art and Design?

Art has the power to tell us of our past, present, and future through the recording of our thoughts and experience. It allows our young people to explore culture in a creative capacity without boundaries. Art can be used to entertain, create awareness, and communicate. The universal nature of art allows every student the opportunity to explore and develop an understanding of our current issues through a well-balanced education and ensure that they are able to positively contribute to the wider world as individuals.


Art naturally builds student confidence and resilience. It encourages our students to problem-solve, to be self-critical, to make decisions, and to take risks within their learning. The encouragement of self-expression and exploration naturally encourages our students to embrace ‘the happy accident’ and ‘learn through their mistakes’.
Art is a vehicle to engage, evoke reactions, and provoke action through the employment of the human senses. Experimentation and exploration underpin our subject values by encouraging students to investigate ideas throughout a creative journey.


Art forces our students to observe the world around them, to slow down and to look in a very fast technology filled world. The study of art teaches our young people life skills: resilience, problem-solving, to be self-critical and decisive, to take risks, build social skills, build learner confidence, and develop a moral compass. These qualities are not exclusive to Art but applicable and transferable to adult life and relevant to a number of different career paths.


The study of Art and Design supports our students to pursue careers within the largest growing sector in the UK economy according to ‘The Creative Industries’. A broad curriculum allows our learners to confidently engage with career options within this sector.

Meet the team

  • Mrs Beedle - Head of Art

  • Mrs Lay - Teacher of Art

  • Ms Harding - Art Technician

KS3 Programme of Study

Year 7
Term 1: Land Art, explored through Drawing and group work outside in the school grounds.
Term 2: Colour, explored through painting in response to the Abstract work of the artist Kandinsky.
Term 3: Colour and Abstract Art, responding to music to create collagraph prints.
Term 4: Trip to Slimbridge Wetlands, to draw first hand from birds used back in the classroom to design sculptures.
Term 5: Sculpture building focuses upon shape and form.
Term 6: Sculpture building focuses upon texture and colour.

Year 8
Term 1: Observational Portrait drawing, supported by portraits throughout Art History.
Term 2: Planning an inspirational person clay bust, supported busts from worldwide cultures.
Term 3: Clay bust of an inspirational figure
Term 4: Eco print, exploring etching, supported by the work of Banksy.
Term 5: Eco print, exploring etching
Term 6: Still Life painting and photography, in response to the Vanitas painters and their contemporary artists.

Year 9
Term 1: Art history portrait - artist fact file - whole year creating an Art History portrait timeline
Term 2: Personal Art history portrait exploring photography and painting.
Term 3: Clay bas relief tile - whole year creating a map exploring worldwide cultures, and history.
Term 4: Clay bas relief tile - whole year creating a map exploring worldwide cultures, and history.
Term 5: Natural forms drawing in response to Peter Randall Page and further artists.
Term 6: Natural forms etching in response to Angie Lewin

Course: AQA Art, Craft and Design

Exam weighting: 40% Examination 60% Coursework

Assessment: Student’s coursework and exam are assessed at the end of year 11; the work is externally moderated by AQA

Content: For the coursework component students will begin with a series of workshops to develop skills and build confidence in working with a range of media.

Course: Three Dimensional Design

Exam weighting: 40% Examination 60% Coursework

Assessment: Student’s coursework and exam are assessed at the end of year 11; the work is externally moderated by AQA.

Content: For the coursework component students will begin with a series of workshops to develop skills and build confidence in working with a range of 3D media.

GCSE Programme of Study

Art and Design

Year 10
Terms 1 & 2: Media workshops observing and recording Food. Using drawing, painting, photography and Clay
Terms 3 - 6: Developing a self directed sustained project to the theme of ‘Precious’

Year 11
Terms 1 & 2: Resolving ambitious individual outcomes for the project ‘Precious’.
Term 3: Start the externally set exam
Term 4 & 5: Developing ideas, responses to individual exam projects. Exam days completed in May to create final outcomes for the projects.

Three Dimensional Design:
Year 10
Terms 1 & 2: Media workshops observing and recording Food. Using drawing, photography, card construction, wire, plaster casting, and clay.
Terms 3 - 6: Developing a self directed sustained project to a sculpture brief, responding to the coast and sea.’

Year 11:
Terms 1 & 2: Resolving ambitious individual outcomes for coastal sculpture brief .
Term 3: Start the externally set exam
Term 4 & 5: Developing ideas, responses to individual exam projects. Exam days completed in May to create final outcomes for the projects.

Homework

At Key Stage 3 students are set 2 extended pieces of homework per term. One with a creative focus and the second with a research focus.

At GCSE students are set homework tasks to complete weekly. As students work individually, students are directed to set homework tasks on an individual basis.

Google classroom is used to set homework.

Enrichment Opportunities in Art

Art Leadership Group:
We offer a club for Key Stage 3 students who love art. We meet weekly during lunchtime to work on creative projects.

Art Workshops:
Specialist workshops are offered to all students to attend after school, every long term. We have offered Christmas decorations and printmaking most recently.

Eco Club:
As an extension of Art we offer an Eco Club for Key Stage 3 students to attend during lunchtime. So far we have created assemblies for the wider school, made and sold beeswax wraps, started to reduce the plastic used in the canteen and had a flower bed created for the school grounds.

Bspoke16 Art Trail:
We work in partnership with the local community art group, Bspoke16 to take part in the BS16 art trails. Through this we are establishing links with artists. We have had the mural artist Gwenna Ewing work with our students to design and paint an inviting mural for our school.

 

GCSE:
We have visiting artists who lead workshops with our students in school. It is such a positive experience for our students to meet working artists first hand.