A good resources to help welcome a new tutor group in to your classroom and get to know them a little better. This worksheets asks students to fill in lot’s of information about themselves, which is useful at the start of the year. Ideal for new Year 7s or groups you are meeting for the first time.

This short unit of work introduces students to colour theory and key vocabulary. It should be used over a series of 2-3 lessons and includes 2 seperate worksheets for students to work on, alongside the PowerPoint. Originally designed as a painting resource, this could be adapted for use with a range of materials. This would work well as an introduction to a bigger scheme of work on the topic of colour.

This A4 worksheet contains 4 different shading activities. Each tasks helps to develop students understanding of key terms and the use of tone, and puts this in to practice to help develop their overall level of skill and control. All instructions are on the worksheet, so this could stand alone as a cover lesson or task to be completed at home which students would be able to work on independently. This task would help to support units of work covering basic drawing skills, elements and principles or a still life project. Ideal for KS3, but could help older individual students develop drawing skills.

This is a double sided resource, made of two separate worksheets and designed to be printed A3 and laminated together. On the first there is a brief explanation of Native American Totem Poles, their purpose and symbolism and an activity designed to encourage students to consider the symbolism of animals and their own identity. The second sheet includes a variety of animals drawn, primarily in the Haida style, which is characteristically Native American in its appearance. There are suggestions for how more capable students might extend their work and shown more skill.

This is a collection of the slides I use every year to introduce my students to the art classroom and my own expectations of them. There are up to 9 specific rules for the art classroom, each explained simply and with eye-catching colours and graphics. I have also included the COVID specific guidance I gave students in September 2020 regarding safe practices in the classroom. Included also is guidance on using a sketchbook in a personal way. This PowerPoint is easy to modify and adjust to your own specific needs and works well with both KS3 and KS4 students.

This resource provides key vocabulary to describe the qualities of each of the formal elements of art, including tone, colour, line, texture, shape, form, pattern, composition and mood. This can be used to assist students with their analysis of artwork. Almost 300 words in total with British spellings.

This PowerPoint presentation introduces students to a the topic of landscape painting. A variety of landscapes are discussed and range of questions and definitions used illustrated to support this. The names of artists are given as examples of each type of landscpae, to give students ideas and starting points. Two ideas for activities are included; a timeline of landscape painting and instructions of how to put together a mood board / title page to help students explore initial ideas. This would work well as the introduction to a larger landscape project.

This is a single page resource created after I made a large scale version as a display in my classroom. It is a clear way to help students understand the meanings attributed and associated with different colours. This can be used for a variety of purposes, but I get students to collage the blank colour wheel in the centre. This could also be laminated and erasable white board markers used to write on to the blank areas of the colour wheel.

This resource contains 3 pre-filled worksheets with keywords that each year group needs to know by the end of their various projects. Keywords are listed and students write in the definitions in their own words. Blank templates are also provided to customize to your own projects and schemes of work.

This resource helps support students in exploring their initial ideas about a project or theme as they begin an art project. This would work well for GCSE and A-Level students at the start of a unit of work, in particular an exam unit.

This is a double sided resource, made of two separate worksheets and designed to be printed A3 and laminated together. On the first side there is a brief explanation of Mandala patterns, their history, symbolism and meaning. There are also a step-by-step instructions, explaining how to begin drawing a Mandala pattern. The second sheet includes a variety of Mandala patterns to give students ideas and inspiration. Included also is a polar paper template to be used as a guide for drawing out a Mandala pattern.

This activity explores the principles of positive and negative space using the technique of collage to create a simple mask deign, inspired by the shapes of artefacts found in some African cultures. Included is a step-by-step guide as to how to construct an image and a worksheet of simple black and white drawn examples to help give students ideas.

This resource explores how the artists Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Naum Gabo were inspired by the masks and sculptures of Western Africa. The youtube video included (link below) was not created by me, but supports this PowerPoint and the discussion points it contains. Students are encouraged to comment on visual similarities and differences and make reasoned judgements as to how each artist was inspired. The worksheet provided encourages note taking, which can then be used to produce a page of visual research in to the topic. This resource can also be used as a contextual task which is part of a larger Cubism scheme of work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9RrO0dtu5M

This activity introduces students to the ideas and themes of Pop Art, its origins in Britain and the artist Peter Blake. His well known pieces involving grids and pop culture icons and symbols are used as the inspiration for a Pop Art treasure hunt. This activity can be completed digitally in PowerPoint or Photoshop, or as a physically constructed collage.

Templates are provided to help students create their own patterned landscapes by drawing patterns in to the shapes provided. There are two slight variations of this task, with the stretch and challenge activity encouraging students to add more complex zentangle type patterns to their landscapes and draw their own compositions. This resource works well as a a task within a landscape topic in art or as a cover activity.

This lesson guides students through the self-portraits of Frida Kahlo with a focus on context, subject matter and symbolism. Two portraits are looked at in detail and aspects of the artist’s own personal life used to give wider context. There is a link to a YouTube video and worksheet included. This is intended to be a taught lesson with a follow up homework in which students respond to what they have learnt by creating an artist research page with study and written analysis.

This is a comprehensive resource comprising two activities designed to explore mark making and the use of materials before beginning observational drawings of natural forms. Included in the PowerPoint are aims, differentiated success criteria, key terms, questioning using blooms taxonomy, examples of work and templates ready to be printed and used. This resources would be suitable as the first few lessons (2-3) of a project based on drawing and natural forms and would work well for KS3 and KS4 students.

This resource is a set of 36 cards designed to be printed A4, folded in half and laminated to A5 size. Each one includes the same set of questions to support discussions about the image on the reverse. Each of the 36 cards includes a different famous portrait which range from ancient, medieval and renaissance images to modern day artists. All cards include basic information regarding artist, image and date created. Included with this set is a template, which shows the questions, but leaves space for you to include your own image. This resource is ideal for students studying portraiture and identity, in Key Stages 3, 4 and even 5. The questions vary in terms of difficulty so would suit students of a range of abilities.

Stuck for ideas? Need to experiment? Unsure how to develop a personal response? This large scale poster, measuring 50cm x 115cm is a useful addition to any classroom or studio. Action words are listed to give a quick burst of inspiration, and aid experimentation with design, process, material and technique. QR codes are displayed on the poster which link to a Pinterest board full of ideas and inspiration. Ideal for GCSE or Alevel students working independently to refer to during whilst working or as a way to extend any student in developing their own work. File is available as JPG and PDF.

A colour coded version of AQA’s assessment matrix for GCSE Art & Design. This resource is easy to read and written using key terminology from the original document in a student friendly way. I have also included the equivalent grades (A*- U) in line with the 1-9 grading we now use. This is my estimation, however. A good resource to share with students. Files available both in JPEG and PDF format and in A4 dimensions.