The Art Curriculum at Westfield Academy 

The department offers an inclusive, stimulating and engaging environment. The curriculum provides challenging, inspirational and informative experiences across multiple topics and skills. Students will have tactile and visual opportunities across various disciplines- drawing, painting, clay, sculpture, collage, allowing them all to achieve and create personal responses. This is a rich curriculum that strives to create lifelong skills, independence and engage students in real life experiences both inside and outside school. Students embed subject knowledge and refine their technical skills through a broad range of processes, artists and mediums. We have high expectations for our students to allow them to achieve their best outcome and give them a sense of themselves and the world we live in. 

Implementation & design

There is clear and comprehensive progression through each key stage building on the foundations of each prior topic and skill. We ensure that core skills of investigating, experimenting, refining, recording and responding are fully embedded into each group each year. A range of media is used across each key stage to allow students the freedom to express themselves through multiple experiences and gain an understanding of art, craft and design as a whole. The key skills such as observation, understanding the formal elements and analysis underpin every project and topic to allow students to revisit and refine their skills at every opportunity. 

Outcomes & impact

Students have a good understanding of a range of materials, skills and artists/ genres. Students gain the confidence to explore and experiment with materials and have high expectations for their work and outcomes. Students will feel positive about investigating and problem-solving and will feel encouraged to embark on the sense of creative discovery. Students will have the core skills embedded and will be able to apply these convincingly. 

In the Edexcel GCSE Art, Craft, and Design course, students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of materials, techniques, and artistic styles from various artists and historical periods. This course encourages creativity and personal expression, allowing students to experiment with diverse mediums and develop their own artistic voice. The assessment is split into two components: Component 1, which accounts for 60% of the final grade, and Component 2, making up the remaining 40%. Both components are based entirely on coursework, meaning students are continually assessed on their portfolio work and development throughout the course.

Art in the Sixth Form 

In the Edexcel A-level Art, Craft, and Design course, students are given the freedom to explore a variety of materials, artists, and time periods, allowing them to develop their own artistic style and deepen their understanding of different artistic approaches. The course is structured into two components: Component 1, which makes up 60% of the final grade, and Component 2, which contributes 40%. Both components are assessed through coursework, focusing on students’ portfolios and practical work. In addition to in-class activities, students are encouraged to participate in outside opportunities such as gallery visits and life drawing sessions, enriching their artistic experience and exposure to professional practices.

Students can go on to study Art courses at university and pursue careers in graphic design, fashion design, fine arts, photography and illustration.