Art

The Art Department is committed to developing and supporting the skills and interests of all pupils, whatever their ability, through a structured programme of activities which promotes the learning of technique, whilst nurturing confidence, individuality, and creativity.

Art is amazing. The level of support and encouragement you receive from your teachers makes the subject brilliant and such fun. As well as the coursework being really enjoyable, the St Ives trip was a highlight and one of the best weeks ever. I would highly recommend Art to anyone.

Fifth Form pupil

A creative lead nationally

We have gained a national reputation for excellence and have enjoyed outstanding results at every level for many years. In 2018 and 2019 100% of pupils received the equivalent of A*-A for Pre-U Art. It is common for our examination pupils to be placed amongst the highest-achieving pupils in the country.

Our beautiful Art School is purpose-built and spread over three floors; it has five studios, a gallery, offices and a library, workshops, ceramics, printmaking and ICT facilities.

We specialise in a Fine-Art approach, promoting drawing and offering opportunities in painting, printmaking, textiles, sculpture, mixed media and digital and video arts. The opportunity for pupils to interact with live work and artists is paramount to our philosophy. The Art School’s Sir Terry Frost Gallery hosts exhibitions by well-respected artists, many of whom run practical workshops. There is a Head of Department, three full-time art teachers, one part-time teacher and two technicians. All are practising artists who work across a wide range of disciplines.

Pupils’ work is exhibited outside of school at local venues including Worcester Cathedral, Worcester Porcelain Museum, Worcester Museum and Art Gallery, Malvern Festival Theatre, and The Royal Academy in London. We work with a local primary school and organise life-drawing classes and workshops with professional artists, including regular after school printmaking and ceramics sessions and several optional weekend workshops. We have twice been national winners of the Big Draw and have received a Good Schools Guide award. We also enjoy biennial foreign study tours for Sixth Form students; recent destinations have included Venice, Paris, Nice, New York, Amsterdam, Prague, China, Barcelona and Berlin. Our students have an excellent record of gaining entry to study Art and Arts-based subjects, including Architecture, Fashion, Textiles, Animation, Film making, design-based subjects and Fine Art at some of the most prestigious universities in the country. Staff are happy to help students with the application process, including portfolio preparation and conducting practice interviews.

Arts Award

Arts Award is a range of unique qualifications, offered by Trinity College, London, that supports young people in their growth as artists and arts leaders. To achieve their Arts Award, pupils take on challenges in an art form, participate in arts activities, experience arts events, be inspired by artists and share their arts skills with others. They create a portfolio to keep a record of their creative journey. Along the way they are supported by an Arts Award Adviser, acting as assessor, facilitator and mentor.

At King’s Worcester, Arts Award is offered at the top three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold. There is a team of staff members, from a range of subject areas, trained as Arts Award Advisers, who take responsibility for the different groupings throughout the school.

Bronze

Bronze Arts Award is offered as an extra-curricular activity to Lower Fourth pupils (Year 7). They choose a core art form – art, dance, drama or music – and attend weekly meetings with their Adviser. During the year they record evidence of their participation in their Arts Award portfolio. Their portfolio might be a folder, sketchbook, video diary or a website – it’s up to them. The evidence they record covers four key areas:

Progress in their chosen art form, having set themselves a challenge to improve their skills
Reviews of arts events, shared with their peers
Research into their ‘arts inspiration’
Sharing a skill with others
Bronze Arts Award is a Level 1 award on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF).

Silver

Silver Arts Award is a Level 2 qualification on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (equivalent to a good pass at GCSE level) and stretches the arts skills explored in Bronze, encouraging more independence and promoting leadership skills. Completing Silver involves achieving an arts challenge, reviewing arts events, researching artists and arts organisations, and delivering an arts leadership project with other people.

Pupils in the Lower Remove (Year 9) can sign up to Silver Arts Award as a co-curricular activity. They do not need to have taken Bronze Arts Award, although many find it helpful. They attend weekly meetings with their Adviser who helps them to plan their work and oversees their Arts Award portfolio.

Gold

Lower Sixth pupils can opt to take Gold Arts Award as part of their Key Skills curriculum. They have timetabled lessons with their Advisers who support planning and oversee the completion of the Arts Award portfolio. Pupils do not need to have taken Bronze or Silver Arts Award in the past, but those that have will find the challenges familiar. The personal arts challenge develops pupils’ individual creative skills. The arts leadership project progresses to the next level with much greater project responsibility, and the research into the wider arts sector gets pupils directly involved in the arts world through placements, volunteering, and workshops.

Gold Arts Award is a Level 3 qualification and is recognised on the UCAS Tariff, attracting 16 UCAS points (equivalent to a Grade B in an AS examination).

Lower School

During the first three years, pupils are introduced to fundamental skills including observational drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, collage, sculpture and digital media. All projects are informed by studying relevant artists, and pupils’ analytical skills are developed as they understand and explore work from a range of artists and practitioners. In year seven, every pupil exhibits a piece of work in the Sir Terry Frost Gallery in an exhibition open to parents.

GCSE

Art is a very popular subject at GCSE level, and pupils have the opportunity to build on the good practice they have learnt lower down the school. All pupils develop their skills in a variety of working processes including different approaches to drawing, printmaking, textiles, sculpture, oil painting and digital media. Once these disciplines have been explored during the first part of the course, pupils are encouraged to develop their own work to suit their strengths and personal interests. A highlight of the course is the 5th Form trip to St Ives during the October half term, giving pupils the opportunity to visit galleries and artists’ studios, work in the dramatic Cornish landscape, and participate in workshops run by practising artists. On our return to school, pupils respond to their experience to produce their own outcome, and they are encouraged to be independent and original in their response. The course ends with a timed exam which sees pupils respond to a theme set by the exam board, using the skills they have gained during the coursework. All work produced throughout the GCSE course is displayed in an exhibition in the department and Sir Terry Frost Gallery.

A Level

The two-year course provides pupils with a broad and exciting art experience that includes painting, printmaking, mixed-media, digital media, and sculpture. Work is developed from drawing, and a rich programme of critical and contextual studies informs the pupils’ understanding.

In the first year, pupils have the opportunity to explore new and varied approaches to their work, developing an increased level of independence as the year progresses. Upper Sixth artists follow their independent programmes of study which build upon previously learnt skills and reflect personal interests. During Sixth Form, we encourage students to be as ambitious as possible with heir work, and we expect them to work and think with the independence and creativity of practising artists. They have their own workspaces, which they can use during study periods and after school and they enjoy an experience akin to a university education than a traditional school. The year culminates in an end-of-year show that sees students curate their own exhibitions open to friends, family and the public, and marks an appropriately impressive end to their Art education at King’s.

To visit our Upper Sixth Virtual Art Exhibition click here.