What a grey, drizzly day we chose to walk to our local woods and the ‘Seven Arches. However, there was birdsong and bluebells to inspire and influence our art.

A sponge technique created the sky and brushstrokes made the grass for the background.

Our observational drawings of the trees in the orchard inspired our woodland scenes. I was impressed with the 1BN’s focus as they looked and looked again before lightly sketching the trunk, branches, leaves and blossom.

With sketchbooks positioned next to our backgrounds, we set to work on creating our woods. Using a variety of drawing media-pastels, pencil crayons, felt tips and wax crayons as well as pencil-we then created our woodland scenes.  Bluebells were then added.   I think the pictures produced were beautiful and showcased 1BN as artists.  

Inspired by Jeanne Willis’ ‘The Bog Baby’, 1BN each had a go at building their own with plasticine. On the whole, these first attempts were very flat and two dimensional. Therefore, we went again, after a crash course in creating spheres and sausages!  The plasticine did require us to squeeze, manipulate, twist and bend it, which definitely gave our fingers a work out.

 During this session, we looked at the difference between an illustration of a creature-dragon, starfish, shark to that of a three dimensional one. We definitely made progress, and within 1BN there are some gifted model makers. Some of their bog babies, did feature in their woodland scenes.

Friday’s dance performance, choreographed by Miss Patchett, wonderfully captured the awe and wonder of the woods with a sprinkle of magic. It was so lovely to share 1BN’s learning with their adults and interested adults.

Here are some of the lovely comments from the afternoon:

‘We enjoyed the children’s performance, and looking at the children’s artwork. Robyn enjoyed decorating the matchboxes.’

‘Pixie (role model) was a brilliant host. Top Afternoon. Art classroom looks ACE. Well done everyone.’

‘Daniel has really enjoyed his Arts Fortnight. It has been a great opportunity to be here this afternoon and see the school in action.’

‘Fab dancing. Great organisation. I like the four stations and moving around with the Role Model from Y6.’

‘It’s really lovely to be invited into school to see all the brilliant work the children have been doing. Really appreciate the chance to see Phoebe in her school environment, showing us what she has been working on.’

‘Well put together. Enjoyed all sessions. Liked seeing what she’s been up to creatively. The bog baby hunt was a lovely idea. Fantastic dance performance. Well done 1BN.’

‘It was great to see all the work that is being done with the children. Especially being focused on the development of their creative skills. Both the teachers and children did an exceptional job.’

‘Thank you for showing us around the school and all the great projects the children have worked on. Alex was proud to show his work.’

‘It was a surprise for me cause I was only expecting some arts hanging on the wall. Instead I had the opportunity to see a lot. Love the dance performance a lot. Fantastic book reading. My favourite was the outside class. Very bright and fresh. Thanks.’

‘Great artwork and dancing! Thank you to all the teachers for all your efforts.’

‘A lovely session, we really enjoyed it. A good chance to see the lovely setting. Loved that the bog babies were hidden in the orchard.’

‘Really lovely seeing the variety of things they’ve been doing. Loved the dance and the art studio is amazing. Judah has absolutely loved his art fortnight.’

‘A fantastic afternoon. It was lovely to see the variety of activities that the children have been doing at such high quality. Thank you everyone for all your hard work.’

‘There was much more to see and get involved in than I was expecting. It was really lovely to see and the performance was great.’

‘Drawing allows children to explore, build on and record their own creative and imaginative ideas. It allows children to express themselves and communicate to others. In can also increase understanding.’  Jo Adetubji

Our walk to the local park, on a glorious April morning, provided:

• the destination for our maps,
• our initial appreciation of Spring emerging
• an appreciation of the swings, see-saw, climbing frame and roundabout that would translate into a paper sculpture and painting

 Being presented with a tray of colourful thick marker pens, an expanse of paper and asked to draw a map of their journey from school to the park was a glorious glimpse into the features and experiences that they had remembered. Cartographic artists are what 1DT are!

Portrait or landscape was a decision to be made on being presented with sugar paper and tasked to create a background for their park by using a sponge technique for the sky and brushstrokes for the grass. Who knew how much effort was required to sponge! Once dry, the children drew on their parks using a variety of drawing materials…chalks, oil pastels, pencil crayons, felt tips, wax crayons. The results were precious and definitely captured the joy experienced.

