Department ethos:–
Commonweal Art Department aims to introduce and develop students practical, conceptual and spatial skills through two and three dimensional projects in a wide range of media. Students study Artworks and Art History from a variety of different artistic periods, ranging from Neolithic Cave Paintings through to the Young British Artists and the Contemporary Art Scene. We believe strongly that students learn just as well outside the class room as they do inside and so as a result take each year group on a trip or visit connected to one of their areas of study. GCSE students have the opportunity to take part in a residential visit to a foreign cultural city once a year.

Commonweal Art Department believes that regardless of ability or disability all students should have equal opportunity to learn to express themselves through the creation of artwork. Students are offered the opportunity to join artists in regular workshops generating artworks that are then displayed within the school and the wider community.

Supporting the school’s specialism:-
The Art Department sees the specialisms’ of Performing and Visual Arts as having very close links and aims to support the school’s specialist role in a variety of ways. There are close curricular links within the departments schemes of work with KS3 Dance, Drama and Music, combining areas of study and current interest. At KS4 students often use Dance, Drama and Music peers as models for their artwork which is then displayed around the school helping to create a bright and positive environment.

We are planning to invite an acting troupe into school to perform selected scenes from their repertoire to selection Arts, English and Drama students. Our students will then create work in response to what they have seen. It is hoped that the actors will be able to freeze frame for a given period of time to allow art students some figure and costume drawing experience.

Artsmark students have given ‘briefs’ to their peers in art lessons and run competitions to design the schools’ CD cover and posters advertising events.

Links to outside agencies:-
Commonweal Art Department works closely with the different arts organisations that Swindon has to offer like the Bath Road Museum and Art Gallery, and the Arts Centre. Students work with education officers from these and other organisations on projects within and outside of the curriculum.

We currently have two artists in residence, Tracey Baker-Stewart who runs a lunchtime mural class and represents the CAOS group ( Contemporary Artists of Swindon) and Andy Stott the nationally renowned stencil artist who runs stencil workshops after school. We are looking to increase the number of artists working with in the school in the near future.

This year students from our feeder schools are being invited to take part in an art course that is part of the Children’s University Summer School. They will be working on creating large scale murals.

ll students are given the opportunity to take their learning out of the classroom. Yr 7 go to Oxford to visit the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Botanical Gardens. Yr 8 visit Avebury and learn the fundamentals of landscape drawing. Yr 9 & Yr 10 art students visit the Tate Modern Gallery in London. Yr 11 visits the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London. Other opportunities to work with artists or visit other galleries often occur throughout the year and we like to take part in as many as possible. Yr 10 & Yr 11 are also offered the opportunity to visit a foreign cultural city on a residential trip. Proposed visits are to Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, New York and Prague.

Department successes:-
We in Commonweal Art Department are very proud of all the work that our students do and like to be able to exhibit work to the wider community as often as possible. This year the new Travelodge Central in Swindon contacted us to ask about the possibility of exhibiting some our students work in their reception and bar area. The work chosen is 12 Yr 8 students Fauvist Landscapes and they can still be seen there. It is hoped that this can become a permanent exhibition space for Commonweal.

This year, like last, we had a large exhibition of GCSE students that was attended by parents, the Mayor and his wife and Mark Waldron, school patron and editor of the Swindon Advertiser who presented the ‘Editor’s Choice Award.’