Art has been around much longer (c. 700,000 BCE) than writing (c. 3500 BCE), arithmetic (c. 3000 BCE), or the scientific method (c.1600 CE); art is found in all cultures and contexts and so we believe that creating art is a fundamental part of being human. Art encourages young people to question, it wakes up imaginations, builds confidence, encourages them to see the world differently and to make their mark.

Art and Photography offer greater opportunities for self-expression and creative making than almost any other subject in the school: we are the only GCSE or A Level subject that is 100% coursework. Within the school, we are a smaller department, but the feedback from artists and photographers is overwhelmingly positive in regards how much they enjoy their lessons and how much they value the opportunity to work in a more practical way that contrasts with how they work in many other subjects. For example, “It’s more creative” – “It's a break from STEM” – “I have freedom for my creative thought process” – “I love it!”

Creativity, Expression, and Future Opportunities

Artists and Photographers get to share with the wider world the things they care about, it can offer a window into their inner lives and the challenges of being a young adult, increasing understanding of themselves and others.

Taking the subject at GCSE or A Level, interests and identities are able to be supported and explored in-depth, cross-curricular, and intersectional ways; as part of their coursework pupils can make projects on topics of their choosing, not something imposed on them by others. Imagine the exciting possibilities when you can spend 6 or 9 months “nerding out” artistically on a focus of your choice!

Taking Art or Photography can help you get to post-18 destinations that need an art-related qualification (e.g. Architecture), but even if you do not continue the subject beyond 16 or 18, surveys consistently show that employers are looking for creative thinkers who are able to think flexibly, people with strong problem-solving skills, and who are really good communicators.

Taking an Arts subject gives you practice at all those things, as well as helping improve your fine motor skills too. You want to be a surgeon or engineer? Take Art! Additionally, scientific research is catching up with what makers have known forever: doing art or crafts can help nurture and support a sense of wellbeing.

Recent graduates from the department have gone on to courses such as Architecture, Graphic Design, Illustration and Animation, but we also have students who took A Level Art and went on to study Computer Science, Drama, Engineering and Physics: you gain a lot of transferrable skills.

The Need for an Expressive Arts Centre

Increasing class sizes mean having enough space to make work in and enough storage space for artwork and resources are major concerns. Space is extremely tight for Y7 and Y8 classes, and work that is ambitious in scale or scope is not able to be fully realised for GCSE or A Level artists. With increasing manufacturer costs of the resources we use in the department and continuing funding pressures in state education, we also aren’t able to offer the range of artforms or media options that pupils would like to work with, for example digital work or ceramics/sculpture.

The Impact of a Dedicated Expressive Arts Centre

We should be able to offer every pupil in Reading School access to the professional facilities, tools, and media that artists, makers and designers use in their day-to-day lives. In doing so, this helps build confidence and pride, particularly if pupils do not have access to these outside of school. Having art being visible in curated exhibition spaces celebrates the achievement of our young people, and shows that it matters as a subject.

Art is a serious subject

To paraphrase the Guerrilla Girls, every aesthetic decision has a value behind it, and if all the decisions are being made by the same people, then the art will never reflect the richness and reality of our culture today. If all the voices in our culture are not seen or heard in the history of art, then it’s not really a history of art, it’s a history of power.

If the cultures, experiences, and communities are not represented by the people making the art, craft, or design, our lives will be poorer for it, and more simply, the art created will just not be very good. It’ll be boring. Same-y. Lacking in joy, but also provocation. I’m sure that most people would agree that good design is inclusive, and part of how we ensure this is to have a range of people from different backgrounds and lived experiences going into the Creative Industries (which we in the UK lead the world in).

As an artist at Reading School, how well you can do shouldn’t be hindered because of how much money your family has, whether your parent or carer is an artist, or how much artmaking experience you had prior to joining the school. Opportunities should be available to all, particularly when across England and Wales the number of boys taking Art at GCSE or A Level continues to fall, and a career in the Creative Industries seems increasingly out of reach for anyone who is not from an upper-class background.

Why shouldn’t our pupils have access to the same opportunities and facilities as the 7% of the population that attend private school? When compared with many other secondary schools in the Reading area, our Art Department is in deficit when it comes to space, storage, tools, materials, artforms, staffing and infrastructure.

Help support the Creative Arts in our school. Reading School students deserve better.

Aileen Creegan

Head of Art