After experimenting and playing with a variety of paper to create their individual reliefs, a group challenge was set. Could they collaboratively make/build a park? As the colourful parks share, there was so much ingenuity. With the support from Miss Hirst, 1DT excelled at manipulating the paper to build the features found at the park.

Blossom, daffodils, tulips, daisies and dandelions were just some of the signs of Spring that 1DT appreciated over the fortnight. Our observational drawings of some fabulous tulips and daffodils inspired our watercolour paintings and tissue paper art.

Dexterity with scissors in cutting out the tissue flowers was definitely a challenge for many in 1DT. The process also involved gluing the tissue onto bin liners-a light touch so that the paper did not rip was essential as was handling the glued paper and placing it onto the bin liner. We were all very proud of our achievements.

‘Wow…inspiring…fabulous…wonderful’-these were just some of the adjectives used by parents and interested adults of 1DT, after spending Friday afternoon at Allerton CE and sharing in some of the learning that happened during our Arts Fortnight.

The following feedback was lovely to receive:

‘Rosa enjoyed looking for the signs of Spring-what a good idea the little box was. Thanks very much.’

‘A great afternoon. My favourite part was seeing the art studio as I know Penelope loves to be creative.’

‘Thank you very much for organising this afternoon. Thank you for all the effort in inspiring my little girl Chloe!’

‘Enjoyed very much-especially the lovely dance and the art studio.’

‘Fabulous! It’s great to see what the children do in school time.’

‘Great activities. Kids and parents loved it.’

‘It was a very lovely afternoon. In particular I enjoyed seeing the artwork and group reading of ‘The Disgusting Sandwich. Thank you.’

‘We loved the interactive session inside and outside and especially painting in the art studio. Everything was very well thought out and planned. Thank you.’

‘It was good. Teachers were welcoming.’

‘Thank you so much for hosting. What a wonderful visit! I loved how much the children enjoyed the dance (so many smiles). As always the art studio was a pleasure. I really appreciated the gluten free sandwiches too!’

‘I really like the set up in the art room. It brings back memories of doing art at school.’

‘Very insightful-thank you.’

‘Thank you for such a wonderful afternoon. I really enjoyed seeing the arts studio. Am disappointed I missed the performance.’

Are you predominantly green/purple/red/yellow/black/blue? Perhaps, like 5P discovered, you are a ‘cacophony’ of colour.  

There are emoji that attempt to share our emotions, moods, thoughts and feelings and there are so many words. However, our reliance is often on happy/sad/ angry… Over 5P’s arts fortnight, we drilled down into our emotions. We recorded them, put colour to them as well as acknowledged the triggers for our smiles, outbursts, frustrations, calm….

In the studio, we selected the colour that matched our ‘feeling/emotion’. Then, inspired by Joan Miro’s artwork, we too let our imaginations splurge images, shapes, objects, people and places with felt tips, pastel and crayons onto paper. The results were intriguing and exciting! Some of us etched words and phrases into these imaginative works that initiated conversation.

Really looking at your face can be hard. But the more you look, the more you see and you can capture the essence of you.  Our quick sketches provided our portraits for the ‘mind vomits’.

These we then painted in the colour –making tints and tones- of how we were feeling. Who knew that a parent consultation would bring nervousness and anxiety for one young person in 5P-black and grey! Thankfully, there were many green (relaxed/calm/peaceful/untroubled) and yellow (happy/content/glad/pleased) portraits. We then added the ‘mind vomit’-splodges of colour that shared our innermost thoughts and feelings. A sprinkle of glitter and placement of sequin provided sparkle!

We then made our worlds-using Modroc. The process involved:

• dunking a strip of Modroc into some tepid water
• removing the gauze strip from the water and running fingers down the strip to remove the excess liquid
• applying the strip to cover an area of the balloon
• overlapping layers by 20-30mm

Whilst our Modroc worlds were drying, we used tissue paper and PVA to create ‘wrapping paper’ that would cover them. The colours represented our emotions, with the tissue ripped, torn and or cut into shapes/ objects before gluing onto a bin liner. Once dry, we peeled them from the bin liner and then glued them onto our worlds.

