Art – Key Stage 3 Curriculum Plan

Shape, Form and Tone has been designed to teach students the core visual elements of art and how to use them to create three-dimensional effects in two-dimensional work. This will be supported by looking at the work of others including artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.

Shape – the outline, form, or outer boundary of an object. 

Form – three-dimensional objects or the illusion of three-dimensionality. 

Tone – lightness or darkness of a colour. 

Gradient – a smooth, gradual transition between two or more colors, or from one shade to another. 

Shading – adding varying levels of darkness, tone, and light to a drawing. 

3D – objects or images possessing length, width, and height.  

2D – a flat shape or object. 

Cross hatching – an art technique used to create shading, texture, and depth by drawing multiple sets of parallel lines that intersect or cross over each other 

Stippling – shading and texture using only small, distinct dots or flicks of color 

Medium – the specific material, substance, or tool an artist uses to create a work 

Value – the lightness or darkness of a color, tone, or shade, ranging from white to black 

Proportion – size and scale relationship between different elements or parts of a whole within a composition 

Composition – the planned arrangement, placement, and organisation of visual elements (such as line, shape, color, and texture) within a work to create a cohesive, balanced, and engaging image. 

You can support your child with their work by ensuring that they have space to practice their art and complete their homework at home. Having some art supplies at home sets children up to succeed – Even just a few pencils and rubbers make a difference! Children who have access to art outside of school often excel in art at school.

You can access places like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, Millenium Gallery, or Graves Park Gallery in Sheffield. These are free or discounted for families and have great public transport links. Exposure to art helps children understand their art lessons on a deeper level.

Tate Kids is brilliant for expanding your child’s knowledge and passion for art.

Art and Design – BBC Bitesize is a great source for expanding specific artist knowledge.

What’s on at The Hepworth Wakefield – Free entry for children, £10 for adults What’s on – Exhibitions |

Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Free for children, £9.50 for adults

Graves Gallery – Free for everyone

Millennium Gallery – Free for everyone

National Saturday Club – Explore exciting subjects on Saturday mornings for free – A free Saturday club for children 13-16, based in a Higher Education setting, with a ‘Summer Show’ of children’s work in Somerset House, London.

Colour is the second project and begins by teaching the fundamentals of colour theory and how different hues relate to one another. Students will then get to explore a range of artists such as Kandinsky, Hundertwasser, and Warhol who use colour to create mood, meaning, and visual impact in their work.

Still Life – a work of art (painting, drawing, or photograph) that features an arrangement of inanimate, everyday objects. 

Primary – Red, yellow, blue. 

Secondary – Purple, orange, green. 

Tertiary – Tertiary colours are created by mixing equal parts of a primary colour (red, yellow, or blue) with a neighboring secondary colour (orange, green, or purple) on the colour wheel 

Complementary – pairs of colors that sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel 

Monochrome – a photo, artwork, or design created using only a single colour 

Onomatopoeia – a word that imitates the natural sound of a thing or action it describes, like buzz, hiss, thud, or meow. 

Architect – a professional who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings and structures 

Abstract – a style that does not attempt to represent accurate depictions of visual reality, focusing instead on composition, color, shape, and line to create emotion or meaning. 

Geometric – a form of abstract art that uses precise mathematical shapes, such as circles, squares, triangles, and lines. 

You can support your child with their work by ensuring that they have space to practice their art and complete their homework at home. Having some art supplies at home sets children up to succeed – Even just a few pencils and rubbers make a difference! Children who have access to art outside of school often excel in art during lessons.

You can access places like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, Millenium Gallery, or Graves Park Gallery in Sheffield. These are free or discounted for families and have great public transport links. Exposure to art helps children understand their art lessons on a deeper level.

Tate Kids is brilliant for expanding your child’s knowledge and passion for art.

Art and Design – BBC Bitesize is a great source for expanding specific artist knowledge.

What’s on at The Hepworth Wakefield – Free entry for children, £10 for adults What’s on – Exhibitions |

Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Free for children, £9.50 for adults

Graves Gallery – Free for everyone

Millennium Gallery – Free for everyone

National Saturday Club – Explore exciting subjects on Saturday mornings for free – A free Saturday club for children 13-16, based in a Higher Education setting, with a ‘Summer Show’ of children’s work in Somerset House, London.

Line Pattern Texture is a project designed to look at a wide range of techniques such as stippling, crosshatching, and sgraffito. Students will use a range of artist materials to create samples and experiments. These techniques will then be applied and used in a range of work supported by artists who use line, pattern and texture in their own work.

