The aim of the art course is to allow every pupil the opportunity to fulfil his potential in this subject.
The syllabus is designed to cover as many areas as possible (e.g. drawing, painting, printing, sculpture, design etc.) Pupils are encouraged to develop their ideas through a variety of expressions and media. Throughout the course it is hoped that every pupil will develop an appreciation of the "highest quality." This is done by providing them with the practice of discriminating between well executed and badly executed works, thus developing a sense of good aesthetic judgement and appreciation of what is a well-expressed idea.
The key ideas of the art course are to:
- Mature a child's visual awareness and understanding of the world around him.
- Strengthen his powers of attention.
- Develop his confidence with the subject.
It is hoped that the children will develop an understanding of art from different periods in history, cultures and ethnic backgrounds as well as gaining practical dexterity by practising different techniques.
With drawing being the basis of most, if not all of the arts, it is given great emphasis and is thoroughly encouraged. The boys use the ‘Platonic Shapes' to develop their ability with line, tone, form etc. (The Platonic Shapes contain all the other shapes and mastering these is to master all shapes).
The course is divided into a series of projects. Each project is designed to give the fullest opportunity for pupils to get to grips with the subject matter by approaching it from different angles. It also means that techniques and subjects can be revisited in other projects, thus reinforcing the understanding. This also allows certain flexibility where it can be adapted to incorporate other curricular subjects or modified to adapt to the different natures of classes.
From year 9, art clubs are available for those boys not pursuing art as an examined subject.
Years 10 and 11 study the OCR's GCSE Art and Design course.
Years 12 and 13 study OCR's ‘A' level Fine Art course.