The final part of the process was to create a paper chain that circled our worlds. These chains recorded the ‘when’ and ‘what ’and ‘whys’ for our feelings and again provided the opportunity for conversation with peers and at the celebration parents and interested adults.   

A big thank you to so many parents and interested adults of 5P, who attended Friday’s celebration. Below is parental feedback which shared how fabulous they found the afternoon!

‘It was a fantastic celebration. It was lovely to see the results of all the hard work carried out by the teachers and children. Thank you so much for creating an unforgettable experience for the children. It was lovely to see Madeleine in her element, a fantastic celebration of the creative arts.’

‘This was such an interesting and engaging event. It was great to see the kids expressing emotions the way they did. The dance was amazing.’

‘A relaxing day with my daughter. A joyful experience knowing what she feels and learns in school-positive vibes.’

‘I was very interested to see the art work and the colours of how they feel.’

‘It has been great to see what Tom and his class have been up to. Dance performance was fab and it was great to see the kids being creative!’

On the 29^th March, 4SH spent their day in the graphic design studio at Leeds Beckett University. It was an opportunity for them to create and share their learning of the ‘Winds of Change’ project through drawing, collage, sculpture and riso-printing.

As Dr Liz Stirling (Senior Lecturer) shared, ‘We were all really pleased with how well the day went. The children were just brilliant. They were so creative, interesting, had so much energy and lots to say and ask about – quite an example for our students.

The project has gone really well and it was great to see lots of the energy sustainability material that Mr Magnall has taught them naturally appearing in all the 3d models and drawings. Thinking about where energy comes from and how it can be used, they shared inventively and playfully. Talking with some of them during the day, they were really excited to tell me about the school’s sustainability direction and talked about growing food – sweetcorn! – apple trees, having a garden…and the daily mile! They were really proud of being eco- councillors and having an environmental club and clearly felt involved in the process and connected to nature in the school. 

Students and staff came and had a look and were very impressed by the quality and passion of the work and how free it felt around important ideas.’

A big thank you goes to Aimee, Tom and Selin-the graphic design students- who have inspired 4SH during the Spring Term on a Wednesday afternoon and organised the workshops and exhibition to consolidate and celebrate the learning.

From the outset, 5S were using their imaginations to create a creature/alien that inhabited their planets. Their drawing was then made into a clay sculpture. Coils, thumb pots, creating limbs, wings, heads and tails 5S were initially made using modelling clay and from just one lump pull out their creatures. We then moved onto the medium clay.

‘Sketching with clay’ had its challenges as sculpting is not an everyday activity. However, 5S remembered the importance of applying the hatching and slip to attach/ join clay. Their creatures emerged from the clay, with textures applied by drawing into the clay with tools or making an impression with another object onto the clay to suggest scales etc. They were then left to air dry.

So that the details-so impressively etched/mark made onto their creatures was not obliterated by applying acrylic paint- a sponge was used to bring their creatures to life. A thin brush dipped in the paint helped to add shade and accentuate features.

5S also dabbled in printmaking during their time in the studio. Collagraph was the printmaking method used to create textures and layers to a cardboard ‘plate’. To play and explore was actively encouraged as they created, inked, added and inked again. Masking tape, tin foil, string, bubble wrap, ribbon, corrugated card and more were used to build up their plates-a glue gun used to ensure the materials remained on the plate. The results were impressive.

5S then used this method to portray the ‘skin’ of their imaginary creature.  They created two final prints. One print was used to capture their creature by drawing around their template of it, cutting it out and finally gluing onto paper. Its habitat was drawn with parents/interested adults during 5S’ art celebration. The other was exhibited in the studio along with the collagraph to be framed at home!

Thank you to all the parents and interested adults that attended 5S’ arts celebration. You were definitely an appreciative audience and embraced the carousel activities with your child. Conversations throughout the afternoon shared how much 5S had enjoyed their time in the art and dance studios and how much you valued our holistic approach to their learning. Prior to the fire alarm, two parents managed to give their written feedback!

‘Thank you for organising this afternoon, which was amazing. Good to see what the kids have done. Look forward to any future events of this type.’

‘I enjoyed the show most. Great arrangement. Everything is good. Very nice to see their study.’

