Y12 Learner Voice November 2023

 

Learner Voice November 23

 

What do you love about the art department at Thomas Rotherham College?

 

Comfortable Atmosphere – 47%

“Relaxed/fun atmosphere”

“Love how relaxed the way of working is”

“It’s nice to have time to express myself and be creative”

“How chill the lessons are and how relaxed it is”

 

Techniques and Facilities – 45%

“The facilities provided e.g darkroom”

“Trying different techniques in Art like intaglio”

“Experimenting with different techniques and materials”

“I love using all the equipment available in the facilities”

 

New sink (Woodhurst) – 32%

“I love the new sink it makes practical work so much easier”

“That sink is 10/10”

 

The Open Door booking system – 25%

“Having access to the art rooms and being able to use them in free periods”

“I like how you can book in on your frees”

 

Staff and Support – 18%

“Helpful teachers 😊”

“The support and patience of the teachers”

“Staff are very understanding”

“I’ve loved being motivated to be better”

“Teachers involve themselves a lot in helping with your work”

“Staff are really nice and welcoming”

 

Creative Freedom – 15%

“Love the free style of working”

“Using independent ideas”

“I love the creative part of Photography where you’re allowed to add or change what we’re learning into your own style”

 

A few honourable mentions….

·         Example sketchbooks (12%)

·         Shop (9%)

·         Doing photoshoots outside of department (3%)

 

What do you wish for in the art department at Thomas Rotherham College?

 

Nothing! – 20%

Thank you! This is always a lovely comment to receive!

 

More guillotines – 16%

This was mostly mentioned in Graphics regarding the new room in Woodhurst, although there were also a few mentions in Art and Photography. We have bought one new guillotine already this year, meaning we have 3 downstairs and 2 upstairs, so unfortunately we won’t be able to afford any more this year! However we have purchased two new small guillotines for the room in Woodhurst which should help with the queues for chopping over in Graphics at least!

 

More drying racks (Woodhurst) – 16%

Once again, this was specific to the new Woodhurst room. We will definitely bring over an extra drying rack for the next time practical work is going on in Graphics!

 

More space in W103 – 13%

The room in Woodhurst is certainly smaller than those over in Art and Photography, so this is a completely understandable request! Patience has had a go at a new arrangement of tables to hopefully give more floor space over there – so we will see if this makes a positive difference!

 

More time for deadlines – 9%

Given the nature of our courses, tasks and deadlines for those tasks are set to ensure you complete the necessary amount of work in the time we have for each project to get you marks! Therefore there is not much we can do to narrow these tasks down or extend deadlines, as this then impedes on the next task. However, we are always looking at our schemes of work and adjusting timings and the tasks we set to ensure everything is definitely doable and won’t overstretch anyone!

 

A few honourable mentions….

More materials available

We have a large amount of materials available to purchase from the shop, as well as basic materials in the rooms to use when you are in class or Open Door. If there is ever something specific you need, come and ask one of us and we can see if we have it!  

 

More lessons on digital work

This was from both Graphics and Photography.

Our Graphics course is divided between practical printmaking and digital designs, so it is necessary to create your own practical source material before moving onto the computers. We try to fit in as much time on digital work as possible around this, but understand some of you who are more confident digitally would like to spend more time on this side of things rather than practical. We hope that the balance we have created can please both the more practical students as well as the digital ones!

In Photography, we had a couple of students mention using Adobe Lightroom in lessons. This is something you can use on the computers if you are already accustomed to using it, and we can look into using this more within lessons if there is demand for it!

 

Aircon/fan in W103

We appreciate it is VERY HOT in W103! We will speak to our site staff about this!

 

Stopwatches in darkroom

This is a new request! We will definitely look into this!