What do you love
about the art department at Thomas Rotherham College?
Facilities and Techniques – 58%
The
most popular response in this category was the facilities available in the
department and the techniques taught in the course. This was high across all
endorsements, with 66% in Fine Art, 40% in Graphics and 62% in Photography.
Every year we try and improve and widen the variety of ways our students can
express themselves, no matter which subject they are studying, most recently
revamping our little studio here in art to make it much more useful and
practical for those using it. The
darkroom has clearly been a HUGE hit with Photography students as this was the
majority of what they said they loved in our range of facilities.
‘Enjoy learning different
techniques to branch out style’
‘There is a lot of different
techniques and materials that we can use’
‘Learning new techniques and
being able to use facilities at any time in the rooms’
Open Door Policy – 26%
Another
popular aspect of the department, and the second biggest response in the
survey, was that our rooms are always available to work in during free periods
and study hall sessions. Once again, this comes up every year, which is why we
will always push to keep this as constant practice in our department! Not only
does it encourage and foster a conscientious and hard-working environment, but
we also believe that it is also one of the reasons we have such a great buzz
around the department throughout the whole year, as it shows real commitment
and passion for the subject you’re studying!
‘I really like the extra time
you can come into the rooms to work’
‘I like that you can come in
and do work anytime as this really helps me with my workload’
‘Always having the department
open for free periods’
General Atmosphere and
Relationships with Staff – 19%
Following
on nicely from our open door policy, the general atmosphere surrounding the
department and the support from staff members was mentioned by 19% of our
students overall. We love this too!! This is so important to us and we’re glad
it is to you as well! As I said before, the positive atmosphere is largely down
to how brilliant all your attitudes are and your engagement in our courses. If
we didn’t see your cheery faces every day then the department would be such a
different place! It’s also great to know that you can see we are working hard
on our end as well to give you the support you need.
‘The atmosphere surrounding the
whole department’ ‘It’s a calm environment that I feel safe to express myself
in and have been able to explore techniques I never knew’ ‘Comfortable place to
be’ ‘How the staff are so friendly and approachable’ ‘The encouragement we get
from the teachers!’ ‘How supportive everyone is’
Freedom and Independence – 18%
This
isn’t usually mentioned so early on in the course as we are still in the
‘exploring media’ phase of the year, which means getting to grips with the
techniques and facilities we have. So it is great to hear that you are already
using your creative freedom to express yourselves in the work you have been
doing for the past term! Art subjects are very personal and independent
subjects, so it is great that you are enjoying that aspect of it!
‘Freedom in sketchbooks’
‘The freedom of the work’
‘I like the independence that
comes with the course’
‘Being left to your own
devices’
‘The freedom to go where we
want with our work’
A few honourable mentions….
·
Organisation and Purple Books
(13%)
·
Trips (6%)
·
Photoshoots (4%)
·
Shop (3%)
What do you wish for in
the art department at Thomas Rotherham College?
More/Another/New…. GUILLOTINE!!
– 47%
The
age old request! This has been at the top of the ‘wish for’ for years,
especially as the department keeps growing both in terms of student numbers and
the ambition and scale of work that is done in the department, which of course
means more demand and strain on our 3 current guillotines. Last year we
replaced the plastic band on one of the upstairs guillotines at the suggestion
of the student reps which greatly improved it and made it much more reliable,
and for now it is only little fixes like this that we will be able to do due to
our budget… The large good quality guillotines we buy are nearly £450!!
We
will be electing student reps after half term, and one thing we will put
forward is possible fundraising in the department and what they think would be
best to spend this money on.
This
will always be something we are looking to invest in, but we just cannot
justify it right now – sorry!
Also
we cannot have a guillotine where ‘the handle goes down and not across’ because
we may end up with lots of chopped fingers!
Printer Credits – 32%
Another
issue that has been mentioned many times over the past few learner voices! Once
again, the sheer increase in the scale of work you all produce also means much
more printing, which of course means the printer credits you are given are used
up very quickly. All students around college now get £15 per term (September,
January, April), and this actually used to be £10 a term so it has recently
increased! We do not make any decisions involving printer credits, so it is not
something we can do much about. But as always, we will mention this to the
people who can make that decision and see if there is anything we can do to
increase them for you – as it is an important requirement of your course!
Reprographics
were also mentioned, with one student said that they take too much off their
card so they don’t have enough for normal printing. As this was a
Graphics/Photography student, Reprographics take off £5 off your credits to pay
for any specialist printing you require. During your two years of Graphics and
Photography you will need to print off lots of acetates, A3+ size printing and
possibly things such as transfer paper. So this money is in good hands and I
can guarantee you will be using them a lot throughout the year! However, if you
are really struggling, drop them an email and ask if you can have some money
put back on you credits.
