ART AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Creativity and Innovation
Wrekin College has excellent art and DT facilities, including an art studio, design technology workshop and design rooms to help pupils reach their full creative potential. These spaces form the heart of artistic endeavour at Wrekin. All are vibrant spaces where creative ideas come to life and imaginations are made visual. Many pupils take up either or both subjects and the results of their hard work are displayed all over school.
Art
The Art School is a professional, vibrant space with a unique atmosphere which nurtures and inspires artistic talent at all levels. The department has a 3D and ceramics studio with kilns and a spray booth, a general-purpose studio and three large dedicated Sixth Form areas. Work produced here adorns all areas of the school. The annual art exhibition showcases the work produced by the department and regularly astonishes all who attend. Each year leavers go on to Art Foundation and Art degrees and a number of Wrekinians work in art and design-related careers.
Design Technlogy
Design Technlogy at Wrekin Senior focuses on analytical as well as practical skills; digital technologies as well as effective graphic communication; the acquisition and application of individually acquired knowledge as well as ingenuity; and the capacity to solve practical and social problems by creating new solutions using materials, machines and technology.
Design at Wrekin contributes to a well-balanced education with its aim to promote ‘doing’ as well as ‘knowing’. Pupils begin to understand materials, processes and the context of product design in today’s world. They are encouraged to draw links to existing professions, from graphic designers to architects, entrepreneurs to carpenters.
During the GCSE and A Level courses we encourage the pursuit of individually chosen design projects that give the pupils a great sense of ownership and promote individual project-based learning. Through their own design process and experience in the workshop, pupils become more aware of the origin, quality, and value of products they consume or use on a daily basis. They learn about the social and environmental implications and the positive contribution designers can make. They also learn to push themselves into the unknown and to persevere from their first initial ideas through to a completed working product. They experience the stress and strain, the struggles and setbacks, and finally the excitement and exhilaration of success.