Jackson Pollock’s ‘Galaxy’ inspired our own splashy, drippy, messy paintings. Like him, we were action painting. Within the brushstrokes, dribbles and splats can you spot constellations, planets and moons? Apologies for the paint on clothing and footwear, as our aprons did not protect against the splattering of paint. However, as the photographs show we did have fun.

With Mrs Girt, 5C created their imaginary planets-big enough to have enough gravity to force a spherical shape. These pastel drawings were referenced when painting their Modroc planet.

The studio looked like Narnia at one point during the fortnight, as the plaster from the Modroc went everywhere! The process involved:

• dunking a strip of Modroc into some tepid water
• removing the gauze strip from the water and running fingers down the strip to remove the excess liquid
• applying the strip to cover an area of the balloon
• overlapping layers by 20-30mm

We then left the ‘planets’ to dry, before painting them with acrylic and ready mixed paints.

What was the landscape like on our imaginary planets? What creatures inhabited it? This is where 5C drew upon their imaginations. Their settings were created using card, papers and a variety of drawing materials; creatures, inspired from sketchbook work, emerged from modelling clay.

Having an open heart, a resilient spirit and taking responsible steps were all needed by 5C during their time in the art studio. Effort and determination were necessary because art is a process, takes time and after reflection may require us to go again.

Thank you to all the parents and interested adults who were able to attend Friday’s celebration. 5C certainly appreciated having an audience for their dance performance and loved having that special someone to share in their learning. Below are photographs of the art studio, morph making and results as well as the feedback.

‘It’s always great to have an opportunity to see the children’s artwork and to work together during these sessions. They are always fun to join.’

‘The children really enjoyed the art part.’

‘It was lovely to be shown by Isabelle what she has done rather than just hearing from the teachers.’

‘The celebration was lovely to finally see what they have been doing after hearing all about it at home!’

‘It was great to be back in school and to see the children’s excitement. Fabulous collaboration and feels like a celebration. Good to see everyone interacting together.’

‘Absolutely brilliant. Great to see such a range of art and performance and lovely to get involved too.’

‘So wonderful to see the art that the children do. Adriana talked so much on how she enjoyed her time at the art studio. It’s wonderful.’

‘Very good. Enjoyed the making of Morph!’

‘Everything was amazing. Thank you.’

‘We enjoyed seeing all the kids work. It was good to have sessions interactive.’

Unpredictable yet exciting is how I would summarise print-making with 4C. Together, we had a go at:     

• monoprinting-a single print taken from a design created in printing ink on a smooth surface
• relief printing/plasticine printing-where protruding surface faces of the printing plate (polystyrene tile and plasticine) were inked leaving the recessed areas ink free.

The results were varied but provided the paper for our collage self-portraits. Joshua’s design I could see as wallpaper- a wonderful repeated print that he inked up brilliantly.

We placed our faces on a patterned background that we had painted using acrylics. Our colour choice was decided by selecting a colour that represented how we felt and then its complementary colour. This is where some of us demonstrated our competence with a paintbrush as well as our skill in creating tints and shades.

We then used letters from newspaper headlines to create words and phrases that shared our personality. The results were fantastic!

The ‘gallery walk’ in the art studio on Friday with our parents and or interested adults saw 4C sharing their sketchbook work as well as explaining how they created their collage self-portraits.

Sketching of each other was the activity-some wonderful portraits were created along with much laughter. Thank you 4C for a truly wonderful fortnight. The comments below certainly capture your hard work, commitment and perseverance!

‘Another fabulous arts celebration! It’s great to see what the children have been doing, and I love that the focus has been away from traditional learning during the arts fortnight. I think it’s so important for the children to have this time away from the classrooms to explore the arts.’

‘A great afternoon-I liked the mix of things we were shown in relation to the children’s learning.’

‘It has been amazing! Everyone was fantastic! Staff and kids put a lot of work/effort and it is really appreciated. It’s been a lovely afternoon and THANK YOU SO MUCH!’

‘Thank you Year 4. Absolutely blown away with ‘This is me’. I really enjoyed the dancing and singing. Very impressed with library, classroom and art studio.’

‘Thank you for a lovely afternoon. It has been very interesting seeing the different work the children have done. My wife and I particularly enjoyed the ply and the singing-it was very harmonious for 9 year olds!’

