Art, Craft & Design
Leaving Certificate
Brief outline of course
- Drawing and Painting- students work with a range of different media such as, pencil, chalk, oil pastel, paper collage, ink etc.
- Craft – there is a wide range of crafts available to students. In fifth year students get to experience the different crafts and in sixth year they choose the area they like and specialise in this area.
- Art History – 1 single class per week.
There is a huge flexibility within the syllabus contents. The crafts available as follows;
- Batik
- Clay Modelling
- Printing
- 3D Construction
- Graphic Design
- Calligraphy
- Screen Printing
- Puppetry and Pottery.
- An additional part of the course is Computer Animation, Photoshop and Digital Photography.
Brief outline of the course at Ordinary Level
Students at Ordinary level follow the same course but less detail in all areas is required.
Textbook currently in use
“Less Stress More Success” – Aine Ni Chartaigh
Leaving Certificate Exam
- A drawing exam in May
- A craft exam in May
- History of Art exam in June (only 37%)
Students have 63% of the Art exam completed before the leaving certificate begins.
Question: “Is it necessary to have studied art in the Junior Cert cycle in order to do it in for my Leaving Cert?”
Answer: The answer is No. Many students who take on Art in senior cycle and have not done Art in the Junior Certificate do extremely well, indeed, some of them do better because the novelty of the subject makes them more enthusiastic to learn.
Why study Art?
The Art course enables the student to develop their own creative style. The subject is predominantly project – based and often reflecting the students own personal interests. Students find their own voice. The student’s individual curiosity and engagement is taken as a starting point to the learning and teaching. Students explore different media and learn many different skills, there is inventive and intelligent experimentation with process and materials.
Students may choose to study art for a variety of reasons. Many do so because they are passionate about the subject and wish to pursue a career in it when they leave school. However students might also choose art for other reasons. Art can be used as vehicle for students to enter college via the CAO and points system. In many cases it is a subject that students can score high points in. Moreover the subject is particularly beneficial to students who are already overburdened with broad information intense subjects. The layout of the course with it split between practical and written components often makes the subject very manageable for these students and provides an important balance in a very difficult leaving cert year.
What fields of study use Art?
Graduates are employed by publishers, multimedia, Game design, Web Design, Animation, Fine Art, Fashion, Textile Design, Visual communication, Media, Film, Ceramics, Sculpture, Graphic Design, Architecture, Photography and many more.
There are two Gallery visits, one in fifth year and one in sixth year.
