The goal of the staff at St Paul’s is to support students to find success in art and creativity by helping those who are already confident and those who are less confident to surprise themselves. Senior students are supported with quality mentorship and resources to produce artwork that is fit for the NZQA Visual Arts curriculum. Many St Paul’s Art students take the opportunity to sit Scholarship Examinations with high levels of success. A number of students in recent years have been invited to have their work in the prestigious NZQA Top Art exhibition. There is a range of options to access the Visual Arts at St Paul’s across several media, including:
- General Art (Year 9-10)
- Design (Year 11-13)
- Painting (Year 11-13)
- Photography (Year 11-13)
- Printmaking (Year 11-13)
Year 9
All students at St Paul’s take Art for 12 weeks, working closely with printmaking skills and design principles. They learn about composition and colour management while engaging in research skills to study traditional Maaori art forms, motifs and themes, as well as engage with exciting and relevant artist models.
Year 10
In Year 10, students choose to take Art as a half-year programme. Two major assignments make up this course, one exploring self-identity (painting/design) and the other exploring the art of storytelling (using clay, drawing & painting).
Year 11
Students can choose from two courses at Year 11 either Visual Art Visual Art (Painting/Printmaking) or Digital Visual Art (Photography/Design). The course allows students to explore and share their story visually.
Years 12 and 13
The Year 12 and Year 13 courses are split into four separate disciplines. Students can choose from the following courses: Art Design, Art Photography and/or Art Painting/Printmaking.
View examples of Scholarship Examination portfolios by St Paul’s Collegiate art students here and an example of a Scholarship Examination report of work here.
Top Art
The Top Art is an annual tour featuring a selection of NCEA Level 3 portfolios that achieved Excellence.
Jetta Kete’s dedication to documentary photography has earned her a place in Top Art, a touring exhibition of top NCEA Level 3 Visual Arts folios. Her commitment to this challenging practice also saw her win the 2024 Bell Photography Award.