Line – A long, thin mark, such as one drawn with a pencil, or a row of objects 

Implied Texture – the illusion of how a surface feels, created by artists on a 2D surface where no actual texture exists 

Actual Texture – the real, tangible surface quality of a 3D object or artwork that can be felt by touching 

Tactile – the sense of touch and anything relating to, or perceived by, the sense of touch 

Crosshatching – an art technique used to create shading, tone, and texture by drawing two or more sets of close, parallel lines that intersect 

Sgraffito – a decorating technique, derived from the Italian for “to scratch” 

Pattern – a regular, predictable, or repeating arrangement of lines, shapes, colors, numbers, or actions 

Gestural – a style of painting or drawing that emphasizes free, sweeping, and energetic brushstrokes to convey emotion and movement rather than precise detail 

Motif – a recurring element, symbol, shape, or theme that is repeated within a single artwork 

Form – the three-dimensional quality of an object, possessing volume, depth, and height, as opposed to flat, two-dimensional shapes 

Movement – guiding the viewer’s eye through a composition, creating a sense of action or flow. 

You can support your child with their work by ensuring that they have space to practice their art and complete their homework at home. Having some art supplies at home sets children up to succeed – Even just a few pencils and rubbers make a difference!  

Children who have access to art outside of school often excel in art at school. You can access places like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, Millenium Gallery, or Graves Park Gallery in Sheffield. These are free or discounted for families and have great public transport links. Exposure to art helps children understand their art lessons on a deeper level. 

Tate Kids is brilliant for expanding your child’s knowledge and passion for art.

Art and Design – BBC Bitesize is a great source for expanding specific artist knowledge.

What’s on at The Hepworth Wakefield – Free entry for children, £10 for adults What’s on – Exhibitions |

Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Free for children, £9.50 for adults

Graves Gallery – Free for everyone

Millennium Gallery – Free for everyone

National Saturday Club – Explore exciting subjects on Saturday mornings for free – A free Saturday club for children 13-16, based in a Higher Education setting, with a ‘Summer Show’ of children’s work in Somerset House, London.

Our second project, fears and phobias, allows students to use their creative expressions and use a range of art materials and mediums. After researching, planning and studying the work of others, a final piece will be produced. This will encapsulate their ideas as well as techniques and effects they have learned and taken from a range of artists.

Expressive – using creative processes, such as painting, movement, drama, music, or writing, to express emotions, thoughts, and inner experiences rather than focusing on realistic depiction or final product.   

Terror – Terror is a state of intense, overwhelming fear, dread, or extreme fright.  

Shade – a colour produced by adding black to a pure colour making it darker.  Distortion – the twisting, bending, or alteration of an object, image, sound, or fact away from its original, true, or natural state.  

Chaotic – a state of complete disorder, confusion, or lack of organisation.  

Emptiness – the state of containing nothing, representing a void, vacuum, or the absence of substance, meaning, or inhabitants.  

Perspectives – a specific way of thinking about, viewing, or judging situations, shaped by personal experience, beliefs, or a particular viewpoint. 

You can support your child with their work by ensuring that they have space to practice their art and complete their homework at home. Having some art supplies at home sets children up to succeed – Even just a few pencils and rubbers make a difference! Children who have access to art outside of school often excel in art during lessons. You can access places like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, Millenium Gallery, or Graves Park Gallery in Sheffield. These are free or discounted for families and have great public transport links. Exposure to art helps children understand their art lessons on a deeper level.

Tate Kids is brilliant for expanding your child’s knowledge and passion for art.

Art and Design – BBC Bitesize is a great source for expanding specific artist knowledge.

What’s on at The Hepworth Wakefield – Free entry for children, £10 for adults What’s on – Exhibitions |

Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Free for children, £9.50 for adults

Graves Gallery – Free for everyone

Millennium Gallery – Free for everyone

National Saturday Club – Explore exciting subjects on Saturday mornings for free – A free Saturday club for children 13-16, based in a Higher Education setting, with a ‘Summer Show’ of children’s work in Somerset House, London.

Looking at drawing is a project designed to support students’ observational skills as well as being shown a wide range of art techniques that are used by artists old and new. During this project, techniques such as the grid method, continuous line and timed drawings will be explored as well as learning how to handle certain art materials such as graphite, ink, and charcoal.

Kathe Kollwitz – a pioneering German artist, painter, printmaker, and sculpto,—best known for her emotionally powerful, often monochrome, depictions of poverty, hunger, war, and grief.  

Frida Kahlo – renowned Mexican painter famous for her, vibrant, deeply personal self-portraits that blended realism with fantasy, surrealism, and traditional Mexican folk culture.  

Alberto Giacometti – a renowned Swiss sculptor and painter known for his distinctive, elongated, and textured human figures.  

