Art
Junior Cycle
Art is a means of visual communication. It is the expression and application of creative skill and imagination in a visual form.
To put it simply, art is a way of looking at the world. After all, the earth without art is just eh! This little word is the doorway to a big world of endless creative possibilities and means of self-expression. The aim of out Art Department is to provide a welcoming, creative and structured space in which our students thrive and develop many life-long skills, such as:
Being creative
Self-expression
Communication
Problem solving
Collaboration
Organisation
Self-direction
Students will learn advanced technical skills in order to express their own ideas and develop an appreciation of the aesthetic in the world around them. At the start of first year students can choose to sample Art as an Option Subject for 6 weeks. Students then decide if they wish to do art for the Junior Certificate Examination.
Our Student Voices
“I love art because when I’m sad, angry, annoyed, happy, I just let the emotions overcome me and let them travel down my arm, into my hand and express themselves on the canvas. Everything I draw or paint has a piece of me in it, something that makes it mine”.
“Art is a way of expressing yourself, not being afraid to show your emotions through art. Our art room is amazing and you will always feel welcome”.
"What I love about art is that you get to be yourself. You can express yourself through a drawing and be unique. The great thing is that there are no rules in art like there are everywhere else. You can be you. I love the art room because it’s vibrant with colours and many pieces of different art. It’s always warm and welcoming and there is a home feeling to it”.
Junior Cycle Project
Junior Cycle Visual Art consists of 3 elements:
Classroom based assessment 1 (CBA 1) completed in January - May in 2nd year.
Classroom based assessment 2 (CBA 2) completed in September- December of 3rd year.
Final SEC Assessment - Completed in a booklet issued by the State Examination Commission (SEC) in December – May of 3rd year.
In January of 2nd year, students will be starting CBA 1 ‘From Process to Realisation’ and this will run over 6-8 weeks and the themes will be issued by the SEC.
In September of 3rd year, students will be starting CBA 2 ‘Communicate and Reflect’ selecting one of the themes issued by the SEC. This CBA will be linked then to the Final Assessment (booklet and 2 artefacts) and this will run until December when students will be starting the Final SEC Assessment brief continuing with the same theme.
The Final Assessment consists of a booklet (issued by the SEC) and two finished pieces, Artefact A and B which are all classroom based. This is worth an overall 200 marks.
Students will have the opportunity to work with a variety of materials to complete their project work through, which include but not limited to:
Painting or Poster
Batik or Lino (Option)
3D Construction
Assessment
The students’ work presented at the end of the CBA 1 and 2 will be awarded a descriptor by the Art teacher. This will appear on each student’s “Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement”, issued by the State Examinations Commission.
The work will be assessed against a list of “Features of Quality” and the work will be graded as follows: Exceptional, Above expectations, In line with expectations or Yet to meet expectations.
The booklet and Artefact A and B will be assessed by the SEC.