Key Stage 3

Art and design
- Evaluate and analyse creative works
- Actively engage in the creative process of art
- Know about great artists and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms
- Produce creative work, explore ideas

History

Pupils should be taught about:

Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day
- social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society

The study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’
chronological knowledge from before 1066
- a study of an aspect of social history, such as the impact through time of the
migration of people to, from and within the British Isles

Art and design
- Developing students' own personal and creative responses
- Developing creative thinking skills through designing and making

History

(Objective 1)
Developing pupils as Individuals

Pupils should have opportunities to:
- Explore how history has affected their personal identity, culture and lifestyle, for example, how location/birthplace, family history, religion, nationality, sport, language, traditions, etc. have been shaped by the past, for example, settlement, colonisation, emigration, immigration, etc.
- Investigate how history has been selectively interpreted to create stereotypical perceptions and to justify views and actions

Art and design
- I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others' work (EXA 3-07a)

People, past events and societies
- I can use my knowledge of a historical period to interpret the evidence and present an informed view. (SOC 3-01a)
- I can explain why a group of people from beyond Scotland settled here in the past and discuss the impact they have had on the life and culture of Scotland (SOC 3-03a)
- I have developed a sense of my heritage and identity as a British, European or global citizen and can present arguments about the importance of respecting the heritage and identity of others (SOC 4-02a)
- By studying groups in past societies who experienced inequality, I can explain the reasons for the inequality and evaluate how groups or individuals addressed it (SOC 4-04a)
- I can describe the factors contributing to a major social, political or economic change in the past and can assess the impact on people's lives (SOC 3-05a)
- I have investigated a meeting of cultures in the past and can analyse the impact on the societies involved (SOC 4-05c)

People in society, economy and business
- I can explain why a group I have identified might experience inequality and can suggest ways in which this inequality might be addressed (SOC 3-16a)
- I can present conclusions about the impact of the globalisation of trade on patterns of work and conditions of employment in Scotland, the UK or beyond (SOC 3-20b)
- I can critically examine how some economic factors can influence individuals, businesses or communities (SOC 4-20a)

Art and design
- Students use their knowledge about the work of other artists to enrich and inform their work through analysis and evaluation
- Students use a variety of processes
- Students evaluate their work through discussion
- Students explore, experiment with and apply the visual, tactile and sensory language of art

History

Range
Pupils should be given opportunities to:
- explore and interpret how some twentieth-century individuals and events have shaped our world today

Carry out
- investigations into historical issues on a range of scales, from the local to the international

Historical enquiry

Historical knowledge and understanding
Pupils should be given opportunities to:
- recognise the characteristic features of the periods, situations and societies studied and the diversity of experience within each one
evaluate the significance of the main events, people and changes studied.

Interpretations of history
Pupils should be given opportunities to:
- consider differing views and representations of some historical events, people and changes, and understand how and why they have been interpreted in these ways. 

Expressive Arts

Exploring the expressive arts is essential to developing artistic skills and knowledge and it enables learners to become curious and creative individuals.

Progression step 4:

– I can explore and experiment with my own and others’ creative ideas, demonstrating increasingly complex technical control, innovation, independent thinking and originality to develop my work with confidence, being able to explain my reasons behind choices made and evaluate their effectiveness on my creative work.

– I can explore creative work, understanding the personal, social, cultural and historical context, including the conventions of the period in which it was created.

– I can investigate and understand how meaning is communicated through the ideas of other artists and performers.

Responding and reflecting, both as artist and audience, is a fundamental part of learning in the expressive arts. 

Progression step 4:

– I can effectively evaluate my own creative work and that of others showing increasing confidence to recognise and articulate strengths, and to demonstrate resilience and determination to improve.

– I can evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of artistic techniques in producing meaning.

Creating combines skills and knowledge, drawing on the senses, inspiration and imagination

Progression step 4:

– I can use my experimentation and investigation to manipulate creative work with purpose and intent when communicating my ideas.

– I can purposefully use my design skills and apply a range of solutions to clarify and refine final creative ideas.

– I can draw upon my experiences and knowledge to inform and develop strategies to overcome creative challenges with imagination and resilience.

– I can confidently consider myself, others, audience, participants and matters of intellectual property when creating work.

Humanities

Enquiry, exploration and investigation inspire curiosity about the world, its past, present and future

Progression step 4:

– I can analyse, present and reflect on my findings, describing patterns and explaining relationships across data and sources.

– I can analyse the usefulness and consider the reliability and validity of a range of evidence relating to my enquiry.

Events and human experiences are complex, and are perceived, interpreted and presented in different ways

Progression step 4:

– I can infer and evaluate opinions, viewpoints and interpretations from a range of sources and evidence in order to develop my own informed judgements.

Human societies are complex and diverse and are shaped by human actions and beliefs

Progression step 4:

– I can analyse and explain how identity is formed. I can explain the connections between diverse societies.

