The Edexcel Art and Design Moderator who came to the school on Monday 26th May does not discuss individual students' work or marks – she either agrees with the department's marking or disagrees. If the latter, she will then either put the marks up or down. The aim is to get it right - for those who have talent and have worked very hard to be rewarded and for those who fail to meet the four assessment objectives and have not worked hard, for this to be equally reflected in their marks.

Once again this year, after spending a day at the school and giving the customary valuable general feedback, the moderator departed with both sides happy that justice had been done! Being human however, a few things were allowed to slip - for example, how Laura's AS work in response to the Externally Set Assignment, “Links and Connections,” displayed a “highly developed aesthetic sensibility” - exactly my thoughts on seeing her beautifully modulated use of colour. Another snippet, “ a very interesting and skilful drawing”, this was Maria's response to the British Artist Anthony Green, a multiple viewpoint study of her bedroom. Yes, I had also remarked on this! Again, how one of Patricia's photographic images was “very well composed “ and “was Dimple's effective, interconnecting spirals moving in the air conditioning deliberate?” On the other side of things, I had to agree that another student's work was lacking in skill and poorly executed and this had of course been reflected in the marks given.

The GCSE work she found most creative and this year it most certainly was - creative, skilful and often very large! The students had excelled themselves with an amazing variety of work in both 2D and 3D forms, involving drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, relief, installation, etc, etc. Materials used were equally varied ranging from the traditional, ie pencils, paint, clay, photography, and lino printing, to the experimental - found objects (both man made and natural), plaster, acetate, glass, mirrors, rope and so on.

As well as practitioners the students are taught art history and their work must be placed in context, either historical or contemporary. Assessment Objective 4 requires students to “present a personal response, realising intentions and making informed connections with the work of others”. For this purpose the most valuable resource we have here in Madrid is the first class museums and exhibitions we are able to enjoy, study and relate to. This year we took all the exam groups to the Thyssen Museum to reflect on the Modern Masters in the permanent collection. The students responded enthusiastically to examples of Impressionism, Post Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, German Expressionism, American Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and Realism, etc.

Of course, the seeds for all this art we make at Runnymede are sown at Key Stage 3, where students are taught how to use the formal elements of the visual language expressively and skilfully and hopefully later on to be able to produce their own very high standard of art work like that we have seen in the department at examination level this year.