Art and Design

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Art and Design at James Gillespie’s High School offers students who are both artists and designers in the making, as well as those keen to enrich their academic subjects with a creative option, an exciting environment to work in through a broad range of processes and approaches. Students are encouraged to explore their creativity and development of problem-solving and investigation of the world around them, with emphasis on the importance of observational drawing as well as personal expression through active learning to develop confidence and resilience as life-long learners. Good citizenship and collaborative learning are features of many projects, which may be cross-curricular, that are undertaken and students are encouraged to enter competitions regularly. Each member of the Art staff’s expertise is a resource for students to tap and Art staff offer after-school sessions for coursework and further support in portfolio preparation. Each year many of our students are successful in gaining places on both Art and Design Degree courses in Higher Education and Art and Design Foundation courses in Further Education throughout the UK. We have an annual programme of inviting former students who are currently studying or pursuing a career in the Creative Industries to talk to and advise current applicants and those interested in these career pathways.

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Broad General Education

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As part of a broad general education, encompassing a variety of themes in art & design, S1/2 students develop their understanding of the Visual Elements in expressive artwork and a consideration of the Design Issues in their design briefs. In developing research, creative and evaluation skills, technical ability and confidence in expressive, design and written course work art and design students become creative thinkers with both practical and transferable skills, useful across the curriculum. S1/2 students have one period of Art per week and there is the opportunity for them to attend in the school lunch hour to complete project work.

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