Textiles
Key Stage 3 – Years 7, 8, 9
Textiles is an art-based subject which gives students the opportunity to combine their creative and practical skills by designing and making their own textile work based on a different project every year. They work with traditional and non-traditional materials; learn how to stitch by hand, use the sewing machine and how to develop exciting textile printing techniques. We have taken part in many local collaborative projects and exhibitions; including WW1 exhibition, Magna Carta, Postcards for Life for Hereford Hospice, Mayors Parlour Exhibition and more recently a project based on Rotherwas Munitions Factory. Students are encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their design work and samples to produce quality final pieces of work.
Years 10 and 11 (GCSE)
Students can opt to take GCSE Textile Design in Years 10 and 11, following the AQA Art specification. This is a popular creative course which gives students the opportunity to experience a wide range of materials, techniques and processes and to develop their own particular style and interests. They are introduced to a range of art, craft and design from past cultures as well as the present. Their response to these examples is shown through practical and critical activities and students are required to build a portfolio of work for the collection and processing of visual information and ideas.
The GCSE exam comprises of an externally set question or ‘starting point,’ where students can choose their own theme and have a period of time to produce initial research, preparatory sheets and sketchbook work in preparation to complete a final outcome during the 10-hour exam, which carries a weighting of 40%. Students also have to submit a portfolio of coursework based around two projects which carry a weighting of 60%.
Students taking GCSE will have many exciting opportunities to support their Art and Textile studies by visiting galleries, museums and exhibitions locally and further afield such as Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museums in Oxford, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, V&A in London, Clothes Show Live at NEC Birmingham and even further afield; The Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Miro Museum in Barcelona.