What an inspiring fortnight with 4H and Miss Hall. As feedback from the questionnaire shared:

‘The children sang their hearts out, the dance was sensational.’

To hear the children singing ‘Loch Lomond’, to see their happy faces as they flung each other around in dancing ‘Strip the Willow’ as well as share their own Celtic shield with you (their parent, big sister, grandma or uncle)was very precious. You were an appreciative audience and definitely an interested adult as you shared in their learning journey on Friday afternoon.

During their time in the studio, 4K have ben up to a number of creative opportunities. Their first challenge encouraged exploration, imagination and collaboration in creating a Celtic pattern by using a variety of materials.                                                           

• They have also been wrestling in creating and painting Celtic knots and then combining their skill to contribute to their ‘tribes’ banner. Embellishments came in adding fabric, beads and sequins as well as sewing with ribbon and wool.

I am sure you will agree that the final banners look dramatic when hung together.

Together we listened to ‘The Secrets of the Witham Shield’ shared by the curator of British and European Iron Age Collections, prior to designing our own symbolic, bold and simple Celtic shield. We discovered that the Celts shields were oval, rectangular or circular, often over a metre tall and a couple of centimetres thick. They would have a metal ‘boss’ on the front which was designed to protect the users hand. This would be hidden behind the boss, gripping the handle.

Cardboard was used to make the shield, with their design accentuated by creating a relief and assembling with a glue gun. Well done Year 4 for your wonderful creations, that did in deed reference your designs.

Thank you 4H for immersing yourselves in the arts fortnight and bringing the joy of colour to the art studio.