Art
Art at Kew House School provides students with vast opportunities for cultural, practical and personal exploration and growth. Through the medium of visual communication, Art delves into the depths and nuances of cultural, political, societal and individual reflection, promoting critical thinking and creative problem-solving from research and experimentation to outcome. With state-of-the-art facilities, and experimentation that goes beyond the sketch books, including an open-plan studio and outside-of-school spaces, to equip every creative endeavor and build a competitive portfolio, enabling students to secure places at top art schools.
Being an Art student at Kew House School is a completely immersive experience, with a blended learning practice of specialised teachers, peer learning and group activities. Workshops and visits from professional practitioners, and trips to creative al outcomes. Providing the foundations through which original, reflective, critical and quality work will continue and progress at GCSE and A-Level stage.
During Year 7 and 8, Pupil’s progression is nurtured through a combination of technique development and experimentation, coupled with an encouragement for independence of thought, to develop and refine their individual ideas and personal spaces, all allow for a varied and dynamic learning experience.
Course work for GCSE starts in Year 9, consisting of research, experimentation and reflection in an A3 sketchbook. The units then conclude by creating a final piece/controlled assessment in the summer term, deriving from the sketchbook work and exploration from the previous part of the year. Each module will have a topic from which students will apply their creative and critical thinking to explore and present their individual interpretations of said topic.
Students will be exposed to, and discover a range of artists, designers, styles and genres from which they will take inspiration in their own creations. The course requires students to show and identify connections between their references and their own work, demonstrating and articulating the details of the influence.
Experimentation through a variety of mediums and disciplines is highly encouraged to achieve individual and creative excellence. These include (but are not limited to): drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textile design, printmaking, mixed media, and land art. Throughout which, pupils are supported by highly skilled and dynamic staff in fostering a comprehensive understanding and skill set of artistic disciplines and theory. Students gain essential transferable experience working within real-world frameworks and, when relevant, make connections to creative industries.
Further advancement then takes place at A-Level on the Fine Art Course, where students’ well-developed knowledge, technique and individual style is injected into practices that will further equip them for higher academic and professional progression.