Yr 9 Options - Art & Design, Art Textiles or DT Textiles - any last minute thoughts?

[Lottie4]

DD was originally considering DT Textiles (she enjoys the subject and has the sort of teacher they all love and spurs them on to do well) and Art and Design as two options.

DD was unsure about Art & Design as she recognizes others have a moe natural flare for fine art. On options evening the Art Depart suggested she do Art Graphics or Art Textiles as she has been vaguely interested in a design career for a while . She only chose Art Textiles and got it.

Now she's not really sure she really wants to do it and has heard negative things about teacher (which I've told her to completely ignore if subject is right for her). She's thinking about Art and Design again as she thinks there's more to it than just the fine art work shown on options evening. If poss, she'd like at least a B grade pass as they can then do any Art subject in sixth form.

Her other choices will be geography, french, music, & ethics, so I agree a practical/creative option is a good idea.

Any comments?

Is the Art & Design fine art?

DD1 did both Art and DT Textiles. They are big subjects. She found the DT in particular, took a huge amount of time.

For both of them, you must keep up with the work. It's not like some other subjects where you can cram a bit at the end, because the practical work is everything for Art, and most of it for DT. (The Art exam is more like a controlled assessment.)

The natural flare is less important. The big thing is the experimentation, and being able to document it well.

I felt DD1 had poor guidance about how to do that from her teacher. Perhaps speak to the Art teacher about the guidance given. (If DD1 had had the other Art teacher at the school, I believe she would have felt far more confident of her results.)

I think DD thought the Art and Design was mainly fine art as that's all they had out on display at options evening. However, DD has got now got the impression it involves other things and looking online it says fine art, graphic communication, textile design, 3d design and photography. I've told her she must speak to someone in the art department, but it's a question of trying to catch up when she and they are free.

I would honestly go with the inspirational teacher. My DD had a cardboard cutout teacher for art at GCSE and only got a B. Changed school for A level and achieved an A. Teachers in the arts make a huge difference. Art subjects are heavy going so choose the one that gets the best results and is the best taught. If it is enjoyable, you get through the work.

Also Art at GCSE keeps lots of options open for A level. Usually Art GCSE is not fine art but she needs to look at the different curricula to see what suits her best.