Art

The Art course in Block 3 (Year 9) is designed to be accessible and enjoyable for all students, fostering individual creativity and confidence. It provides a foundation in observational and perceptual skills, creative thinking, and hands-on experience with various materials and processes.

 

This year serves as a stepping stone to the Bedales Assessed Course (BAC) in Art, introducing students to the subject’s possibilities and potential.

 

Students participate in a rotational program, exploring painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking through eight-week projects. Each discipline is taught by specialists, ensuring students receive expert guidance while refining their observational and experimental drawing skills. Projects emphasize perceptual development and creative exploration, underpinned by an in-depth study of formal artistic elements.

 

Painting approaches are developed by students responding to the world around them and increasing their confidence with colour mixing and paint application. A broad range of inventive printmaking techniques are explored from dry point, lino printing, collagraphy and screen printing. In Ceramics, students experiment with a range of coiling, pinching slabbing, inlay and sgraffito. In sculpture, the principles of modelling in 3D are explored with assemblage and the building of structures.

 

Beyond timetabled classes, students benefit from a wide range of co-curricular and free-time activities designed to extend their artistic experience. These opportunities encourage ambitious learners to deepen their engagement with the subject.

The innovative BAC Art course, developed by Bedales in response to the limitations of traditional GCSE programs, enables students to explore artistic ideas, processes, and materials while developing their own creative voice.

 

Teaching and learning approaches emphasize a deep understanding of the formal elements of art, integrating traditional, digital, and conceptual practices. Student responses are wide ranging and might include drawing and painting, sculpture and ceramics, printmaking and photography, film, illustration and graphic techniques.

 

The course begins with workshops in drawing and making, encouraging students to respond to diverse primary and secondary source materials. Students learn how a sketchbook can be used as a tool that facilitates learning and good practices throughout the course.

 

First Year: Students engage in structured, teacher-led projects that develop strong foundational skills across various artistic methods and media. A group-focused project bridges 2D and 3D approaches, guiding students toward independent creative outcomes.

 

Second Year: Students undertake two independent projects, allowing them to explore personal subject matter while applying the techniques and principles learned in the first year.

 

Final projects are submitted at the end of the course, with portfolios assessed by the department and moderated by an experienced external examiner.

A Level Art provides significant value to students, whether they pursue careers in the creative arts or apply its transferable skills in other fields. This dynamic course integrates practical exploration with an understanding of cultural and critical contexts. It teaches independent learning and idea development, practical skills, perceptual and problem-solving skills, cultural contexts, visual communication, independent creative expression and project management abilities.

 

Offering diverse artistic approaches from traditional to contemporary fine art practices, the course is designed with Art School Foundation and direct-entry degree programs in mind. It prepares students for future specializations in disciplines such as fine art, graphic design, printmaking, photography, ceramics, illustration, architecture, fashion design, stage, theatre design, film and media.

 

Bedales follows the OCR A Level Art and Design curriculum, which supports the development of a personal project, a written related study, and an externally set theme created under exam conditions.

 

Course Overview: Spanning 21 months, the programme is widely respected by top academic institutions and provides a strong foundation for building an art portfolio suitable for university applications.

 

During the first term the students are introduced to the department through a series of 2D and 3D projects led by specialist members of staff and based around a single theme. This allows the student to consider process and problem solving through making and doing. They will then reflect on and refine the work to develop a series of outcomes at the beginning of the second term.

 

Students engage in a wide range of processes which are underpinned by drawing and extend through mark-making in both wet and dry media, collage, mixed-media, casting, ceramic construction, glazing, silk screen, relief and intaglio printing, photography and digital manipulation. Areas of study could include:

 

- Portraiture
- Landscape
- Still life
- Human form
- Abstraction and material manipulation
- Experimental film and imagery
- Narrative and installation

 

In their second term, students select a focused theme for their Personal Investigation, refining ideas and techniques to develop personal creative responses. The independent study theme emerges through critical reflection on project direction, artistic process, and personal interests.

 

By the end of the first year, students establish an individual study programme, which they extend over the summer and refine into ambitious, academically researched responses in their final year.

 

Additionally, students undertake a written Related Study, connecting their practical work with historical and contemporary artistic movements, genres, and practitioners. Component 1 is completed in January of 6.2 (Year 13), after which they begin Component 2, the Externally Set Task and final project of the course.

 

For this final component, students choose one theme from several externally set starting points, conducting practical research to develop ideas, experiment with processes and materials, and record observations. This exploration leads to personal, creative responses.

 

The task culminates in the production of a final work, created in direct response to their research. Students have up to 15 hours to complete this work under exam conditions. Both the research and the final exam piece are assessed as part of this component.