Year 7 and 8 Curriculum Overview

For year 7 and 8 students, learning through the visual arts curriculum is built around the two core strands of Making and Responding, where students will engage with their knowledge of the visual arts, develop their skills and techniques, and explore a range of materials, forms, viewpoints, and practices situated in varying contexts (ACARA, 2010).

 Within the Making strand, students will learn how to make their ideas come to life and will discover how to convey meaning through the representation of different subject matters, styles, conventions, and technologies. Further, students will explore Making through understanding the spaces and viewpoints that are reflected the in the current visual arts landscape.

Through the Responding strand, students are encouraged to respond and reflect upon their own work and the work of others (peers or existing artists) to stimulate a deeper understanding of the critical themes and knowledge that is prevalent across the visual arts discipline. 

When engaging purposefully with Making and Responding, students across the year 7-8 band will be expected to demonstrate foundational growth that will support their development within art practice well into the future.

The Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2010) have highlighted that by the end of year 8, students will have the experience and knowledge to:

Analyse how other artists use visual conventions and viewpoints to communicate ideas and apply this knowledge in their art making.

Explain how an artwork is displayed to enhance its meaning.

Evaluate how they and others are influenced by artworks from different cultures, times and places.

Plan their art making in response to exploration of techniques and processes used in their own and others’ artworks.

Demonstrate use of visual conventions, techniques and processes to communicate meaning in their artworks (ACARA, 2010)

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2010). Visual Arts F-10 Curriculum. https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/the-arts/visual-arts/

Johnson, S. (n.d.) Paint Strokes. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/@steve_j

Robinson, K. [Sir Ken Robinson]. (2006). Do schools kill creativity? [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity/discussion

Spiske, M. (n.d.). Art Room. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/@markusspiske

(Spiske, n.d.)