Staff within the Department

Ms B. Hewitt – Acting Head of Department

B.A (Hons) Graphic Design

Miss I. Da Silva– Teacher of Art and Photography

B.A (Hons) History of Art and Museum Studies

Creativity is an important part of life. Art allows you to be expressive and practices theory. Our aim is to encourage critical thinkers, risk takers, visual communicators and imaginative learners of the arts.

Art promotes a range of skills such as: problem solving, critical thinking, complex analysis, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, observation, imagination and creativity. The huge range of disciplines within Art include: Fine Art, Photography, Animation, Graphic Design, Architecture, Fashion, Fine Art, 3D design, Set Design and many, many more! At The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls, the Art department strives to offer students a wide experience within their Arts education.

We combine a range of different aspects of art including; Craft, Design, Photography, Printmaking and 3D. We have an extensive range of facilities that will help enhance and develop pupil’s creative skills.

Throughout the years we have had many exciting opportunities to work with practising artists, designers and photographers both in and outside of school.  We have taken part in workshops at galleries such as Tate Modern, the V&A and PM Gallery, where our work has been displayed in the local area. We have hosted professional workshops with professional Illustrators, Photographers from University of West London and had Fine Art Drawing workshops run by the Royal College of Art. 

Within the Art department, we have had many students enter national competitions. Previously we were chosen to represent the UK in the ‘Rivers of the World Retrospective Exhibition’ at City Hall, London. This was a tremendous achievement as our artwork was selected out of 150 schools across London! We have also taken part in National Doodle Day and one of our students was awarded the first prize for the Secondary National Doodle Day competition – you can see the winning entry on the EWS Twitter page. This year we have students successfully through to the second phase of an international competition. 

We also hold our own exhibition every year in the summer term to celebrate our student’s achievements. The ‘Creativity’ exhibition displays a wide range of the visual arts: Art, Craft, Design, Photography, Textiles and Product Design.

We teach Art, Craft and Design for Key Stage 3 and students have a double lesson every week. At Key Stage 4 we offer GCSE Art and Design. At Key Stage 5, we offer A Level Art and Photography.

 

Curriculum

KS3

At Key Stage 3, we cover a broad range of topics to enhance your understanding of art, craft and design.  You will develop key skills in painting and drawing as well learning new techniques such as 3D design, digital imagery and graphic communication.  We also cover a wide range of artist, craftsman and designers as well as looking at cultures and art movements.

 

 

Activities to do at home

Complete some drawing exercises – practice doing timed drawings with different instructions for example: one minute drawing, two minute drawing, drawing using opposite hand, drawing using continuous line etc… Use these exercises as a warm up before you then complete a longer, more detailed drawing of a simple object.

Find a piece of artwork that interests you in a newspaper – write down why you like and what interests you about it. Imagine you have to design a poster advertising a new exhibition by your new found artist – include all the necessary details and create an imaginative design.

 

KS4

If you choose to study GCSE Art at KS4, you will learn a wide range of visual skills and experience working in different disciplines. You will learn how to evaluate your own outcomes as well as looking at the work of others, for example engaging with the work of contemporary artists.

 

 

Activities to do at home

Complete a series of observational drawings from visually interesting objects found in your home

Create a mood board based on your own Identity

Visit an exhibition that interests you in a local gallery

KS5

We offer AS and A Level Art and Photography. Within these courses all students are taught to experiment with a wide range of mediums, such as screen printing, stop frame animation and digital imagery using the iPads, as well as refining more traditional skills such as drawing, painting and using our fully functioning darkroom.

 

A Level Art

 

A Level Photography

 

We follow the Edexcel specification - https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/art-and-design-2015.html

Activities to do at home

Art – create a series of sustained observational drawings using a range of dry and wet materials

Photography – take a mini photo shoot based on

Research in to the history of Art/Photography and pick out important key movements. Present your research in a timeline and aim to use your presentation skills to visually communication the key moments.

Visit a contemporary exhibition in a gallery

 

Enrichment Activities and Trips

To further enrich student’s involvement in Art, we offer a number of extra curricular activities during lunchtimes and after school. These change every year but to give you a flavour we have previously offered clubs based on Drawing, Manga, Comic Books, Printing, Textiles, and Animation. We also provide additional opportunities to help our exam groups both after school and even on Saturdays! KS4 and 5 students can take part in ‘Sketchbook Surgery’ where they can benefit from additional 1:1 support to help with their sketchbook work. We also hold department competitions, for example, Christmas card competitions to design the school’s Christmas card and Photography challenges held for both staff and students with prizes awarded!

 

To inspire students, we have taken them on trips such as to the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, Tate Britain and the Saatchi gallery. We have also taken students out to draw and photograph on location. We run a scheme to help sixth form students with their applications to higher education and have existing university students come in to give talks and offer support with building art portfolios.

 

 

Career Paths

A Level Art and Photography are excellent courses for entry into higher education, specialist colleges or employment.  The courses show that you can be creative, inspiring, practical and innovative. In recent years, students from The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls have gone onto study a wide range of courses. Recent leavers have gone on to do Art Foundation courses at Kensington and Chelsea College, Kingston University and the London College of Communication. We have also had students go straight to university degree courses such as Animation at Westminster, Photography at Brighton and the University of the Arts, Illustration at Derby and Architecture at Cambridge.