Job Description
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The Art & Design Department at Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) has been a strong Department for a number of years. It has produced outstanding results consistently in GCSE and Advanced Level Art & Design (Fine Art). We have a passionate and committed team that enjoys teaching a broad and dynamic curriculum. Each teacher adapts their schemes of work to suit their strengths, while keeping in line with an agreed set of foundational knowledge that each year group needs to progress. The department works together closely and responsibilities and creative skills are frequently shared.
The Department encourages our students to be independent and intellectually curious from Year 7 to the Upper Sixth. We set regular competitions and enrichment opportunities and the students are free to work on personal creative projects outside of the curriculum. The Department is open on selected lunchtimes for students to work on projects and has an annual Art & Design Exhibition. The WHSB Art department offers talks, trips and visits to enrich our students learning, including a recent overseas art trip to Madrid.
The post includes the opportunity to take on additional Teaching and Learning Responsibilities in the Department for a suitably experienced candidate.
Accommodation and Facilities
The Art & Design Department is well-equipped. The Art Studios are located as a suite of rooms in the main building. The two studios are spacious, light and equipped with a number of network computers with Photoshop. Due to the ambitious nature of the Advanced Level work, we have a dedicated installation and exhibition room where students are given their own space to create large scale works of art. This has proved extremely successful and our 2025 summer results were 100% A* - B. The department also offers photography resources and ceramics facilities alongside core drawing and painting opportunities.
Curriculum
The new Year 7-9 syllabus has been designed by the Art & Design staff at WHSB to encourage independent learning and personalised outcome pathways. The Department uses a range of assessments and investigations to introduce, consolidate and extend pupils' understanding of Art & Design. The teachers encourage pupils to develop an in-depth technical understanding and passion for the subject that enables them to refine and review their work, and this gives pupils a secure knowledge of the subject.
The AQA GCSE Curriculum builds on the work that has been completed in Years 7-9, both consolidating parts of it that have previously been covered to GCSE Level but also extending other aspects so pupils can access the GCSE Grade 9.
The Westcliff GCSE Art & Design (Fine Art) course has been designed to encourage the use of a wide range of mediums, from traditional drawing and painting to conceptual mulita media spaces.
In the Sixth Form, students can choose to study AQA Advanced Art & Design (Fine Art) if they attained a Level 7, 8 or 9 in GCSE Art & Design (Fine Art). In the Lower Sixth, Art & Design (Fine Art) students explore a range of drawing, painting and thinking skills. Students are encouraged to discover new ways of creating visual journeys, as well as reinforcing previously taught skills. This work naturally sets the foundation for the Personal Investigation Portfolio. In the Upper Sixth, students will be encouraged to create their own work space which often becomes a unique outcome environment. Visiting Examination Board Moderators often comment on the breadth of approaches explored by the Department as being impressive.
Examination Results
Results in all Public Examinations are outstanding and particularly in Art & Design (Fine Art) those who choose to continue their Art studies at University generally do so at established Universities e.g. Oxford (Ruskin), Reading, Loughborough and Winchester or at Art Colleges, such as St Martin's and The Slade.
Last year, in the 9-1 AQA GCSE Art & Design (Fine Art), students at Westcliff achieved 75% Grades 9 - 7, including 7 at Grade 9, 9 at Grade 8 and 8 at Grade 7 results. In the year 2025 we achieved 75% 9 - 7.
In 2025, in Advanced Level Art & Design (Fine Art), students at Westcliff attained 100% A* - B, including 2 x A*, 1 x A and 4 x B.
This year we are expecting 78% 7-9 at GCSE and 100% A* at A Level.
Information about the School
Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an Outstanding Grammar School. We continue to hold dear our values and traditions whilst fostering academic excellence and a dynamism which allow us to provide a twenty-first century world class education.
Our record of success is reflected in our outstanding A Level and GCSE results and we are committed to providing the highest standards in all aspects of our provision for pupils.