Art 'no longer for dossers'
Graphic Design - 17/11/2006 15:36:43
GCSE art is no longer an easy option for students choosing their education options, a Newcastle-based teacher has said.
Frank Lightfoot, a teacher at Heaton Manor school, claims that now students study art if they really want to excel at it and no longer choose it as a class they don't have to concentrate in.
Heaton Manor has one of the best records for art in the country, with students reaching a 100 per cent pass rate and nearly two thirds of them receiving A or A* grades.
But, according to Mr Lightfoot, less than a decade ago the pass rate was a "shocking" ten per cent. He claims that it is down to a change in attitudes that GCSE art is now considered a genuine subject.
Speaking to the Evening Chronicle, he said: "It has taken a lot of hard work from the staff, but also an incredible amount of commitment from the students.
"There was a time when people chose to study art at GCSE because they saw it as the easy option. This can not be said of the course now. The atmosphere in the classroom is relaxed but focused and the people who study art are the ones that really want to excel in it."
One such student is 15-year-old Louis Haggard who has said she wants to go on and study art at A-level and then move into a career in graphic design.
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