Sixth Form Course Booklet 2013 - Bromsgrove School

SUBJECT GROUP 6: ARTS
Visual Arts (syllabus A), SL and HL
The aims of the Visual Arts Course at both levels are to:
Provide students with opportunities to make personal, cultural and aesthetic choices through the production of
meaningful visuals.
Promote visual and contextual knowledge of art from various cultures throughout history.
Promote an awareness of artistic interdependence.
Encourage an inquiring and integrated approach towards visual arts in their historical and contemporary forms.
Encourage the pursuit of quality through experimentation and purposeful creative work in a variety of
expressive media.
Enable students to learn about themselves and others through individual and possible collaborative
engagement with the visual arts.
The core elements of the course deal with opportunities for practice in using various media and the acquisition of
studio skills and techniques, an introduction to basic art concepts, ways of extending research into practical work and
an introduction to the practice of arts criticism and analysis. Great import is given to the progression students make
and marks are generously awarded for investigation, extra-curricular links and documentation of personal findings. The
emphasis of the Syllabus A course at both HL and SL is on workbook research with 60% of the assessment allocated to
this. The remaining 40% allocated to studio work. Syllabus B at both HL and SL has the 60% weighting on studio work
and the remaining 40% is awarded for workbook research. Students are entered for either A or B according to
individual strengths after the first year’s study. Work is assessed by teachers and moderated by an external examiner.
There is also a filmed interview with the student by a member of staff to be submitted to the moderators.
For more information contact Ms S J McWiliams
Music, HL and SL
IB Diploma students participate in some lessons in common with AS and/or A2 (performance & composition) students
whilst also receiving additional independent tuition in preparation for the common Musical Perception & Analysis
component. A key aspect of this course is to explore a diverse variety of music drawn from the many different
traditions throughout the world, both familiar and unfamiliar. The study of music should inculcate listening skills
whereby students develop the ability to recognise, speculate, analyse, identify, discriminate and hypothesize about the
music they listen to. Students should gain a historical perspective and understanding of how music exists and is learnt
by different cultures. Students will have the opportunities to develop as both composers and performers and they will
be encouraged to critique and respect the multitude of genres contained in World Music.
HL is most suitable for the specialist music student, in particular strong performers who have achieved or are close to
achieving a standard equivalent to ABRSM Grades 7/8, who may pursue music at university or conservatoire level.
For SL the minimum standard required is around Associated Board Grade 5.
Core Content:
Musical perception and analysis, involving study of a set work and critical analysis of
unprepared excerpts; musical investigation; for Higher Level solo performance and
composition is also required
Optional Topics: HL: None. SL: either solo performance or composition
or group performance.
Internal Assessment:
HL (50%) - Solo performance (25%) and
Composition (25%)
SL (50%) - solo performance or composition
or group performance
External
Assessment:
HL (50%)
Listening paper (2½ hours, 30%)
Musical investigation comparing two genres
(maximum 1500 words, 20%)
HL (50%)
Listening paper (2½ hours, 30%)
Musical investigation comparing two genres
(maximum 1500 words, 20%)
For more information contact Mr J R Kingston
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