Welcome to Art at WCGS

Art is a popular subject at Wallington County Grammar School, with many pupils choosing to take the subject at GCSE and A Level. Art education at WCGS encompasses Art, Craft and Design with inspiration for work coming from a wide variety of historical and contemporary artists. At Key Stage 3 pupils have two one hour Art lessons each fortnight and study a number of disciplines including fine art, three dimensional sculpture and computer aided design. We incorporate these disciplines into projects that focus on storytelling, materials and the formal elements of art and design. Recent projects have included 'All About Me', 'Change Your Style', 'Make it Big!' and 'Repeat, Repeat, Repeat'.

At Key Stage 4 pupils take a three year GCSE course, with an introductory year during Year 9 studying key art movements and the skills required for success at this level. As pupils move into Year 10 and 11 a more independent approach is encouraged with open ended topics such as 'Barriers', 'Similarities and Differences' and 'Ordinary/Extraordinary'. Pupils study an unendorsed GCSE which allows them to work with a wide variety of media and approaches.

At AS and A2 level we have a dedicated group of artists, many of whom go on to study Art for Higher Education. In recent years pupils have been offered places at Cambridge and UCL to study Architecture and a number of pupils opt to take a Foundation Course at one of the University of the Arts colleges in London. Pupils from WCGS have gone on to study Illustration, Fine Art, Graphic Design and Animation.

The Art Department is an active presence in the extra curricular life of the school with pupils designing stage sets for recent drama and musical productions. Art Club takes place once a week for Key Stage 3 pupils with dedicated extra sessions for GCSE pupils. The House Art Competition is an exciting new addition to the school calendar and pupils annually exhibit their work at the Sutton Festival of Youth Art. We have recently run a painting and drawing trip to the Lake District and hold one day gallery visits throughout the year. In the past pupils have had the opportunity to visit places such as New York, South Africa and China as part of a WCGS Cultural tour. We hope to run many more of these trips in the future!