Over two lively weeks, 4DA embraced a burst of studio creativity filled with drawing, printing, dancing and even cooking. Here’s a short look at their fantastic journey.

We began with figure drawing to explore how bodies move. Pupils used large, gestural drawing to capture action quickly then applied their understanding of proportions as they shifted into designing Iron Man–style robots. They practised scaling up and sizing up and finished their bold robot artworks in chalk on black paper adding expressive shading and energetic movement lines.

At the same time, the class developed a dance piece to a Coldplay song which matched the Iron Man theme perfectly. There was also time to join Mrs Elliott for some delicious pizza making.

Later on pupils moved into portrait drawing and adapted these skills to invent cartoon robot faces. They cut out the different features then etched patterns into tiles and printed with water based ink printing to add texture and detail. These printed pieces were assembled on backing boards with carefully chosen lines from The Iron Man supported by the typography practice they had done earlier.

A big well done 4DA for your imagination teamwork and brilliant effort throughout Arts Fortnight!

Check out Sam’s shared-writing from the Wasteland unit of Writing during this fortnight:

“I’ll be right there!” Sasha shouted as she blazed into the dense forest. She’d always wondered what it would be like to go to the Treasuring Scrapyard because she heard there was armour for her collection. Navigating through the impenetrable forest, she knew she was there. On top of the gate, she spotted a security camera. TODAY WAS THE DAY!

Sasha suddenly had an idea. She started to burrow under the electric fence but she got zapped twice though. After that, she hunted for the armour, which she heard about. Moments later, the police came barging through the gate. Quickly, she sprinted into a broken place. Then, a lightning bolt hit the gate. In a flash, some abandoned cars toppled onto the broken plane while Sasha quickly peaked outside to check on the police. She felt regret hit her.

It was then that she spotted something a bit unusual. A music box hidden in a pile of broken car parts. It looked a lot like a treasure chest but it had indecipherable patterns on the head of the box. Sasha quickly snatched it from the pile of broken car parts. She started to turn the nob of the music box but it started to play a reversed tune. When it stopped, she was gone…

4A’s Arts Fortnight: Creativity, Robots and Radiohead in the Studio

Over the past two weeks, 4A have thrown themselves into an exciting high-energy Arts Fortnight filled with drawing, dancing, printing, cooking, designing and collaborating. The studio buzzed with curiosity, focus and wonderfully messy hands-on making. Here’s a look at what they got up to…

Starting with the Human Figure

The fortnight began with figure drawing exploring how bodies bend, balance and move. Pupils experimented with large, gestural drawing using their whole arms to capture the flow and structure of the human form. This early work helped them understand proportions and observe how heads, torsos and limbs relate to one another.

From Humans to Iron Man–Style Robots

With these fundamentals learned, 4A shifted to designing Iron Man–inspired robots. They applied their knowledge of proportions to mechanical forms and practised scaling up and sizing up their sketches. This project finished with bold drawings in chalk on black paper where pupils added depth through careful shading and dynamic movement lines that made their robotic designs feel alive.

Meanwhile in the hall the children developed a dance piece set to a Radiohead track which matched the story of Iron Man beautifully. The choreography grew alongside the artwork building a wonderful cross-arts connection.

A Tasty Interlude

In between creative sessions pupils also visited Mrs Elliott to make their own pizzas which filled the corridor with delicious smells and happy faces!

Portrait Work and Robot Transformations

Next pupils moved into portrait drawing learning about facial features, angles and expression. They then cleverly transformed this knowledge into simplified cartoon-like robot portraits. Each child cut out the different parts of their robot face and prepared a tile to etched patterns into.

Printing With Shared Designs

Patterns were swapped and shared across the class creating a collaborative bank of textures and motifs. Pupils then used water based ink printing to print onto the various facial features experimenting with layers, contrast and repetition. These prints were assembled onto backing boards to form striking final robot portraits.

To complete their compositions each student selected a resonant lyric from the Radiohead song or a line from the opening of The Iron Man. Earlier typography practice helped them design and letter their chosen words thoughtfully and artistically.

A huge well done 4A your creativity, teamwork and adventurous making have been inspiring. What an incredible Arts Fortnight!

First, we explored self-portraits, learning about perspective and angles to help us understand how to draw faces accurately. We studied where features like eyes, noses and mouths are positioned, using the “halving, halving, and halving again” rule to guide us. Then, we moved on to the twelve beasts of Hercules, thinking about what made each creature human or animal. We experimented with combining features and asked ourselves whether the same facial proportions we used for humans could also work for these imaginative beast forms.

Next, we brought our 2D beast designs to life by transferring them onto corrugated card with a sturdy base. We began to build up the facial features in relief, carefully layering pieces of card and using masking tape to hold everything in place. This stage was all about experimenting with size, shape, and position, as we explored how to make the creatures’ faces look more three-dimensional and expressive.

After constructing the relief forms, we applied Modroc to cover and strengthen our sculptures, learning how to layer it smoothly and evenly over the card. This was quite challenging, especially when working over areas where the relief was more pronounced. Once dry, we mixed acrylic paints to create a gradient of tones – a base shade, a lighter tone for highlights, and a darker one for shadows – to bring out the light and shade on our beast masks, giving them depth and character.

Finally, we created plasticine pots to experiment with making coiled cylindrical vessels. These were prototypes, allowing us to reflect on our techniques before working with real clay. Once we were confident, we scaled up our designs using air-dried clay, applying cross-hatching and slip to join pieces securely and reduce breakage. After the pots had dried, we painted them gold to represent King Midas and his golden touch, linking our work back to the mythical themes we explored throughout the project.

Well done 5A! You overcame many challenges, worked collaboratively and flourished in your Arts Fortnight.

Beginning in the amphitheatre, 5S explored the story of the tributes who were selected to enter King Minos’s impenetrable labyrinth. Moving into the classroom, we then started to learn our model text, closely linked to this Greek Myth. Imaginations were captured and this was a springboard into our fortnight.

Exploring our second myth, Hades and Persephone, we began to consider the symbolism of trees through this classic tale. Why did Ancient Greeks believe we have seasons? What trees are symbolic of the Underworld? Heading outside, we began to study textures of different bark and leaves through tree rubbings; we finished the day by creating an inspiration collage of colour, texture and shape.

Moving on, it was time to bring the trees to life. After deciding on a tree – perhaps a Willow or a Spruce.. or maybe a Birch – we started to build our 3D trees up, using pool noodles, cardboard bases and chicken wire to create malleable branches. Then it was time to mod-roc the entire terrain to create a textured landscape and tree, reminiscent of the tree studies from earlier on in the week. Gradient, acrylic painting was explored and practised alongside using sponges to blot and cover the terrain so there was no white patches left over. The final cherry on top was to consider the type of leaf that may adorn the tree.

Pomegranates are a symbolic fruit to many cultures and societies. For the Ancient Greeks, they represented temptation – a moment when Persephone had accidentally bound herself to the Underworld upon eating six seeds. For this, she had to spend six months in the Underworld where the world withered away; the remaining six she would return to her mother and life would begin to bloom again. This is what Ancient Greeks believed created the Seasons of Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. Through still-life sketching, we studied real pomegranates: some whole, some halved. We then moved onto creating these out of plasticine and using different tools to help gouge out sections and cross-hatch the crown on top. Finally, we committed to clay and created full and halved ‘poms’, eventually painting and glazing them. The final task was to create a dinner table, fit for the King of the Underworld, where the pomegranates would lavishly lay. Well done, 5S!