Across Key Stage 3, students are introduced to a range of 2D and 3D skills, processes and techniques. These could include drawing, painting, printing and sculpture. Often these are delivered through projects such as ‘Portraiture’ or ‘The Natural World’. 

Within each project an element of art history; Art Movements, key artists, historical and cultural contexts is introduced and student work is then developed in response to this research and analysis. The projects would then generally entail drawing to record observations and ideas, experimentation with 2D/3D materials and the introduction to or development of techniques leading to planning and producing a final outcome.

Key Stage 4 expectations can vary slightly depending on the exam board each school chooses to follow, however all are made up of two components. The Coursework Portfolio is worth 60% of the GCSE and consists of 2 or more projects which should cover at least 2 disciplines within the chosen endorsement. The Exam is worth 40% of the GCSE. The exam themes are set by the Exam Board students are given an allotted amount of class and homework time to prepare the body of work and the final outcome is then completed within a timed 10-hour practical exam.

Some schools choose to begin their KS4 in Year 9. They may explore introductory projects designed to build up skills and confidence before they officially begin their Coursework Units in Year 10.

Not all schools will have a 6th Form and the ability to teach KS5 students. The AS/A2 content follows a similar path to the GCSE programme, however also has a written essay-style component.

The number of Art lessons students study differ from school to school. Generally, KS3 students will have 1 or 2 lessons per week, KS4 have on average 3 periods per week and KS5 could have up to 6 lessons per week.

The majority of Art lessons are practical based. They could include; drawing, experimenting with different materials and techniques, planning and making final outcomes. Literacy is a regular feature within Art lessons as students are required to provide written annotations where students review and reflect on their own work and that of the artist’s and contexts they study. Annotations also document the progress and development of a project and the student’s ideas as they develop. 

To aid the teaching process, an Art teacher uses a range of different strategies and approaches. They include demonstrating and modelling techniques either through live modelling or using pre-recorded videos; breaking down or scaffolding difficult concepts into smaller steps; usually supported by other resources such as step by step worksheets and recapping knowledge at different points in the lesson or the course.

Art is usually taught in mixed ability classes, so teachers need to plan differentiated approaches to the same task to support weaker students and extend the more able. It is also important to develop strategies and approaches to engage all students, especially those that are more reluctant learners.

It is important that students are given the opportunity to visit a gallery or museum so that they can appreciate the Art world they are studying. Art departments can also arrange trips to different locations, especially at KS4 and KS5 to help students with their research, preparation and development of ideas for their Coursework and Exam units. These trips can either be local, national or international experiences.

Extra-curricular activities are a key feature of a secondary school Art department. Schools generally run at least one Art Club every week for KS3. They will also run regular catch up/workshop sessions for KS4 and 5 during lunch times and after school to offer more 1:1 support to GCSE and A Level students. There are often a number of cross curricular links combining Art with other subjects within the school. Most notably, this is often in the creation of props and sets for school productions and events.

Art is often used to help raise the profile of the school within the local community. This could include participating in local and national competitions, taking part in community events, creating exhibitions of student’s work and with the rise of social media, a number of Art departments now have their own Instagram or Twitter accounts to showcase and celebrate their student’s work. 

Generally, Art is often a popular subject and one that many students enjoy. Some students lack confidence in their own ability and can find Art stressful, especially from Year 8 upwards where they are beginning to become more self conscious about their work. Occasionally, some students (and some parents) view Art as a subject that has less value than other subjects and as a result, it is important to raise awareness of the richness the subject gives to the world around them. This includes introducing them to the varied career opportunities available to them as well as reminding them of the huge contribution made by the Arts to our society.

It is important to look to improve your general skills and gain more confidence in the basics. This could include; drawing from observation, both from photographs and life where you look carefully at shape, tone, pattern and texture. Recapping the differences of the techniques for painting with watercolour and acrylics. Practice 3D construction skills such as making a card construction of a simple object, and recording (photographing) the steps you needed to make it. Looking at the different Art Movements such as Impressionism, Cubism and Pop Art etc. and then try experimenting with their different techniques as well as bullet pointing the key concepts.

When you find out who your placement school is, contact your placement school to find out what they teach in the autumn term so that you can start to consider and practice the skills you will need to teach and demonstrate for each project. Your placement school will often invite you in for a visit prior to starting, so use this as an opportunity to ask your Mentor what it might be useful for you to do over the summer in preparation for September. You could even start a sketchbook as a place to practice and develop your skills and store your examples ready to continue during your training. This sketchbook can also be used as evidence within your training year.

In preparation for your training year, you could research a range of tools to aid the delivery of your lessons, such as using Pinterest to create Boards to Pin artwork related to your projects or looking at what other departments deliver on Instagram. Reviewing content for Art on Oak National Academy, BBC Bitesize or gallery or museum websites as some will have information for specific key stages, whereas others such as the Tate Modern have a range of useful resources and informative videos recorded through their Tate Kids channel. There is also no better alternative than visiting galleries and museums if you have the opportunity and talking to them about what provision they provide for schools when they visit. If you also want to develop your practical skills, watching Youtube videos and practising the different techniques and processes will also help to build your confidence.