Less Homework – 6%
Unfortunately, in order to meet the assessment
criteria you have to demonstrate independence, a wide range of skills and an
impressive body of work. The college expectation in 4.5 hours in lessons and
4-5 hours outside lessons. We try to support you as much as possible with this
e.g. Homework GO TO GUIDE and open door policy, but unfortunately, whatever A
Level course you do, you would be expected to do a lot of homework.
More Time Spent on Certain
Techniques (e.g. colour mixing, photoshop etc.) – 5%
We give you short introductions to techniques and
you will get the opportunity to specialise further as the course progresses.
You will get more 121 support with your chosen specialisms and get lots more
time to practise these skills.
Bigger Spaces to Work In – 5%
Every
year after the exhibition we rearrange the rooms slightly to make them more suitable
for working in, particularly the areas for working outside lessons, but
unfortunately we only have so many tables and only so much physical space in
the department to fit them in! This year we are lucky to have 3 blocks on the
art timetable that only have one lesson in them, meaning upstairs is completely
empty for you to work in during C and E block, and the same for downstairs in F
block. This mean there is much more access to table space in the rooms, so if
you have free during any of these periods, they are a great time to come in and
work!
More Trips – 5%
Currently
we have the YSP trip in October for A1 students and Manchester in February for
A2 students. However, this is not set in stone it is just how we’ve been
running it for the past couple of years and seems to work well. However, so
long as another trip would fit in nicely with our scheme of work – we would
also like more! We will discuss the practicality and suitability of adding more
trips to the scheme of work.
Overview of Topics That Will Be
Covered – 5%
We
think this is a great idea! This hasn’t been mentioned before and we hadn’t
thought about it before – which is why learner voice is so useful! We do have a
general outlie of topics and techniques covered during your exploring media,
although it will never be specific in terms of weeks as it can sometimes swap
and change depending on circumstances. But we could definitely put together an
outline of what will be covered up until January to give to you, and also do
this again in September at the start of terms with next year’s A1s. This is
definitely something we’ll look into!
Bigger Purple Books – 5%
Purple books are expensive for us to produce as a
department! If you would like a bigger one, you can order an A4 size one for
your next project, but you would need to make a contribution to the department
of £2.
Bigger Studio – 5%
Similarly
to the request for bigger practical working areas – we have to work around the
rooms we have and we cannot create more space, although we wish we could! Two
years ago we didn’t have a studio at all in the art department so it is still a
relatively new addition to us. It has improved since last year also as we have
created permanent white and black backdrops as well as more studio lighting
choices. If you are ever in need of a bigger space, there is a studio up in
Woodhurst that you can book with the Media technicians Sam and Britt. But unfortunately,
we cannot make our studio room any bigger than it is – sorry!
A few honourable mentions….
Longer lessons
Yes
please! 😊
We are not in control of the timetable but we would love longer lessons as they
would work great for our subjects!
More freedom
As we
are still in the ‘exploring media’ phase of the course, it can feel a little
restricting at times as you are still getting to grips with the basic
techniques and facilities here in the department (although 18% of you said you
loved the freedom and independence of the course!). You will soon be starting
your major coursework project where you will begin your own personal journey
and you will choose your own subject matters as well as the materials and
techniques you use. It will come – give it time!
More: small paint brushes, glue
sticks, coloured papers
All
these things are available for very reasonable prices in the art shop! All
items in the shop are sold at cost price, meaning we don’t make any profit on
them and therefore cannot lower the prices (even though wish we could!).
We can
only offer so many materials out in the classrooms for free, because many of
these materials (such as paint brushes) are almost always lost or damaged due
to careless use and thoughtlessness. So for these reasons we cannot provide
items like this for free.
‘Lessons feel as if I should be
demonstrating my skills instead of learning new ones, which can be hard for me
as I didn’t do GCSE in art’
The first term is as much about demonstrating what
you do know, as much as us finding out what you don’t know. This way as teacher
– we know where your skills lie and how to support you. This is the first year
we have had students on the course who have not completed GCSE in Art, so
perhaps we could look at providing further support for students without this
prior experience next year. Although, I have ot say, the handful of students we
have who gained a place on the course through portfolio have shown fantastic
skill and resilience and we as a department wholeheartedly agree that opening
the course up to portfolio submissions was a positive thing!
‘To be good at the subject’
YOU
ARE!! 😊
