Academic/Subject Departments
Art & Design
Head of Art & Design Ms Gabby Hanlon with the Master and Mistress Cutler Professor Bill Speirs and his wife Pat at our annual Art Exhibition
Art & Design Department wins prestigious award!
Our Art & Design Department recently won a top award from the Good Schools’ Guide for its A-level results. To read our news item on this story, please click here
To see a copy of the award, please click here
To see our entry in the Good Schools Guide, please click here
To read the news story about our recent Art Exhibition, please click here
The Art & Design Department
Art, Design and Technology at Sheffield High School is a successful and lively department which currently comprises three full time and one part time member of staff and a full time technician (a recent Fine Art graduate).
We work together as a strong team celebrating our strengths. Our specialisms cover Drawing and Painting, Printmaking, Textiles, Ceramics, Sculpture and Digital Photography.
Visitors enjoying the exhibition of GCSE and A-level work
We deliver a rich and varied curriculum which encourages an enjoyment and understanding of Art and Design. We believe that learning the language of art enables students to respond visually to the world around them.
At each Key Stage students have the opportunity, through curriculum and extra-curricular activities, to explore the work of artists and designers.
Key Stage 3
Our Key Stage 3 curriculum introduces the formal language of Art and Design e.g. line, tone, colour, pattern and composition. We see drawing as a vital and fundamental skill and this is delivered through a series of projects which are thought-provoking and interesting to the students in this age group.
Students are introduced to the idea of a sketchbook as an important part of their work. In Year 9 our ‘Design Day’ teaches the basics of Photoshop and allows the students to experience aspects of Art and Design beyond education. This year we have a successful young freelance designer coming into school and she will be telling our students about her career and showing her work.
Printing (Key Stage 3)
Key Stage 4
Art and Design GCSE is popular and successful at Sheffield High School. We follow the AQA unendorsed course which allows students to build on their skills from Key Stage 3 and use them creatively in a variety of media areas.
Key Stage 5
‘This is a fine course which allows candidates to explore their own ideas and produce some highly creative work of a very impressive standard’. – Moderator’s Report, July 2007
The ‘Journey’
At AS and A-level, students work increasingly independently, exploring their own ‘journey’.
Students can use their portfolio of Art and Design A-level work to apply for many Art and Design-related careers. We keep in contact with ex-pupils who have gone on to study aspects of Art and Design and we invite them into school to share their experiences with our current students.
Extra Curricular Activities
We run popular lunchtime clubs throughout the school and students can work in the studios at lunchtimes. We also regularly enter students’ work into exhibitions and competitions outside school.
Busy students with their sketch books