Art and Design

RESULTS

The art and photography faculty is well resourced and we are proud to have excellent facilities, which include a kiln; clay room; three art class rooms; a brilliantly resourced specialist dark room; photography studio; photography suite; extensive photography equipment; excellent print making facilities and a full time specialist art technician. Our faculty offers excellent provision for Art and Design, along with Photography. We deliver a course under the Fine Art specification (AQA) along with GCSE 3D Art. Our excellent facilities enable our students to excel to high achievement in art, and our students continue to develop their creative practices accomplishing the highest standards in their creative education. The faculty prides itself in the quality of its teaching, and the results achieved by our pupils at both GCSE and A Level are consistently good.

WHY TAKE ART & DESIGN?

Art and photography are both very special subjects which allow you to develop your creative skills and visual understanding. Creativity and visual understanding are important and transferrable skills, which can directly impact progress and success in other subject areas along with future career choices. Art and Photography teaches independent thinking, communication skills, presentation skills and cultural understanding. Through workshops and skills based art practices, you will explore working collaboratively in groups along with developing the confidence to explore your own artistic practice. Art enables you to learn more about your own character, as well as others and the world around us.

During your art education at CSIA you will have the opportunity to work with a wide range of materials and disciplines; you will develop your ability to research and respond to different artists work effectively, and you will become confident in your own analytical skills and the development of your own practical skills. Art and photography offers a healthy balance to other subjects, and allows you to discover your strengths in art and visual communication. You will have opportunity to develop your understanding of art and photography across a wide range of mediums and artistic processes which will support you in creating an art or photography portfolio for higher education.

KEY STAGE 3

Camborne Science and International Academy recognises the importance of creativity in education, employment and industry. Because of this, our Key Stage 3 programme is compulsory for all Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students and plays a vital part in the curriculum. The art department have a well-balanced and popular extracurricular programme which is well attended and is at the heart of our community. We regularly develop our Schemes of Learning for the new academic year, allowing all students the opportunity to follow the GCSE artistic process while developing their skills through a range of exciting and varied projects. All year groups learn how to observe, record and experiment through art, and students discover their own interests when developing final outcomes for their projects. Year 7 explore colour theory, mark making, and natural forms, through a range of drawing, painting, printing and other practical techniques. Year 8 explore the world around us, developing press printing and illustration skills. Year 9 explore a cultural art project, working with materials such as clay, appropriate to their intentions.

KEY STAGE 4

At Key Stage 4 students explore multi-disciplined approaches to developing interesting sketchbooks and portfolio work in response to different artists and photographers. Through their investigations, students discover how to record their ideas skilfully, and learn how to thoroughly analyse other artists’ work. Students are able to explore their own ideas creatively through different media, refine their own artistic practice and create final pieces at the end of their project. All work will be presented in their portfolio, which is worth 60% of their final GCSE grade. After returning from the Winter break in Year 11, students are issued with their exam paper. They will be given a choice of themes to study and are guided through the preparation of research, recording and experimenting with their ideas in relation to their chosen theme. They will then sit their GCSE practical exam in the Spring or Summer semester, when they will create their final piece. This work will then be presented in their portfolio, worth 40% of their GCSE grade.

THE VI FORM ACADEMY

CSIA VI Form offers a transition from Key Stage 4 Art and Design to advanced skills in A Level Fine Art and A Level Photography. The courses offered allow students the chance to learn technical skills and processes through a range of workshops before starting their coursework unit worth 60% of their A Level grade. The exam unit is worth 40% of their A Level grade. The exam paper is given out in February of the qualifying year, students are then guided through the preparatory work in the same way they are at GCSE. The practical exam is sat in the Spring or Summer semester, consisting of the creation of a final piece for exhibition.

A Level Fine Art – This course allows students the opportunity to work in a number of disciplines, including drawing, painting, print-making, textiles, photography and three—dimensional work such as ceramics or prop making. Students will be introduced to a range of working practices through workshops and the selection of a project theme. Students can chose to explore a theme of their choice for their personal investigation, which becomes an in depth line of enquiry into a specialist way of working. Students are supported in their learning with excellent teaching, resources and materials within the department, gallery visits and University tasters.

A Level Photography – A level Photography is an exciting and varied course. Students will be introduced to a wide range of working practices through workshops of both digital and film photography. Students will learn how to communicate visually through lens based media and how to edit work through digital editing platforms and through manual manipulation. Students can choose to specialise in different genres and processes of photography through their coursework and exam units. Former students have used projection, moving image, sound, light installations, textiles and other elements within their photographic work. Students are taught how to record with light, how to produce digital and manual manipulations  in response to different photographers and artists work, and will also gain dark room experience in our specialist dark room facility.

CAREERS

Our courses will prepare students for creative university courses as well as equipping them with many transferable skills. Below are examples of creative career opportunities;