‘Thank you so much for all your hard work. The dance was amazing. I was full of emotion watching the whole class. The library, classroom and art studio are all so inspiring.’

‘I had a wonderful and interactive afternoon joining in and participating with the children.’

Being brave, being true to ourselves and standing up for what we know is right was the teaching and learning that happened in the classroom, dance studio and art studio this fortnight.

In the art studio, collage, paint, clay, drawing and more collage were the mediums used to convey this message.

Through collage- the technique in which pieces of paper, photographs, fabric and other ephemera are arranged and stuck down onto a supporting surface- the activists David Attenborough, Rosa Parks, Marcus Rashford, Martin Luther King and Greta Thunberg were celebrated. Layering of tissue paper, the coiling of paper and the arrangement of selected words to represent their chosen activist created impactful creations.

Creating tints and shades from the pure colour that reflected them on the day, was the skill 4H then practised. (White was added to create the tints, a dab of black to make the shades.)

Next, 4H created self-portraits using clay. I was so impressed to see how they took a lump of clay, bashed the air bubbles out of it and then began to shape their face and add their facial features. In order to join pieces of clay together, cross hatching and slip was applied. Once air dry their face was painted in the tints and shades of the colour that represented them that day. The hair-added later-had to be the complementary colour.   

A 5 minute portrait of their friend in marker pen, provided the pose and photograph for the final piece. Being a felt tip, there was no rubbing out. Each mark mattered. The results were impressive.

Collage was the medium that 4H used for their final piece. This time, they were the ‘activist’.     

Thank you to the parents and interested adults who made time out of their busy Friday, to join their child for the arts celebration. The following comments give a little insight to the ‘joy’ of what took place:

‘We love being able to come into school to see what the kids have been up to. It’s fabulous to see the passion of the teacher and school staff and to see the kids working together. Thanks for giving us this opportunity.’

‘It was lovely to share the kids enthusiasm for this fortnight and see all the amazing work they’ve been doing.’

‘Thank you! so much for having us! It was a lovely afternoon. Shrutika felt so happy. It was so wonderful to see what she has been doing in school in this half-term. Dance performnce was awesome-kudos to teachers.’

‘It was a really lovely afternoon 🙂 The teachers have clearly worked so hard and the kids loved every minute.’

‘Thank you so much to let Skyler and us have such a wonderful experience. The drawing was so funny. We haven’t thought to draw at home. It inspired us to play this with our daughters at home.’

‘Great afternoon. Lovely to watch the children showcase their work. Thank you.’

‘Lovely afternoon with so much wonderful work from all the children. The performance was brilliant, the children have worked so hard. All thanks to all staff involved, for us to enjoy this afternoon and take part.’

‘Thank you for a lovely afternoon-we love to have the chance to come and share in Henry’s learning and to see what he is doing. Loved the dance and also the chance to visit the class. Thank you!’

‘Really enjoyed the dancing, the kids worked really hard. Doing the portrait of each other was great fun.’

‘Great coordination and timing in the dance moves as a group.’

What a privilege it has been to support in delivering the ‘art’ within the ‘arts’ of 4SH’s eight days Arts ‘Fortnight’! Dance, song, poetry, art in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat , a story and a rap have all contributed to their initial exploration of identity.

Maya Angelou’s defiant poem ‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’ celebrates the courage within each of us and is illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat. In ‘having a go’ in painting in his style, we discovered how by layering colour and blending colour using acrylic paints and pastels we too could create a background for a silhouetted figure to stand strong against. We noticed that the figure often had a ‘chalked’ rib-cage and bones with features also exaggerated using white.

This technique, we then adopted to create our own paintings on cardboard. The colour palette this time captured the colours associated with our interpretation of the emotion fear.

The figure represented our stance when encountering this emotion. Drawing each other’s ‘fear’ poses helped us to think shape and which features or body parts needed accentuating.

Further exploration in our sketch books provided the reference we needed when committing the silhouette to our paintings.  

Finally, we chalk penned the lines of our Kennings onto our art. Courageous creativity happened before our eyes. Well done 4SH.

4SH’s performance on Friday was truly special. A huge thank you to parents and interested adults who gave up their time to be the audience for the performance and share in the workshops with their young person. The following feedback shares how precious the afternoon was:

‘Absolutely amazing! You are all so talented, and it was a moving performance. Thank you to all the teachers, such a fantastic topic to express in various ways.‘

‘Amazing teamwork, singing and dancing. Boy, that rap was good!‘

‘Absolutely fantastic. Whole day was very enjoyable.’

