Expressive Arts
Our Faculty Mission Statement is:
Within the Expressive Arts family we aim to build global Catholic citizens through challenging and stretching our students as artists and performers. We instil the belief that with faith in God, students can succeed in showcasing their talents.
We develop skills in Art, Music and Drama to nurture cultural awareness and creativity. This enables all students to develop as creative thinkers and reflect the wonders of God’s creation in their pursuit for excellence.
Our Expressive Arts faculty includes Art, Music and Drama.
Art
The Art department aims to build global Catholic citizens by challenging and stretching our students as artists. We use Art as a tool to nurture cultural awareness and creativity and enable all students to widen their awareness of the world they live in. We aim to provide all children with a wide ranging, positive experience, which encourages a lifelong interest in Art. The Art curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills are delivered in logical progression and build on what has been taught before, encouraging students to increase proficiency in their execution. We strive to ensure that each and every pupil has the opportunity to develop as creative thinkers within the department’s programme of work.
In our teaching we increase visual language through seeing, understanding, questioning and practising. Our Art curriculum is critical and contextual at its core. Artists, craftspeople and designers are used to underpin practical tasks to support, develop and allow students to investigate further. We explore techniques, materials and ideas through developmental schemes of work which are sympathetic to all pupils’ needs, and set high levels of expectation, relative to their ability and experience.
Cross-curricular links with History, English literature, Maths, MFL, Geography, Design Technology, Religion and Citizenship underpin many of the curriculum projects. Cultural links define many projects and literature is often a key feature.
In Year 7, students are assessed in their first lesson to ascertain prior learning and provide a benchmark to inform and adapt teaching. Differentiated tasks cater for the progression of all students. We introduce the formal elements of Art and Design through: line, tone, shape, structure, pattern, colour and proportion at a basic level. We look at Art past and present and develop literacy skills through: key words, written evaluations, analysing and expressing opinions.
In Year 8 students build upon learning from Year 7 to further develop skills and techniques. They are introduced to a wider variety of materials and explore colour mixing, gradation, mixed media, perspective, scale and dimension.
In Year 9 students continue to extend their experience of a range of media. They develop advanced skills and processes for each activity including the use of higher level thinking. Students begin to lead their own work more independently in preparation for GCSE Level.
A high-quality Art curriculum enables pupils to enjoy and succeed as creative thinkers and become fully rounded individuals. It gives students the opportunity to explore visual, tactile and other sensory experiences to communicate ideas and meanings. Through the exploration of traditional and new media students develop confidence, competence, imagination and creativity. They learn to appreciate and value images and artefacts across times and cultures, and to understand the contexts in which they were made. Students are encouraged to reflect critically on their own and other people’s work, judging quality, value and meaning. They become adventurous, enquiring and build on creative skills. Students learn to think and act as artists, craftspeople and designers, working creatively and intelligently with the potential of progressing into the creative industries.
- Curriculum Progression Model Year 7
- Curriculum Progression Model Year 8
- Curriculum Progression Model Year 9
- Curriculum Progression Model Year 10
- Curriculum Progression Model Year 11
Music
The music department aims to build global Catholic citizens by developing students’ knowledge through a variety of instrumental performances, creative tasks, technology projects and critical listening. We aim to provide all children with the opportunity to perform and grow their confidence through a range of engaging and challenging topics. In Key Stage 3 pupils will develop the skills necessary to succeed at GCSE level by developing on skills learned in each year.
Our music lessons provide pupils with a diverse curriculum that explores music from a variety of cultures and contexts. Pupils will learn to play a range of instruments including keyboard, ukulele and Samba drums. In each topic pupils will learn key terms and develop their musical vocabulary.
In Year 7 pupils are given a benchmark assessment that is used to inform future teaching strategies. Pupils will explore a number of topics that explore the key musical elements such as rhythm, harmony and melody through a range of relevant and differentiated examples. Throughout the year pupils will have the chance to compose, perform and analyse a range of musical styles.
In Year 8 pupils will build upon their previous knowledge and begin to learn more complex techniques such as improvisation and extended chords. Pupils will learn how to perform a variety of styles including Blues, Reggae and Pop. Pupils will also begin to use music technology to compose music.
In Year 9 students begin to study topics that closely link to those on the GCSE specification such as composition, minimalism and film music. They will begin to develop a deeper knowledge of how music is created and apply this to their own work.
During KS3 pupils are assessed in a variety of ways including solo performances, group performances, aural tests and assignments. Pupils are then given detailed feedback on ways to improve.
Our music curriculum is designed to build confidence through expression and performance. Its purpose is to widen pupil’s perception of other cultures by investigating their music. The extra-curricular opportunities in school give pupils the chance to showcase their talents and apply their new skills to the outside world. We believe that music facilitates learning across a range of subjects and assists in the development of the whole child.
Drama
The Drama Department aims to build global Catholic citizens by helping all children fulfil their potential in line with the school’s Mission Statement. Here, through positive participation, it is hoped that every pupil can develop their “emotional literacy” and analytical awareness by seeing the world imaginatively from other perspectives. This imaginative engagement develops the students’ critical thinking.
In Year 7, pupils are expected to meet and explore a range of drama techniques which are developed and extended in Year 8. In Year 9, the emphasis is increasingly on the choices they make for themselves when deciding how to interpret texts, develop ideas and explore situations through performance. When pupils are creating, performing and responding to drama, they are actively developing the skills and understanding that are central to progress in Literacy. Drama helps pupils to recognise the layers of meaning that exist in text and contexts, to develop their knowledge of dramatic conventions and their sense of audience. They do so as participants in making drama and by stepping back to appreciate and appraise their own contributions and those of others.
Drama enables pupils to gain life skills in and outside of school. They are able to explore and analyse a wider sense of community. Drama helps develop personal and social skills and approaches to moral questions.
