Art, Design & Crafts
We plan for art, craft and design to continue its key role as a subject that encompasses the artistic, aesthetic and cultural perspectives without which a general education cannot be regarded as broad and balanced.
The new art syllabus for the senior cycle is expected to be introduced in the very near future. Our understanding of this is that it will be a progression of the current Junior Certificate which was revised in 1992 and like the Junior Certificate there will be a project based assessment system unlike the current Leaving Certificate.
Our Leaving Certificate syllabus will ensure that students of all levels of ability will experience many aspects of visual art. image2Equally we intend that there will be due emphasis given to the history and appreciation of art and design. To date a high proportion of our students choose to follow art related careers and we wish to continue this tradition by ensuring that artistic creativity linked with competence and enterprise will provide students with life skills and employment opportunities.
The Junior Certificate is a constructive and active programme and is planned to give a broad understanding of art, craft and design. The syllabus is structured to ensure a balance between experiencing, making and understanding art, craft and design with support studies forming a vital and integral part of the experience.
The students commence work on a project in October which is submitted the following May. It is then displayed and assessed within the college by an external examiner and returned to the students in September.
Our experience is that the quality of the student’s work has reached a very high standard since the inception of a project based assessment system. We feel that the time allotted allows students full scope to explore their ideas, techniques, media and skills.
We aim to provide students with a wide variety of creative experiences that will appeal to the broadest range of ability levels and styles.