A good intervention lesson to use an approach of looking at close up details of paintings to show a better understanding of techniques and approaches. The lesson has a starter to engage students on entry and stimulates curiosity in identifying works from close up detail. The task builds to extend responses to explore work relevant to personal project work and so hits AO1 and AO2 nicely. Ideal for KS4 and 5 but will work equally as well if you want to engage younger students in looking at painting

This is a starter activity that encourages curiosity in looking at photography and to stimulate ideas in possible approaches.

A lesson with a starter activity which focuses students on how artists communicate ideas in different ways as well as understanding that when they look at an image it is usually communicating a story, a concept, a response to something. Students are then guided to explore a discussion question relating to how artists use text in their work with a list of suggested sources. The slides have notes accompanying to prompt discussion and there are opportunities to dwell on issues of equality and diversity. This lesson is aimed at GCSE and A Level to boost response to AO1 to show extended informed comments and discussion rather than the usual biographical information on one artist.

Good for hitting multi cultural approaches in painting - a lesson with a starter to focus students on different approaches to landscape painting in different countries around the world. I find this one useful to get students thinking in how they might identify places at first which feeds into looking at painting approaches and differences in thinking. Good for any age group and a useful intervention lesson in project work or a session on equality and diversity.

This always goes well - it gives students a systematic approach to making a seamless repeat pattern. The step by step guide on the power point comes with a starter pattern looking at repeating pattern across different cultures and then focuses on William Morris style repeating process, so a good coverage of AO1 2 and 4. Great for years 7 - 9 but can be done in a simpler version for KS2 also. Good to follow on from some observation drawing sessions on natural forms, but I've used the idea with allsorts of shapes from Cosmic to micro organisms

A fun little starter to engage students on entry - gets them looking at how artists work in different ways - some neat and tidy, some chaotic. It gives them a reference point of the work the artists produce with the answers. Good for a bit of background knowledge of working practices in painting.

A fun starter to any lesson or tutor time to get students thinking and looking for clues to make connections.

Instagram is great as a way of using something students are happy with as a method of working. I find it great as students are already familiar with it, but not necessarily as a way of working creatively. Obviously ideal for photography students but also for any of the art specifications as they can record what they do and build evidence of development of ideas. Its handy if you can get your senior management to unblock it, and this is easier obviously post 16, but it can still be used as homework if not, and you know instantly who is doing their homework and who isn't. The best thing about it is that students buy into this - they are really happy doing it, they can get likes from each other and you can comment instantly on what they have doe. Get them to set up a second account from their personal one and they're off - and it gives you a load of stuff to promote your department and school or college.

A starter to encourage discussion, analysis and reasoning - students can decide on their criteria for "best" - most comfortable, fashionable, fun - and can look across both men's and women's.

I use this as an introduction session to life drawing as it is a great confidence booster in figure drawing, but I've also found it really useful as part of any project to do with the figure. Using Rodin as a source it gives good crossover between AO1 and AO2, looking at the way he uses pose and body language to inform their drawings to get a really informed and meaningful personal response. The great thing about working from sculpture is that it frees the students up from worrying about the detail that often gets in the way. There is an extension activity using new approaches for them in media in a really expressive way. Great for GCSE and A Level students

2 fun activities to involve students which really engage students in a twist on Aboriginal Art approaches. This has been great with KS2 and 3 and they enjoy it because of the involvement with making the images from things personal to their journeys, routes to school or the footprint activity. A nice mix of activities to extend their responses and hits AO1 and 2 with creative responses and engagement. The resulting work can make a great class display so celebrates E &D really well.

This is a fun set of lessons for up to Year 8, working really well with KS2, but I've also used this idea with KS4 and post 16. It allows students to find about artists using similar approaches and aerial photographs to explore making an abstract painting, so covers AO1 2 and 4 nicely. Because they are looking at aerial photographs the usual worries about abstract art don't surface, and they are making something personal to themselves in what they choose as their subject matter. A nice set of lessons which they all enjoy

A starter activity which always engages students in looking for how artists create illusions in different ways and trick us in how we look. The slide has six images with explanations on slide 2. This starter can be used for any age group you are working with to look a bit harder.

A starter activity for sessions on drawing. This starter encourages students to consider new ways of drawing and promotes creative approaches to get them away from thinking drawing can only be done with dry media in a prescribed way. The power point has 7 images on slide one for students to work through and is ideal at GCSE and A Level for AO2 possibilities.

This has always proved a really useful lesson, either done part way through a project or towards the end. It focuses the students into thinking what is their work about, what are they trying to do in their work, and how they can explain their ideas. I use this source by separating the images from the text, and the students have to match the statement to the work. This then leads into them highlighting areas that they find most informative and commenting on how they can understand the work more after reading what the artist has said about it. They then begin to formulate their own thoughts into writing their own artists statements to go at the start of the project, rather than an evaluation at the end. This is great for GCSE and A Level AO1 and 4, and also for creating a great impression with the moderator.

I've found that students fond it easier to draw from sculpture source images as they can focus on the tonal aspects without being distracted by detail. This resource consists of 36 images of hands from sculpture by Rodin, Michelangelo and Bernini. It leads into suggested drawing approaches students can then adopt from direct from observation, or from photos of their own and classmates hands. These images allow students to focus on essentials of drawing - large scale charcoal drawings look really good from these, and give students confidence. This is great for any project on the figure and hits AO1 as well as AO3

A really useful prompt sheet for students at GCSE and A Level to use as a guide for what to consider when starting to wrote about a piece of Art rather than just write biographical detail

This has always been a great lesson - students do not know that photography is a baby in terms of art forms at 200 years old and they are really interested in looking at the images to work out why these paintings are so different before and after the invention of photography. (before they know what the lesson is about). The power point contains 8 and 10 pre and after images to cut up for students to use in a sorting exercise and then suggest what has happened to affect painting like this. The file contains brief notes to explain the main differences, which the students can then expand on in their own responses. This is great contextual stuff for Photography students but also for any Art students if you want an interesting art history, contextual lesson hitting AO1 by giving them a real understanding and background knowledge behind Impressionism

A set of 10 images across different cultures and a lesson plan to work as an intervention lesson or lessons in the development of coursework projects. It requires the careful selection of a set of media into party bags with one of the images - and works on the premise that the more constricting the rules you place on students the more creative they get and the harder they look. This is ideal for GCSE and A Level and allows for creative links with other culture's approaches and stylisations. It also hits AO2 in requiring students to explore the boundaries of working with limited random media. The lesson plan includes references to differentiation and equality and diversity as well as highlighting the opportunities through the lesson to hit the learning objectives

A great lesson for early for creative approaches to photography. I use this in Photography but it can be used for any Art and Design where you want the student to think a bit more creatively about how they take photographs for their subject matter. I do this with the students using their phones - to get them into the mind set of using their phones more for their work. The power point shows examples of approach to use of the mirror to achieve unexpected and deceiving results, and includes a photographer as a source who they can respond to for AO1 using this approach.