Key Stage 3

Drawing is still the best way to communicate ideas quickly – that’s why all the engineers here carry a sketchbook. James Dyson, British inventor, and designer.

The Art & Design department at Royal School Armagh has a strong emphasis on drawing. We believe and practice that drawing is at the heart of everything we do. We want all students to enjoy studying art regardless of their innate ability, it is our job as teachers to help enhance and improve their basic art skills. We focus on working from life, exploring style, expression and the ability for students to personally engage with their work.

We live in an ever-changing modern world so we place a strong emphasis on the importance of ‘creative thinking’. We educate our students on the importance of realising the potential of their ability to express themselves and to value their inter-transferable problem solving skills developed in the department, which can then be utilised in the wider society and students’ future careers. Students complete a range of projects that include; print, painting, sculpture, ceramics/3D design, corporate identity design, digital art, and land art to name but a few.

We believe in encouraging students to carry out first-hand research and so students will be exposed to live artworks and taken on-site visits and gallery visits where relevant and possible. We do of course make the most of the wonderful examples of Georgian architecture on our doorstep! We strive to provide a classroom experience that will be lifelong and lead to a desire for further study and development in this subject.

GCSE

The department follows the CCEA specification for GCSE. The GCSE is a two-year course where students complete;

• Component 1:

  • Part A: Exploratory Portfolio

  • Part B: Understanding the Creative and Cultural Industries

• Component 2: Externally Set Assignment.

This specification is a linear qualification: students take all the assessments at the end of the course. Students work across an extensive range of different disciplines, where they are encouraged to work towards their strengths and create highly personal and unique pieces of Fine Art and Design. Students complete a variety of creative workshops, developing skills in different areas across the Art & Design spectrum.

More detail can be found by clicking on this link:

https://ccea.org.uk/key-stage-4/gcse/subjects/gcse-art-and-design-2017

AS & A level

We follow the CCEA specification in Art & Design, which develops in-depth knowledge and understanding of art, and design through research and practical activities, intellectual capabilities, and independent approaches to learning.

The specification has four units:

• Unit AS 1: Experimental Portfolio

• Unit AS 2: Personal Response

• Unit A2 1: Personal and Critical Investigation

• Unit A2 2: Thematic Outcome.

More information on studying A level in Art & Design can be found by clicking on the link below:

https://ccea.org.uk/post-16/gce/subjects/gce-art-and-design-2016

At A level a strong emphasis is placed on understanding art and its wider contexts, students are therefore regularly taken to exhibitions and they also complete a range of workshops to enhance their learning and understanding of art.

We have an excellent track record of achieving top results. We believe that forging good relationships with our students helps to foster the hard-working atmosphere that is required to help achieve these results. There are a high proportion of our students that go on to study arts-based degrees across the UK and Ireland and we welcome visits from past students to inspire our establishing young art students. Numerous past students have gone on to study at world-renowned universities including the Royal College of Art, Central St Martins, Falmouth University, Goldsmiths and the University of Bath and Queen’s University for Architecture, and the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology.