Visual Arts

At the Prep School, all children receive a double lesson of Art and Design Technology each week, and both departments are often open at lunch times.  We also provide a number of art and design based activities as part of our extensive Activities Programme, offering fun and creative extracurricular opportunities.

The Art Programme allows children to work in a diverse variety of mediums; sculpture and ceramics are an important part of the curriculum, while Design Technology classes offer the opportunity to use wood and plastics in addition to learning basic electronics.   The purpose built, light and airy Butterwick Centre is extremely well-equipped, offering state of the art machinery and modern facilities.

Our pupils regularly win Art scholarships to Senior School and we are keen for children to enter for Design Technology scholarships if they are available.

At the Senior School, we provide a stimulating environment with facilities for a wide range of processes and techniques, encouraging pupils to respond to masters both old and new and to foster their own creativity.

Our large, modern studios in the Cairns Centre enable students to develop work that is ambitious in scale and purpose.  Diversity is central to our practice and we encourage pupils to experiment with a range of techniques; weekly life drawing classes are an important part of our Sixth Form courses to this end.

The Department remains open well beyond timetabled lessons, enabling students to further pursue their works and ideas outside of class time. In the Sixth Form, students have their own studio space.

We also strive to expose our pupils to professional artwork and artists, and our Nicholson Gallery hosts a series of exhibitions throughout the year providing firsthand contact which challenges and stimulates students while enriching their creative experience.

Across the Schools we further enhance children’s understanding of the visual arts beyond the classroom through regular excursions to places such as the National Gallery or the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia. There are Art trips overseas in the upper levels.