Shape method – a drawing techniques where mapping out the basic shapes of an image are the first steps.  

Gridding method – separating an image into a grid, to be able to draw it accurately. 

Composition – the deliberate arrangement, organization, and placement of visual elements, such as line, shape, color, and texture, within a work. 

Rule of thirds – a composition guideline that divides an image into nine equal parts using two horizontal and two vertical lines. Timed drawings – fast-paced sketching exercises done within a strict time limit, typically ranging from 30 seconds to 10 minutes.   

Typography – the art and technique of arranging type, letters, numbers, and symbols, to make written language legible, readable, and visually appealing.  

Continuous line – a technique where an artist draws a subject using a single, unbroken line without lifting their pen or pencil off the paper from start to finish.    

You can support your child with their work by ensuring that they have space to practice their art and complete their homework at home. Having some art supplies at home sets children up to succeed – Even just a few pencils and rubbers make a difference!

Children who have access to art outside of school often excel in art during lessons. You can access places like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, Millenium Gallery, or Graves Park Gallery in Sheffield. These are free or discounted for families and have great public transport links. Exposure to art helps children understand their art lessons on a deeper level.

Tate Kids is brilliant for expanding your child’s knowledge and passion for art.

Art and Design – BBC Bitesize is a great source for expanding specific artist knowledge.

What’s on at The Hepworth Wakefield – Free entry for children, £10 for adults What’s on – Exhibitions |

Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Free for children, £9.50 for adults

Graves Gallery – Free for everyone

Millennium Gallery – Free for everyone

National Saturday Club – Explore exciting subjects on Saturday mornings for free – A free Saturday club for children 13-16, based in a Higher Education setting, with a ‘Summer Show’ of children’s work in Somerset House, London.

Portraiture features very heavily in the world of art and can take on a whole range of styles and looks. This project aims to create artistic representation of people through the work of others. Students will learn of artists who have studied faces, from the realistic painterly style of Lucian Freud to Pablo Picassos abstract, fractured and cubist approach. The project will end with an opportunity for students to create their own portrait final piece.

Fragmented – something broken, divided, or separated into distinct, small parts or pieces rather than existing.  

Abstract – a style that does not attempt to represent accurate depictions of visual reality, such as people, places, or objects. Analytical – using a logical, detailed, and methodical approach to examine something by breaking it down into smaller parts.  

Distorted – something is twisted, warped, or misrepresented, altering its true shape, sound, or meaning.  

Proportion – the comparative, relative relationship between the sizes, amounts, or dimensions of different parts within a whole composition. 

Tribal – the visual art, material culture, and artistic expression of indigenous, rural, or non-Western communities.  

Portrait – an artistic representation of a specific person, or group of people, designed to capture their physical likeness, personality, or mood.  

Cubism – an early 20th-century art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that broke away from traditional, realistic painting.  

Pablo Picasso – a groundbreaking Spanish painter and sculptor who revolutionized 20th-century art.  

Lucian Freud – a Berlin-born British painter renowned for his raw, intense, and psychologically charged portraits of people.  

Francis Bacon – a 20th-century British figurative painter known for raw, emotionally charged, and unsettling images that explore the fragility and violence of the human condition. His style features distorted, screaming, or isolated human forms often placed in cage-like, minimalist, or surreal spaces.   

Kimmy Cantrell – an American self-taught artist and sculptor based in Georgia, best known for creating vibrant, asymmetrical ceramic masks and mixed-media collages. 

You can support your child with their work by ensuring that they have space to practice their art and complete their homework at home. Having some art supplies at home sets children up to succeed – Even just a few pencils and rubbers make a difference!

Children who have access to art outside of school often excel in art during lessons. You can access places like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, Millenium Gallery, or Graves Park Gallery in Sheffield. These are free or discounted for families and have great public transport links. Exposure to art helps children understand their art lessons on a deeper level.

Tate Kids is brilliant for expanding your child’s knowledge and passion for art.

Art and Design – BBC Bitesize is a great source for expanding specific artist knowledge.

What’s on at The Hepworth Wakefield – Free entry for children, £10 for adults What’s on – Exhibitions |

Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Free for children, £9.50 for adults

Graves Gallery – Free for everyone

Millennium Gallery – Free for everyone

National Saturday Club – Explore exciting subjects on Saturday mornings for free – A free Saturday club for children 13-16, based in a Higher Education setting, with a ‘Summer Show’ of children’s work in Somerset House, London.

What is Cubism? | Tate Kids

The Art of Kimmy Cantrel

Horror-film imagery makes an arresting portrait | Francis Bacon | UNIQLO ARTSPEAKS