Welcome to St Paul's Girls' School — St Paul's Girls' School

Year 7

Painting and drawing (working both from observation and the imagination), plus mixed media. In painting, we explore colour mixing and start using watercolour, powder colour and gouache. We use pencil, pen and ink, chalk and charcoal for drawing. Students keep a personal sketchbook throughout the year.

Year 8

Ceramics, lino printmaking, 3D design, construction (with paper, card, wood and plastic), pin-hole photography and some work on drawing perspective. There's another observational drawing exam in the summer term. Students keep a personal sketchbook throughout the year.

Year 9

Graphic design, mixed-media drawing and painting. The graphic design project sees students developing skills in design fundamentals such as typography, colour and image manipulation. They respond to a design brief first by generating ideas on paper then using software such as Photoshop and Illustrator in the digital art studio to produce a final design. There's an observational drawing exam in the summer term. Students continue to keep a personal sketchbook.

Year 10

The first year of our school-directed art course including modules on oil painting, photography, ceramics, dry point printmaking, critical and historical studies, photography, digital video and 3D design and construction. During the spring term, students also work on their first assessed project, responding to a given theme by producing a piece of artwork in any medium. The second assessed project happens in the summer term, when students also start researching the third project (a written research project looking at the work of an artist, designer or architect who interests them). As well as keeping up a personal sketchbook throughout the year, students should also be visiting major galleries and exhibitions.

Year 11

Students produce their final assessed project in the autumn term. In the spring, they can revisit any of their coursework projects to make sure they're happy with the outcome. Instead of an exam, students set up an exhibition of their work in the Great Hall early in the summer term, with a private view for parents in the evening. An external examiner moderates the exhibition the next day and awards a pass, merit or distinction.

Year 12

Students complete a coursework portfolio to present a range of artwork that shows how they have developed their subject knowledge and researched and acquired new skills. The spring term also involves the controlled assignment where students develop ideas in response to a pre-released question paper and leading to the completion of artwork during a five-hour exam early in the summer term.

Year 13

Students complete one major project in any medium and write a related personal study of 1,000–3,000 words. There's another controlled assignment in the spring and summer terms (this time the exam period is 15 hours over three days). The year ends with an exhibition of the students' work from the past two years.