Art & Design, Technology and STEAM

Choose a subject:
What is our overarching curriculum intent and what do we intend students leave Bridgemary School with?

We intend that our curriculum supports our Trust ambition of ‘achieving more together’.  We do this by getting students to understand that Art and Technology are vital ingredients of all students’ education and life experiences; they engage and stimulate at many levels, from analytical, intellectual inquiry to exploring new media and mastering new techniques. As teachers it is our responsibility to build positive learning relationships and promote consistency, offering a challenging curriculum which engages and encourages pupils to question their understanding and perception of Art and Technology.

What is the structural intent of the subject curriculum, & how is it sequenced so that students know and remember more?

The curriculum across all subjects is carefully sequenced so that prior core declarative and procedural knowledge is built upon, with continual opportunities for core knowledge to be interleaved throughout both key stages so that students know more, remember more and can apply that knowledge in a range of contexts.  Facilitating knowledge adds important local, national, and global context to core knowledge, and our curriculum intends to provide a richness and diversity that enables our students to experience learning in real life contexts.

How do any school values and focuses influence or feed through the curriculum?

The school curriculum is built on 4 aims to ensure our students receive and are able to access it fully, those being:

  • Reading and comprehension that aims to ensure all students leave with a reading age at least equivalent to their chronological age
  • Our school ethos of Be Kind, Work Hard, Be the Best Version of Yourself
  • A deepening understanding of core and facilitating knowledge that enables students to know and remember more
  • A wide appreciation of the world that we live in, and the celebration of the diversity this brings
What is our intent to assess how well students access the curriculum and how the school intends to adapt the curriculum to close gaps in knowledge?

To ensure any gaps in prior or new knowledge are quickly identified, we check progress frequently through a range of assessment opportunities, from lesson-by-lesson declarative knowledge tests, end of topic tests that assess knowledge retention and application, to more cumulative common assessments that assess students’ ability to remember and apply knowledge in a range of contexts.  The information from these assessments are used to adapt the curriculums intending to quickly close gaps in knowledge and keep students on track to achieve at our ambitious academic flightpaths.

The curriculum we intend to deliver to students at each Key Stage:

KS3

Art and Technology

Pupils will have the opportunity to discover both traditional and contemporary Artists, designers, and craftspeople throughout their journey in KS3. Pupils will embark on the preliminary skills required in year 7 such as drawing, colour theory, painting and sculpting. This will be the foundation for their development as young artists into Years 8.

Throughout their journey, pupils will have the opportunity to complete an Art Technology based project, accessing and exploring a range of different tools to complete more adventurous final pieces.

STEM to STEAM Intent

The Arts allow creative and diverse thinking and the challenging of concepts, which fits naturally into the STEM subject areas. As a STEAM team at Bridgemary we have been able to inspire children through our enthusiasm and passion for our subject areas by connecting learning through creativity. The ability to think innovatively is key to tomorrow’s economy and jobs. Bridgemary School is very passionate and excited about STEAM within education and the endless opportunities it offers our young people. Delivering cross-curricular STEAM based projects has engaged, enriched and excelled our students through the ability to transfer their knowledge from one situation to the next, which supports student’s progress. STEAM additionally highlights Higher Education and career pathways which students could pursue in the future, which is of immense importance due to the diverse opportunities for STEAM based employment in the City of Portsmouth and along the south coast.

Food Technology

During KS3 pupils have the exciting opportunity to develop basic life skills in cooking and to explore and apply principles of food safety and hygiene.  Pupils will be taught to understand and apply the principles of health to cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes. Pupils are nurtured to become competent in selecting and preparing ingredients, using utensils and electrical equipment safely, a range of different cooking methods and how to apply heat in different ways. Pupils will be encouraged to use their awareness of taste, texture and smell to decide how to season dishes and combine ingredients, adapting and using their own recipes.

KS4

Art, Graphic, 3D, Textiles & Photography

The Art course provides students with a wide range of creative, exciting and stimulating opportunities to explore given themes and briefs. By its very nature the Arts practice is a diverse and discursive process through which students make their own creative pathways.

The course consists of projects, each based on a variety of processes. These include; artist research, observational drawings, expressive responses through developments of different media and creating a reflective final piece. 

The majority of the work is based upon the creative development of skill through drawing and painting from observation. Students will also explore other artistic media such as printing, 3D Sculpture, Ceramics, Fine Art, Textiles, Photography.

Hospitality

Building on the knowledge from KS3 pupils will learn a range of skills linked to the food, hospitality and catering industry. Pupils will gain a broad knowledge and understanding of commercial food production and will gain an understanding of legal responsibilities when preparing food for sale. Pupils will create successful meal plans, including time management, problem solving and communication skills. They will do this through creating products which take into consideration nutrition and food safety and how this can affect successful catering and hospitality operations.  In addition to developing sector specific knowledge and understanding, this qualification allows pupils to see the potential that the sector can offer them for their careers or further education. 

How does the co-curriculum enhance the curriculum?

Art & Technology

The curriculum is carefully sequenced so that prior core declarative and procedural knowledge is built upon, with continual opportunities for core knowledge to be interleaved throughout both key stages so that students know more, remember more and can apply that knowledge in a range of contexts.  Facilitating knowledge adds important local, national, and global context to core knowledge, and our curriculum intends to provide a richness and diversity that enables our students to experience learning in real life contexts.

STEAM
The Arts allow creative and diverse thinking and the challenging of concepts, which fits naturally into the STEM subject areas. As a STEAM team at Bridgemary we have been able to inspire children through our enthusiasm and passion for our subject areas by connecting learning through creativity. The ability to think innovatively is key to tomorrow’s economy and jobs. Bridgemary School is very passionate and excited about STEAM within education and the endless opportunities it offers our young people. Delivering cross-curricular STEAM based projects has engaged, enriched and excelled our students through the ability to transfer their knowledge from one situation to the next, which supports student’s progress. STEAM additionally highlights Higher Education and career pathways which students could pursue in the future, which is of immense importance to the diverse opportunities for STEAM based employment in the City of Portsmouth and along the south coast.
General Documents Date  
Art, Design, Technology and STEAM Curriculum Overview 16th Jan 2025 Download
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