Admissions Enquiries: 020 3890 1969

Our Arts Programme

Through our 3 International Baccalaureate programmes, we provide a stimulating and challenging arts curriculum

We believe studying the arts is an excellent way for our students to begin to think and express themselves differently, increase their understanding of the world, and develop a stronger sense of who they are.

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Art Activities

Arts Field Trips

As part of our arts programme, we organise a wide range of field trips for our students, both in London and further afield. These give students a fantastic opportunity to view performances, artwork, films and concerts from world-class artists in some of the UK’s best venues.

Arts Extra-Curricular Activities

During their time at Southbank, our students can participate in a wide range of excellent arts extra-curricular activities. These include animation, concert band, drama club, junior strings, movie club, painting and sculpting, photography, pottery, script writing, string orchestra, theatre production, and many more.

MUSIC

Primary Years Programme

Our PYP music classes focus on composition, performance and reflection, and expose students to music from different times and places.

In addition, all students from the age of five learn to play either the violin, viola or the cello through the Suzuki music programme. When they reach Grades 4 and 5, they also have the opportunity to learn guitar or flute. From kindergarten, all our PYP children take part in a termly solo concert and an annual school concert.

Primary Years Programme Curriculum Guide
Middle Years Programme

In our Middle Years Programme, our teaching of the arts becomes more comprehensive and individualised.

In each year of Grades 6 to 8, students rotate through units on Media, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. In Grades 9 and 10, they choose one of these subjects to study for the whole academic year: these subjects can all be continued through to the Diploma Programme. Each Arts subject develops critical and creative skills in a wide variety of contexts.

Middle Years Programme Curriculum Guide
Diploma Programme

During their two-year Diploma Programme, our students have the opportunity to study standard or higher level courses in Film, Theatre, Visual Arts or Music.

Students create, participate in and analyse music from their own background and those of others. They develop practical and communicative skills which provide them with the opportunity to engage in music for further study, as well as for lifetime enjoyment.

Diploma Programme Curriculum Guide

“Southbank is a school which fully endorses the arts. Creative thinking, which is essential for our 21st century learners, is at the heart of the Southbank curriculum school-wide.”

– Judy Inskip, Visual Arts Teacher

Performing Arts

Primary Years Programme

Developing self-confidence in viewing and presenting skills is embedded across the PYP, with students of all ages taking an active role sharing learning in town meetings and unit of inquiry presentations. Termly instrumental concerts provide solo and ensemble experience and well-supported ECAs such as choir and drama help develop a love of the arts.

Regular visits to London’s great concert halls and theatres enable children to engage with live performances, as well as enhance their own performance skills, from puppets to plays.

Middle Years Programme

In our Middle Years Programme, our teaching of the arts becomes more comprehensive and individualised. In Grades 6 to 8, students separately study Drama, Visual Arts and Music for one term of each year. In Grades 9 and 10, they study Design all year and choose either Drama, Visual Arts or Music to study.

They also have the opportunity to extend their own dramatic and presentational skills, as well as develop skills in the sourcing or design and construction of sets, costumes, props, and in the technical areas of lighting and sound production.

Diploma Programme

During their two-year Diploma Programme, our students have the opportunity to study standard or higher level courses in Film, Theatre, Visual Arts or Music.

Our Theatre course teaches our DP students the theory and practice of theatre arts. This involves the study of contemporary theatre around the world and the history of the theatre.

The course also helps students develop their own dramatic and presentation skills and teaches them about sourcing, designing and constructing sets, costumes and props, as well as stage lighting and sound production.

Visual Arts

Primary Years Programme

During their time at Southbank, PYP students may get to study aspects of architecture, bookmaking, ceramics, collage, costume design, drawing, graphic design, film, illustrations, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and woodwork.

In addition, we organise trips to art galleries, museums, theatres and the cinema to help students experience visual arts from all over the world. We also invite artists to our PYP campuses to discuss their work.

Middle Years Programme

MYP students develop and acquire new skills in drawing, painting, sculpting, photography and printmaking. As part of their Visual Arts classes, they also learn about important artists, artworks and techniques.

Overall, the aim of our MYP Visual Arts classes is to give our students the knowledge and skills they need to solve problems creatively, critique the work of others, and confidently express their feelings, experiences and ideas.

Media

Our MYP Media course allows students to explore, experiment and produce creative products across a range of media. Media forms covered may include Photography, Animation, Video Production, Interactive Media, Radio and Print. We will investigate different genres and artists within these forms and students will then get the chance to develop their production skills and apply these to their own productions working individually or collaboratively in small groups. As well as developing technical skills, the course aims to encourage creativity, team working and media literacy.

Diploma Programme

Throughout our Visual Arts course, students are given the opportunity to develop their personal visual language in a range of two and three-dimensional media.

Initially, this involves challenging preconceptions to help students develop fresh perspectives to the fundamentals of art and design. Then, as students progress, they begin to direct their own visual enquiry and reach a point where they are behaving like practising artists and designers.

Film

Our Film course enables our DP students to fully engage with the practical, theoretical and conceptual aspects of filmmaking. This includes learning how to tell a story visually, write a script and plan a production schedule, use lighting kit and sound recording equipment, and edit and create a final cut.

Overall, the course is excellent preparation for any student who wishes to study a film theory, filmmaking or any arts or communications course at university, or wants to work in the film industry.

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Southbank International School

Enquiries :020 3890 1969