Year 9 Art
Guidance for parents
What students will cover this year in Art?
In key Stage 3 we endeavour to produce work with three focussed projects each year. These projects use painting, ceramics and printmaking as key elements. The students will be using drawing as a foundation to all the art and design aspects of their work, and will be using a range of drawing materials and techniques.
What skills are being developed this year in Art?
Students will be honing observational skills and improving dexterity in all their practical work. They will be developing skills of critical analysis and evaluation, and will be widening the range of appropriate technical language linked to specific projects. They will be expected to develop the abilities to select and use tools appropriately to refine and develop 2 and 3D work.
Our expectations of students in Art
We expect students to be well organised and bring their sketchbook, basic drawing materials (2B pencil, sharpener and eraser) and an overall to each lesson. They are encouraged to improve skills exploring a wide range of materials and explore the work of artists linked to individual projects.
What they should be doing at home?
Homework is set every 2 weeks and they should spend one hour on it.
What parents can do to help them make progress?
Doing extra drawing and artwork is always recommended – keeping a small sketch book to make sketches from life develops the valuable skills of working from direct observation. Visiting galleries here and when going on holiday is a good idea. There are always high quality arts programme on TV (usually BBC 2 or BBC4)
Who to contact if there is a problem?
The student needs to talk to the art teacher first if she is struggling with the work. The student can always come in to the Art rooms at lunchtime to catch-up with and finish work. You can email art@newsteadwood.co.uk for further information.
Resources
Ensuring your daughter has a good set of basic art materials (e.g. paints, pencils etc.) will enable her to produce quality pieces of work.
Questions parents should ask their children about Art
This is an Option year and students will be deciding whether to take Art at GCSE or not. Ask to see the sketchbooks to see how well she is doing; a grid should be attached inside the front cover with details of homework and levels of achievement. Secondly ask her if Art GCSE will be useful to her as regards career choices.