The Arts Department is a creative team that nurtures creativity, originality, confidence and individuality through collaboration. The department offers a programme that encourages artistic expression, creative thinking and diversity in our students.
In Art students explore the expressive character of art, their personal perceptions of art works, and the basic elements and principles of design. They investigate and produce a variety of art works developing skills in using art tools, materials, and techniques. Such learning also enhances students’ ability to respond to and interpret existing works. Through experiencing a wide range of art works, including the rich heritage of African art, students come to understand and appreciate the range and significance of artistic expression.
Creative Arts
The Creative Arts Department is an outstandingly strategic and creative team that nurtures creativity, originality, confidence and individuality through collaboration. It is designed to produce a new wave of creative leaders in Art, Design, Music and Drama. The department offers a programme that encourages artistic expression, creative thinking and diversity in our students. It builds transferable skills for our students to take into the wider world.
In Art students explore the expressive character of art, their personal perceptions of art works, and the elements and principles of design. They investigate and produce a variety of art works using various media, processes, and traditional and emerging technologies. They develop skills in using art tools, materials, and techniques. Such learning also enhances students’ ability to respond to and interpret existing works. Students learn how art works construct and record the history, values, and beliefs of various societies and cultures. Through experiencing a wide range of art works, including the rich heritage of African art, students come to understand and appreciate the range and significance of artistic expression.
Musically, our students understand and appreciate music through a focus on practical skills and creative work. Students will find in music a source of enjoyment and personal satisfaction and will gain creative problem-solving skills, individual and cooperative work habits, knowledge of themselves and others, a sense of personal responsibility, and connections to their communities and future careers. They develop their awareness of the elements of music (pitch – melody, harmony, and tonality; duration – beat, rhythm, and tempo; dynamics and other expressive controls; timbre; texture; and form) and apply them to create and perform works that are related to their personal interest and experience.
While in Drama, students learn more sophisticated approaches to performance and begin to understand drama as literature. Various techniques are used to create a pathway for drama performance as learning. Movement, Voice, Mime and Improvisation are all components taught to our students in these years. Students also learn to think critically about Drama in Literature, its place in history and its development around the world. From the ancient Greeks, to the age of Charlie Chaplin and early film, students are introduced to a wide spectrum of Dramatic History.
We aim to provide all our students with:
- The opportunity to participate in and experience a broad and balanced range of arts, which will also enhance other areas to provide a rich and exciting curriculum.
- The opportunity to develop a progressive range of skills, confidence and self-esteem.
- Arts activities that access other areas of the curriculum, different cultures and those from the local community.
- The opportunity to develop vocabulary so they are able to communicate their experiences and ideas and to evaluate their own and others work.
- The opportunity to showcase their talents creatively in class assemblies, school shows, exhibitions, concerts and productions.
- The opportunity, when it arises to take part in inter-house and inter-school activities.
- The opportunity to use class-based role-play to develop language and communication skills.
Visual Arts
We offer an exciting Visual Arts programme that provides an opportunity for our students to express themselves visually, develop their interest in various activities and channel their energy into developing new skills. Creativity sits at the core of the programme and feeds a common desire for originality and innovative thinking.
Our programme focuses on growth and supporting students’ awareness and appreciation of the influence that the Arts have on society and cultures. It also helps in the development and improvement of students’ problem-solving abilities and critical-thinking skills, while demonstrating frequent and powerful interdisciplinary connections. We introduce our students to a variety of techniques in two-dimensional and three-dimensional media that serve as the building blocks for a solid foundation in artistic practice.
Our students create artworks that integrate the fundamental components of design – known as elements of design (colour, form, line, shape, space, texture and value). They also explore design principles (balance, perspective, emphasis, rhythm, movement, proportion, contrast, repetition, unity and variety) and use them to arrange design elements to produce visual effect. We then organise Art exhibitions that allow students to be exposed to many original and varied artworks around the School in general, providing excellent opportunities to learn from valued members of the wider art community.
Our students, of all ages and abilities, broaden their artistic horizon, explore their potential and discover their talents by joining exciting art-related, after-school electives such as Art Extravaganza, bead work, computer graphics, sculpture, recycling art and mosaic making. Through these electives, students embark on large scale and collaborative art-related projects like creating life-size sculptures and erecting them in different corners on the school grounds; mosaic or painted murals on school walls; and creating the school yearbook.
They investigate and produce artworks using various media, processes, traditional and emerging technologies. They also develop skills in using art tools, materials and techniques. Through experiencing a wide range of works including the rich heritage of African Art, students come to understand and appreciate the range and significance of artistic expression. Our desire is to stimulate and provoke students as independent thinkers and creators who explore various media and methods, under the mentorship of our experienced staff.
We get under the skin of the AS and A2 syllabus to produce smart, culturally aware and accomplished graduates.
Years 7 – 9
The visual Arts are offered as a compulsory option of the curriculum, with one lesson each week.
Years 10 – 11
Our students have an opportunity to study IGCSE Art, Music or Drama and units of work are planned in line with the IGCSE syllabus to greater depth with 3 hours of study every week.
Years 12 – 13
Our students can undertake to study a course in Art and Design.
Art and Design
An exciting course through which students get an opportunity to work with a broad range of media, including new and traditional technologies, and develop their understanding of the inter-relationships between art, craft and design processes and the context in which they operate.
A course of study in Art and Design should actively seek to develop the following abilities, qualities and skills including:
- communication – especially the ability to communicate concepts and feelings
- how to record from direct observation and personal experience
- the confidence to experiment, be innovative, intuitive and imaginative
- the language and technical terms used in art and design
- research and evaluation skills
- an appreciate of practical design problems and how to solve them
A qualification in Art and Design is recognised by universities and employers as proof of knowledge and understanding of art and design principles and practice, and could lead to a variety of jobs such as architecture, animator or multi-media artist, ceramics designer, fashion designer, fine artist, furniture designer or restorer, illustrator, photographer, floral designer, art director, graphic designers, industrial or interior designers, jeweller, precious stone and metal workers, set and exhibit designer and many more.
Drama
Drama in Primary
In the early years, Drama is an extension of both English Language and the Creative Arts. Students are taught to extend their language skills through role-play, movement games, scripting and performance. These skills help students build self-confidence and embed the overall communication skills they will need to be successful later on.
Through the middle years of Secondary School, Drama becomes a key component of our Creative Arts programme. From Years 7 to 9, students learn more sophisticated approaches to performance and begin to understand drama as literature. Various techniques are used to create a pathway for drama performance as learning. Movement, Voice, Mime and Improvisation are all components taught to our students in these years. Students also learn to think critically about Drama in Literature, its place in history and its development around the world. From the ancient Greeks, to the age of Charlie Chaplin and early film, students are introduced to a wide spectrum of Dramatic History. We offer the two-year IGCSE course in Year 10, a challenging and comprehensive course designed to have students understand all the creative, theoretical, technical and performance elements of world Theatre. By its conclusion students should have a sophisticated understanding of the art.