– I can analyse and explain the diverse stories, beliefs and experiences of people in societies in my locality and in Wales, as well as in the wider world.

– I can explain and compare how communities have been shaped by the past and I can explain how a range of factors contribute to this.

- The title of the artwork suggests both dependency and support. She is holding up her family, but also holding onto them and the culture and values that they represent.
- She seems to suggest that it is her family and background that makes her strong and helps her to understand who she is.
- Boyce's hair is dyed blue and styled in short punky dreadlocks. This looks very different from her parents' more conventional hairstyles.
- Her black and red spaghetti-strap dress looks colourful and bold compared to the simple, muted, clothes her parents wear. It is also very different from the white dress her younger self is wearing.
- Her style suggests rebellion. She is rebelling against her parents and finding her own style and identity.
- At the top edge of the painting, a tropical landscape with blue sky and palm trees references her parents' life in the Caribbean and her own Caribbean heritage.
- The yellow birds, which seem to be holding a canopy over the family, were based on ornamental peacocks that belonged to her mother. 

- The patterned wallpaper is something she remembers from her childhood home. It is typical of the bright, patterned wallpaper that many Caribbean immigrants of her parents' generation had in their homes – a reminder of Caribbean pattern and colour. (Boyce often includes wallpaper in her work. She said 'Black skin is always visible. I [think] of paper in these terms, that the wall's skin is paper'.)
- The pattern looks a little like cells – perhaps Boyce is referencing her DNA and connection to her family through the wallpaper design.
- The black lines in the wallpaper pattern also suggest a chain-link fence, which seems to separate her family’s life in the UK from the blue skies and palm trees of the Caribbean.
- The pattern on Boyce's dress refers to the artwork's title, Some English Rose. Roses are an emblem of England and are also associated with beauty. But rather than colouring them red or pink, Boyce has made them black – symbolising her identity as Black and British. The thorns suggest her strength and perhaps also the hardships and prejudice she faced growing up in Britain.
- Sonia Boyce has used the motif of black roses in other artworks. In Lay Back, Keep Quiet and Think About What Made Britain so Great black English roses with thorny tendrils are used as a wallpaper pattern. They ensnare three crucifixes hanging on the wall, which represent British colonies and the suppression of indigenous people there. The roses become a visual symbol of oppression.

Composition and scale
- Boyce has used composition and scale to emphasise her relationship with her family and the key themes of 'support and holding on'.
- The bottom half of the drawing is dominated by the figure of Boyce.
- She shows herself in a three-quarter length self-portrait.
- Her raised arms are at the centre of the portrait and act as both a divide and a link to her family above.
- The figure of Boyce is bigger than the figures of her family. She is the main subject of the portrait (she is exploring her own identity) and our gaze is immediately drawn to her.
- The differing scale of the figures in the drawing also perhaps reflects the passage of time. She is in the present so is bigger and clearer. By making her famiy and her younger self smaller, they appear further away. This conveys the sense of them being in the past – a childhood memory.
- The composition also suggests a family tree, emphasising the importance of Boyce's family, ancestry and heritage. (Her pose with her arms raised, also echoes the shape of a tree.)
Colour
- Boyce has used colour to help convey her message and the themes and meaning of the drawing.
- The vibrant colours of her dress and hair make her look very different from her parents, whose clothes are more muted in colour.
- This emphasises how she felt different fom her parents. It also reflects her sense of wanting to express her own identity.
- The white of Boyce's childhood dress and that of her sister, suggest innocence. Whereas the bright coloured clothing she wears when she is older suggests knowledge and wordliness.
- The pale blue of the sky at the very top of the compostion contrasts with the more intense, pinks, browns and oranges used for the rest of the background. As well as showing the sunny climate of the Caribbean, it also reflects the contrast between her parents' life in the Caribbean and their life in the UK.
- Boyce also used colour to draw our gaze around the composition and link the two halfs of the painting.
- The blue colour of her hair is repeated in her mothers shoes and handbag and again in her father's hair and the hair of one of the young girls. The blue used for the sky draws our gaze up to the top of the composition. 
- The colours of the background pattern, running through the whole drawing, also help to unify the two halfs of the composition. (This unity perhaps also symbolises the bond she felt with her family)
Mark-making
- Boyce's mark-making adds texture and movement. The surface of the drawing seems to shimmer, making it seem full of life.
- She uses contrasting marks for different elements within the drawing.
- The loose hatching she uses for her father's clothes and the chair he sits on contrasts with the flat areas of the children's dresses – making them stand out. (It is possible that the white areas of the drawing are the bare paper of the support, by intentionally leaving these areas bare, Boyce creates contrasting textures.)
- The marks she has used to draw herself are less sketchy and loose than the marks used in the background. If you look at her arms, the hatching looks closer and is more carefully added. This makes her figure stand out and appear to be in the foreground, echong the sense of perspective created by her use of scale.