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A Level, IB and GCSE students have been working hard on completing coursework final pieces and there is a creative energy in the department. We are delighted to see students enjoying the space to create large-scale sculpture, ambitious oil painting and inventive use of textiles. Our printmaking facilities are in full use with LC3 and UC4 (Year 9 and 10) enjoying lino and etching. Screen printing is always popular and highly effective.

Next term we look forward to seeing the LC3 collaborative willow sculptures take position in the school grounds.

Art Scholars

Our existing Art Scholars were joined by new scholars at the start of term, and it’s always pleasing to see the enthusiasm and pleasure taken in a new blank sketchbook – a story waiting to be drawn. A number of pupils attended the artist’s workshop with Ian Murphy who brought his usual pace and generosity when sharing his own work. They have been working on their piece to be exhibited as part of the Scholars’ Exhibition in February on the theme ‘Circles, Spheres and Curves’, and our UC4 Scholars painted faces at the Christmas event for staff and their families. It has been great for them to share those strong skills and bring some joy to others.

History of Art Conference

On Saturday 19th November, the SFC1 and SFC2 (Year 12 and 13) History of Art students travelled to London for the annual ‘Ways of Seeing’ conference organised by the Association for Art History. This year’s event took place at the National Gallery and included a range of fascinating talks by academics and practitioners dealing with the subject of art and nature. All agreed that one of the highlights of the day was the far-reaching and inspiring presentation by Dr James Fox that took the audience on a thought-provoking journey from prehistory to the present day. The students also had the opportunity to explore the National Gallery’s wonderful collection and meet other young people studying History of Art from across the country.

ARTiculation College Heat

Last week, staff and students had the pleasure of listening to a range of fascinating talks by SFC1 (Year 12) pupils competing in the annual ARTiculation prize. This was a thought-provoking set of presentations on a diverse range of artworks from across the globe – each impressive for its intelligence, sensitivity and academic rigour. The standard of papers was extremely high across the two knockout rounds.

We would like to thank all the students that participated in the competition for making it an enjoyable and extremely informative experience. Dr Beard would also like to thank the adjudicators, Ms Whitehead, Mr Sumner and Mr Pothecary, for undertaking this difficult task. 

Congratulations to Jessica (SFC1 / Year 12) who took first place. Read her article about the competition here.

Ms Whitehead, Head of Art