Art

By the end of the Year 11 students at Pendle Vale College will: 

• be able to independently and confidently analyse and evaluate, making informed decisions and form their own opinions about Art, Craft and Design within the studio and beyond. 
• be able to effectively research, develop and sustain a chosen study from conception to realisation within the subject and apply this to other areas of their learning. 
• have understood the importance of rigour and discipline in creating successful and worthwhile outcomes and will have applied this to their own learning within the subject  
• have been given every opportunity to develop personal self-confidence through improved communication, cooperation and organisation skills.

We fully believe that Art contributes to the development of all students at Pendle Vale College through our unrelenting focus on: 

• Currency: giving our students opportunities to recognise that they have talents which could otherwise remain latent. 
• Character: involving students in a wide range of creative activity, meaning that their achievements are personal and often highly individual. They are, by definition, in some way, novel and original, different or distinctive to anything previously created  
• Skills: providing ongoing experiences across the range of Art, Craft and Design to facilitate the development of manipulative, practical and physical skills alongside the heightening of visual awareness.

We seek to instill a true love of learning in all our students by: 

• offering an ever-changing exciting, rich and varied SOL providing a wealth of experience offered nowhere else in the curriculum. 
• a passion and absolute love of the subject from highly experienced and artistically talented teaching staff who work to, and share, their strengths.  
• creating a learning environment where students want to spend time and feel valued, where relationships are built on mutual respect.  

In order to achieve a true understanding of Art, topics have been intelligently sequenced based on the following rationale: 

• that students from Year 7 are introduced and familiarised to the broad spectrum of Art, Craft and Design believing that the rich and varied learning will allow them to sequentially build upon the key elements of the subject allowing them to flourish and to deepen their knowledge, skills and understanding. 

• that “Art “Craft” and “Design “/ “2D” “3D” and “concepts” “production” and “critical/contextual” is a matrix followed to ensure learning remains broad and balanced allowing students to know “about “as well as how to “do” the subject. 
• Learning is refreshed every academic year with projects rarely revisited. The key elements of visual art remain as the core skills but with the theme / focus changing depending upon interests / current affairs / cultural issues etc. This keeps a freshness and excitement with outcomes different every year, providing for exhibitions that are ever different for us to share across the wider college community. 

We fully believe that Art contributes to the development of students at Pendle Vale through their development in five key areas: 

• Social development is encouraged through carefully planned projects with a collaborative learning focus, helping students to learn to value different ideas and opinions and to develop respect for those which are different to their own  
• Moral development of students is promoted when helping students to identify or represent moral issues in their own work and that of others. This is often done through critical studies and the contextualization of artwork across time and place. 
• Spiritual development is highlighted when helping students to explore ideas and feelings and to make sense of them in a personal way through their discussions and their practical artwork. Students are encouraged to make connections with their own and other experiences through looking at examples of Art, Craft and Design across time and place. 
• The curriculum contributes to the cultural development of students in helping students to realise how images and artefacts have an influence upon the way people think and feel, and to understand the ideas, beliefs and values behind their making, relating them to their cultural context. 
• Personal development is taught by encouraging students to think for themselves, to experiment and explore while building onto a growing base of knowledge skills and understanding.  

The Art curriculum ensures that any potential equality issues are mitigated by: 

• Creating an environment in which girls and boys can work both individually and together on equal terms providing them both with the same potential to engender similar aspirations.  
• Developing amongst students an understanding of, and a positive response to, the multicultural society of the region and beyond.  
•  Giving all students a range of opportunities commensurate with their needs and abilities, encouraging them to see their full potential and helping them realise it, especially those with additional needs. 

Our belief is that homework should be a deliberate practice of what has been modelled and taught in lessons, as well as interleaved revision to ensure students are embedding previously learn knowledge but also developing high level skills alongside powerful knowledge. 

Opportunities are built in to make links to the world of work to enhance the careers, advice and guidance that students are exposed to including: 

• Contextual and critical studies within the learning for all years, providing a window into the world of work within the creative industries. 
• Working to an externally set brief and the experience this brings in terms of “real life” procedures and parameters.  
• Talking to students regarding career paths and the vast array of opportunities within the creative industries –making reference to contemporary practicing artists, craftspeople and designers 

Whilst ensuring students are well prepared for their GCSE examinations, we teach beyond the exam specification by: 

• fostering an increased confidence in expressing ideas, feelings and opinions in an informed and structured way. “Talk” used to extend and enrich learning is integral to day-to-day teaching. 
• providing a curriculum and pedagogy that encourages students to be more independent in their learning. In effect, students must do much more than just “create “, they must research, experiment, problem solve, question, select, analyse , reflect, evaluate and modify in a continuum – key skills for lifelong learning.  
• extending student’s knowledge, understanding and awareness of the world beyond the confines of the studio, through the critical and contextual analysis of selected artists and their works, from across time and place.

The Art curriculum at Pendle Vale has been influenced by: 

• Educating for Art (Rod Taylor, 1986) and Critical studies in Art and Design education (David Thistlewood, 1989) believing that  critical studies is vital to a balanced Visual Arts curriculum and have therefore adopted an approach which supports this. Every facet of Art has its history and contemporary practitioners. Art objects have been made by virtually all peoples and extend back to prehistoric times. Looking at artwork across time and place enhances understanding of the processes and concepts of Art and helps to broaden student’s critical and contextual understanding .  
• The Arts in schools, Principles, Practice and Provision (The Gulbenkian foundation 1982). Art is fundamental in developing physical and perceptual skills which have wide application and value. This does not just mean teaching “about” Art, but it means enabling young people to “do” art themselves. 
• The Arts in Wigan Schools – a policy statement (Wigan LEA 1988). A framework for an Arts entitlement and its subsequent delivery which, over time has not diminished in its currency and relevance therefore remains an influence upon the pedagogy of the department. 
• Living Powers: the Arts in Education (Peter Abbs, 1987). The department applies the principles that the Arts, while different from other areas of the curriculum, are equal to and vitally  important in providing a balanced curriculum. The Visual Arts  are an ideal catalyst to imbue the whole curriculum with added meaning and vitality so to disregard this would be to the detriment of all young people’s wider learning. 
• The specialisms / disciplines and personal artwork of the department staff, alongside a collaborative and shared approach working to strengths and expertise.