A starter activity for students to explore possible connections between the paintings and question what is going on in them. These starters really engage students and when done regularly they begin to catch on that they have to think outside the box and look for clues in the subject matter. Its always useful to make them think!

In 1565 Pieter Bruegel painted a series of paintings dedicated to the months of the year. He broke the cycle of the year into six stages in six paintings, two months per painting. This starter asks students to make connections between the images to spot that they about the seasons and months and this gets them looking more closely at the activity going on in the painting. Suitable for any year group as its really about looking and asking questions.

A starter activity to engage students in looking at a set of paintings on the same subject to get them to analyse how painters treat the subject in different ways and to make judgements as to their personal preferences, justified to show informed personal responses for AO4 to back up the nature of the task focussing on AO1, exploring what artists do.

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.

A starter activity to make students consider the different forms water can take and how they might define "interesting". This can be a good addition to a project on natural form structures or just as a thinking skills starter.

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

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

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

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.

A useful little form to help year 1 A Level students focus their ideas as they begin to think about their Personal Investigation

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.

A fun starter activity where students can look for clues as to common themes in 3 of the images. This encourages guess work and thinking about what they are looking at, developing skills in responding to artworks in their project work. suitable for GCSE and A level groups where you want to engage students at the beginning of a session.

A lesson starter and activity to explore Matisse's cut outs in a new approach. The starter will enable students to challenge their thinking on how an artist can work when faced with physical challenges. This is a great lesson for the promotion of equality and diversity and gives good coverage to AO1 AO2 and AO4 with them commenting on the ways of working and then taking new approaches with the cut outs of Matisse. Great for all age ranges in raising their awareness of equality and diversity. The power point slides give additional information on the artists condition and ways of working.

A starter activity the promotes looking harder. This gives some extra understanding to how painters hide things, or make them less obvious and challenges them to question why which is great for AO1 and AO4, making informed responses and commenting on the work of artists in ways which help them develop ideas and understanding. It works for most age ranges as it really relies on them looking and making connections with what they can see. Great for small group work and useful for building skills in responding to works of art through comparing and contrasting approaches.

This lesson covers AO 1 and 2 really well giving good opportunity for students to comment on working practice and philosophy as well as practical activity in exploring the approach. It can be used as an intervention lesson or as a part of a scheme of work in exploring different practical approaches to painting. The presentation uses close up photos of Blotter by Peter Doig taken by myself to show what peter talks about in his comments on ways of working and the lesson plan includes questioning for AFL as well as E&D .

This starter activity really gets students looking and questioning. I like to make students look beyond the obvious connections and really question what they see in an image - this one works really well in giving students new ideas to explore for AO1 in asking of them what artists are doing in different ways and includes statements by the artists in terms of what the work is about for students to be able to demonstrate Informed responses. This is great for GCSE and A Level but will work with any age group in giving them opportunities to make connections and guesses around what the are seeing, and that's a key thing I think in getting to students to look more closely where they usually only register what they see at first glance.

This is a set of 40 close up photographs taken by myself of large scale Hockney Ipad drawings. These form what is a real master class in mark making when working with brushes on the Ipad, and it is easily transferrable to Photoshop. A really useful set of slides for students to focus on the mark making to explore landscape forms in new ways over a set of lessons to stretch their landscape responses. Its super for GCSE and A Level students generating responses to AO1 and 2 - showing a deeper understanding of how Hockney works as well as giving them new approaches in mark making in IT based work. The 40 images are part of a 24 page power point which also has some complete work for students to see the mark making in context.