Throughout the training year, you will participate in a Subject Studies programme. You will attend six sessions, each lasting a day, where you will work alongside all the Art Trainees on the course. The sessions are led by the Art Subject Tutor who will work with you to develop your subject specific pedagogical knowledge both with regards to developing a bank of different approaches and strategies which can be taken back to the classroom and applied to your teaching, and practical skills which will enhance your own subject knowledge. The Subject Studies programme focuses on the key art disciplines you are likely to encounter as an Art Teacher and will help you to identify your strengths and areas for development which can then be targeted throughout these sessions and via your own independent research.

Charlotte Iles - Art & Textiles Teacher at Amery Hill School

Charlotte teaches Art across the whole school. Textiles to KS4 and is a Year 8 Tutor 

How and why did you become a teacher?

I wanted to do a job that enabled me to be creative but to also do something that made a positive difference in the world. I knew that I would have found a 'regular' desk job boring and this is one profession that certainly isn't that. Every day is different with new challenges constantly being thrown up, but that is what makes it enjoyable. The look on a students face when they feel proud of their work, inspired or valued makes my week and that is just not something you can get from any other job.

Please describe a typical day in your role

I usually aim to get to work for about 40 minutes before the school bell rings to set up for the day and catch up on any emails I may have missed. I then run a Year 8 tutor time for 15 minutes each morning. This is a range of activities throughout the week from vocabulary revision to year group quiz competitions. I then teach on average about 5 lessons out of a 6 period day, as we are a smaller but very popular options subject so we teach a lot of the school. Break times are usually when I catch up on any emails from the morning and pop down to make a cup of tea. However, if I am on duty I will have to spend break times here manning the queue for the toilets etc. During free periods this is usually where I plan for future lessons later in the week, I tend not to mark in free periods as they go so quickly by the time I have the books laid out the bell will be about to go. Lunch time we usually have students in the room catching up on homework and borrowing some equipment so I generally eat my lunch in my room as I help them. This is something I'm trying to get better at creating a balance with, I want to restrict this to a couple of days a week to allow me some time in the staff room switching off. Then once the school day ends we generally have some kind of activity to keep us busy, this could be an after school club, staff/department meeting, detentions etc. I get most of my marking done after school (I can generally do one class in about an hour and a half) and try to limit bringing this home to keep my home life as separate as possible. Then I usually head home at about 5:30ish to make dinner.

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

I enjoy helping students to believe in themselves when they previously might not have. If I can be a positive adult influence in that students day I know that I have done what I came there to do. Seeing the enjoyment on their face when they realise they can do it and they overcame their hurdles is an incredible feeling. Inspiring them and helping them to discover new things that they are good at is the best part of the job.

What are the biggest challenge(s) you encounter in your profession?

I'm going to be honest because that's what you came here to see, the paperwork and marking can be a big challenge. I would say that marking is the most consuming part of the job and can stack up quickly if you aren't careful. However, once you get used to your schools system and find a method that works for you it can be done. I won't lie and say there isn't paperwork because there is, and none of us joined the profession to be sat filling out endless forms etc but the positives far outweigh this in my opinion and make it all worthwhile.

What are the common misconceptions people have about the work that you do?

Teaching art is easy as it's just flicking paint. Or that we clock off at 3:30 and go home to put our feet up. And yes the holidays are great and lovely and long sometimes but we do still do a lot of prep work during those, it's not just clock out and leave it all at the door.

What do you believe are the main skills you need to work as a secondary school teacher?

Patience, patience and patience! For those days when you dropped your coffee on the way to the car, spilt your lunch down your top and that one year 9 boy during period 6 thinks it's hilarious to keep flicking rubbers over the room. Being able to think on your feat and adapt to the challenges that teenagers can throw up is also vital. But mainly positivity and enjoying the job, if you like what you do and want to help those kids they will pick up on that and connect better with you as a teacher. Emotional resilience is also useful as you can't really have flat days, you have to do a bit of acting sometimes to avoid outside circumstances affecting the class.

Please tell us a little about the benefits/rewards and career development opportunities that come by joining the teaching profession.  

Obviously regular holidays are a benefit as it helps to have a little re-set and refresh then. In terms of career development I am only an NQT+1 but persuaded my Head to let me design and run a KS4 textiles course. There is always an appetite to introduce new skills and interests to the school whether that be in a new course or after school club. There are countless ways you can add more responsibility to your role. It could be in a pastoral sense such as developing your interaction as a tutor in to a Head of Year eventually. Or you could move towards the SLT route and start to manage departments within the school.

What advice would you give someone wanting to become a teacher?

Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons, it is an emotionally demanding job and if you don't have the love for your subject as well as the students it will be much harder for you. Stay on top of things and don't lose sight of the bigger picture. The training year is hard and stressful but if you keep on top of what is being asked of you it is completely manageable. And don't lose sight of the wood for the trees. You will get some lessons that go terribly, but that's okay, no-one is perfect. You are making a difference in lots of young people's lives for the better, always remember that.