S1 Unit 1: Foundations on the Theme
A Level Art & Design · Semester 1 Plan · Unit 1 of 5 · Unit 2 →
What this unit does
This unit opens the Component 1 portfolio work at its foundations stage: how the portfolio is marked (the four AOs), what a top-band portfolio does, and the semester’s most important decision — committing to one theme from the menu against set criteria. You then work the formal elements directly on your committed theme (AO1 Record focus), so that by the end of the unit you have looked at the theme through five instruments and can build a first portfolio page that argues something.
Dates & span
Tue 2026-09-01 → Mon 2026-09-14 (W1 → W3 Monday; 10 sessions). There are no attainment grades in W1–W2. On day 3 you do a diagnostic drawing, which sets your baseline.
Lessons
- Lesson 01: Introduction and the Theme Menu — 96/100 exemplar briefing, the four AOs, diagnostic drawing, theme committed Thu against five criteria, first sources and line studies.
- Lesson 02: Formal Elements on the Theme — line, tone-builds-form, push-to-fail, mark/surface matching, color from observation; Recording Page 1 (“a page that argues”) and digital portfolio setup. Ends the unit.
Assessment
No attainment grades in this unit. It contains one CS task: CS1 (formal elements study set + Recording Page 1, sketchbook), collected Mon 2026-09-14 — practice toward A1. See the full register.
Key content
- The theme menu: Reflections and Surfaces · Worn and Weathered · Hands at Work · Structures of the Everyday. The final list will be confirmed in class. Your theme must pass all five criteria: photographable primary sources within daily reach; survives four months of looking; carries line, tone, texture and color; opens both 2D and 3D; a deep artist reference pool to draw from. Sign-off is one-to-one, and the commitment card is physical.
- Source rule: “Nothing found, nothing borrowed” — every source is your own photograph or observation.
- Standing protocols: studio session shape (entry look → demo → sustained work with midpoint checkpoint → exit annotation; conference rota 4–5 students/day), annotation rule (record decisions, rejections and observations, not feelings), homework rule (sketchbook / annotation / reflection only, ≤30 min).