‘Loved watching Logan perform and seeing all his lovely work. A lovely school.’

‘Really good interactive afternoon. Brilliant watching the children and their talents.’

‘I really liked the layout of the library. I had a great time exploring the hunt with my daughter.‘

‘A wonderful afternoon-the children’s enthusiasm was simply infectious-I think this speaks volumes!! Thank you all so much.’

‘Absolutely great. Loved seeing Kirsten in school. Great day.’

‘What a wonderful afternoon we have had. All of the performances were fantastic and even made me emotional. It was wonderful to see the classroom and also the library. It was also great to have to use my brain. Well done Lola and 4SH!’

‘Fantastic, very proud of the achievement. Well put together in 3 groups.’

‘Really excellent. We are so impressed with the afternoon.’

‘Such a lovely dance and such a lovely teacher Mrs Housam is. Enjoyed every bit of today’s performance.’

‘Loved watching the class dance and listening to the poem! Excellent piano Mrs Housam! Great hunt in the library and classroom and art studio 10/10! Thank you.’

‘Really enjoyed today! Nice seeing what the children have been learning!

‘What an absolutely amazing art fortnight. I was blown away by all the students! Mrs Housam is truly an inspiring teacher and I am always amazed with the effort the school gives to it’s students!’

‘I enjoyed everything with Amelia. Everything was great.’

Our first week together, looked at the weather. And both the weavings and batik drew on our designs inspired by symbols of the weather forecast.  Snow was white; blues and emerald, lightning black skies and flashes of orange and sunshine rays of reds, oranges and yellows. The wool and dye showcased their designs beautifully.

 2H used hot wax to ‘paint’ on their designs. This is the barrier that prevents the dye from bleeding and or spreading where it is not wanted. I was so impressed with the children’s focus and look forward to completing batiks with those children who have yet to have a go.

Meanwhile, Miss Patchett was choreographing a dance where bridges featured-inspired and brilliantly executed by 2H at Friday’s celebration. As one parent commented, ‘The performance was fantastic!’

In the studio, we explored building bridges using mobile, Lego, ‘K’Nex’ and bricks. We understood the need for our bridges to be sturdy and stable. However knowing this and creating them was definitely a challenge.

 As architects, we drew up our blue prints and then as engineers followed them. The results were fantastic. Each team managed to work collaboratively to produce some imaginative yet sturdy bridges. They ranged from a simple ‘beam bridge’ to a ‘railroad bridge’/’Truss bridge’-where the triangle shape was used repeatedly on the deck.   There was also an attempt at a ‘Suspension bridge’ with thick cables stretched from one side to the other supported by tall towers and held down tightly with anchors.

Dowling, lollipop sticks, cardboard and corrugated card was used creatively. Each group was required to use a saw to cut the dowling and a glue gun to attach the materials together. Once again, there was incredible focus and only a few dollops of burn soother applied. 

It was wonderful to share our learning with parents and interested adults as well as have an audience for the performance. Thank you for giving up your Friday afternoons. The feedback was also really encouraging as the following comments share:

‘Brilliant as always! Interactive, fun, educational and engaging-it never ever disappoints. The staff are superb  and the children clearly thrive on the multifaceted ways of learning.’

‘We really enjoyed the weaving and the quiz. Mason loved building bridges.’

‘Lovely to see what the children have been up to, and to share in their lovely library.’

‘All the activities are really good. Very good effort by the teaching staff. We would be doing the same activities at home for Christmas.’

‘It was lovely to come and join the kids with this great activities. Looking forward to see more of this kind of sharing.’

‘I really enjoyed seeing Dennis’ work alongside his peers, speaking to the teachers and watching the dance-how well they used teamwork! So proud and such a lovely environment.’

‘Thank you for a lovely afternoon. We have enjoyed seeing what Olivia has been up to and the work she has been creating in both the art studio and the classroom. We particularly enjoyed all the children’s dancing to the ‘Bollywood’ style! Thanks to all involved.

I found this afternoon very interesting. I loved every bit. Also the dance was amazing.’