IB Art

Visual Arts is in the group 6 Arts and Electives section and would provide excellent balance and breadth to any IB programme. Engagement in the Arts promotes a sense of identity and makes a unique contribution to the development of each student. Study of the visual arts provides students with the opportunity to develop a critical and personal view of themselves in relation to the world.

It is our firm belief that all our students can and should be visually literate. Pursuing this belief has won the Department a high and steadily growing reputation of our students work. All students will be offered the opportunity to work in a range of disciplines during the IB course including drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, jewellery, design and metalwork. It is the combination of our total commitment to our students as individuals and the variety of choices we encourage the students to make which helps enable us to bring the very best out of the students we teach.

Art at Fettes is currently very successful and we set extremely high standards. Increasing numbers of students are being accepted onto degree courses in related subjects including Architecture, Engineering, Design, Fashion, Fine Art and Photography.

We would hope that all the students who choose to pursue the IB course in Art and Design would gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance of the visual arts in the world that we live in today.

Syllabus Details

The department offers the IB course at both the Higher Level and Standard Level A. In most cases the students will be required to have gained an A Grade in GCSE Art and Design before being accepted onto either of these courses.

Higher Level is designed for the specialist visual arts student, with creative and imaginative abilities, who may wish to pursue the visual arts at university or college level.

Part A Studio Work – Practical exploration and artistic production

Part B Research Workbooks – Independent critical research and analysis, visual and written in more than one culture.

Standard Level A is for students who wish to develop their creative and imaginative abilities as part of a general education. The main elements of the courses will focus on the production of studio work and research workbooks.

Part A Studio work - Practical exploration and artistic production

Part B Research workbooks – Independent critical research and analysis, visual and written in more than one culture.

The themes and courses offered to the students will vary every year and be constructed to reflect the individual interests and experiences of the staff and students as well as current public exhibitions. Basic skills will be reinforced at the beginning of the courses with greater focus on independent learning and breadth of outcome as the courses progress. Students will be encouraged to discuss their own work in the context of the work of other artists and designers, analyse the origins or technical aspects and reflect on their personal views and aims. Each student will be given the opportunity to curate and mount their own exhibition and play an active part in the analysis of fellow students’ work.

Assessment

External assessment (70%)

Studio Work (HL and SLA)

All studio work will be externally assessed by a specially appointed visiting examiner, who will have reviewed the research workbooks before meeting with the candidates. Each student will prepare their own exhibition and the examiner will meet with the students to interview them about their body of work. The quantity of work will vary depending on the level of difficulty in the course taken. A specified marking scheme and criteria will be used in the assessment.

Internal Assessment (30%)

Workbooks (HL SLA)

All workbooks will be internally assessed by the teachers. They will, however, also be reviewed by the examiner before the interviews.