Exploring character flaws in Ancient Greek plays led 5H to draw on and innovate with portrait drawing and 3D sculpture. They started with great ideas and imagination and throughout the fortnight persevered to adapt, overcome obstacles and keep pushing to achieve their intended effect. Thoroughly immersed in these creative processes, they impressed us with their calm enjoyment and team work. 

5H  relished the opportunity to design and create vases depicting Ancient Greek myths. They were ambitious in considering the function and form of their vessel as well as the decoration. Some were designed to carry olive oil or water, others grapes or grains. Shape, size, handles, spout and stopper were all considered. 

Ancient Greek artists were skilled and respected and 5H certainly took inspiration from them. Inspired by the myth of King Midas, their designs were created using gold, black and white acrylic paint.

Golden masks

Captivated by the storytelling of the Ancient Greeks, 5H learned about how masks were used in Ancient Greek theatre to allow each actor to take on different personas. They confidently recalled how to sketch the proportions of a face and then designed their own Greek mask persona with exaggerated features such as eye brows, mouth and hair. It was incredible to see how the shape and direction of the eye brows altered an expression and created a different mood.

Transferring these faces onto a balloon, they then began to apply Modroc to one side of a balloon to create their mask. This was painstaking and tricky and the children quickly learned that they needed to collaborate. With a lot of care and patience, the masks were complete and left to dry. 

The features were created later with more Modroc or cardboard with some dramatic effects.

Finally, the masks were painted gold and the children added shading and depth using charcoal and chalk. The cracks running across 5H’s Golden masks were a nod to the myth of King Midas whose greed led him to wish for the Golden touch. He was mortified when he touched his daughter who instantly turned to gold; a hairline crack running across her immortalised face.

In the studio, 5H shared their Golden masks and created personas with their families and friends. They gave assured, dramatic and confident performances of the myth of King Midas and choreographed their Midas-inspired dance, based on the music of Aretha Franklin.

“The performance was amazing. I loved all the art work in the art studio. You can see all the effort the teachers and children have put in.”

“I enjoyed the play. There was great coordination and it looked very fun. The art studio is a lovely environment that I have enjoyed looking in before. The exhibit was fun, creative and engaging showcasing a creativity in the children that is fun to engage with.”

“Great performances by the children, they put in a tremendous amount of work. Kudos to the teachers for their instruction and guidance that helped to realise a great afternoon of activities. The kids had a great deal of confidence, which is great to see.”

What a wonderful start to our Arts Fortnight process this year! 5LS have been thoroughly absorbed in exploring Ancient Greek mythology and it was a treat to see their pieces exhibited in the Art Studio. 

Researching Ancient Greek clay vessels, they discovered that paintings of myths on the vases allowed these incredible tales to be passed down over thousands of years. Setting out to create their own vases and pots, they first experimented with their design and practised their coiled pot techniques using plasticine. This was challenging and led some to change their design. We were all thrilled with the outcomes and excited when it came to making them in clay.

The children had remembered the technique of adding each layer using cross hatching and slip and were able to create shaped pots with layers getting larger and smaller. 5LS really impressed us with their care and perseverance. 

Once dried, we painted the pot with acrylic paint in Burnt Sienna or Yellow Ochre acrylic paint to recreate the colours of terracotta. 

The next stage was creating a design with pictures and greek patterns and painting these onto the pots. Just like the artists from Ancient Greece, they needed great control and care with fine brushes and markers. 

Modroc torches

The children were captivated by the myth of Prometheus who stole fire from the sun to give to the people. Fire allowed humans to care for themselves with food and warmth but also to forge weapons and wage war. Zeus was so angry with Prometheus that he condemned him to be chained to a mountain for eternity where he was pecked at daily by a vulture. 

The children seemed not to mind the gory details!

Modroc was another sculpting material which was great fun but needed care and patience. The children added designs and patterns using string and then painted the torches. They look just wonderful. 

It was a special moment to ‘light’ the torches with flame (and a flickering tea light) during the Celebration afternoon and to share all our hard work with our families. 

At the end of their time at Allerton CE, Year 6 came to the Arts Studio to reflect on everything that makes themselves and their time at primary school unique and special. Ahead of them, their Graduation performance in which they aimed to share, celebrate and shine. Our ACE artists used the artistic process to explore their favourite memories and achievements and create a design to encapsulate all that is important to them.

Inspired by the drawings of Pop Artist Keith Haring, Year 6 explored how simple figures can show movement and emotion to represent their ideas. They acted out poses and sketched them using minimal lines to create simple yet expressive figures. Whilst the finished designs seem simple, this was the result of careful refining to create an efficient design aiming to express an identity and pride. 

These designs would be printed onto T-shirts to wear at their Graduation and it was exciting to learn about their printing skills from local artist and printmaker (and Lucas’s Dad) Adrian Sestini. It was a painstaking process to transfer the designs onto card and to cut out the design using a craft knife. Using the primary colours on our school logo, the children learned to apply the ink using sponges allowing different areas of the design to use different colours and also to use screen prints. 

Creating prints is a skillful task which requires care and focus and Year 6 felt rightly very proud of their finished T shirts: a unique snapshot of themselves.

I was amazed at the energy and creativity that our 13 young people shared with the Leeds Beckett University graphic design/ illustrator students on Thursday. They totally embraced the workshop prepared by the students and engaged wholeheartedly in the day. Smiles and laughter filled their art studio as our ACE pupils painted, chatted, posed for the camera and created.

The students introduced the colourful work of the artists Jean-Michel Basquiet, Jackson Pollock, Frida Khalo and Keith Haring for inspiration. Each group with their student worked together to design and then paint a door- exciting! Below are the designs that when combined made ‘Night and Day Cat Door’.

It was exciting to see the doors transform from a blank canvas to a cacophony of colour, pattern, shapes and images. There was freedom in their brushstrokes, splats, paintings and lettering. Handprints, rainbows, planets and stars, cats, oceans and hearts appeared from their imaginations.

In addition to working in their art studio, our young people had the opportunity to meet Ricky for a photo shoot! The blank door- with a brushstroke of pink- will be photoshopped with their door painted on the day. Ricky just knew how to alleviate nerves and shyness by sharing his camera with each team and letting them have a go at taking a picture of their friends.

Lunchtime was an opportunity to recharge batteries and play.

The afternoon session was an opportunity for our young people to listen to the students talk about their inspirations (pattern at a market, bacteria, parts of a shoe, planets, sun….) and appreciate their artwork.

The final part of our exciting day was to draw onto the doors in order to highlight, add features and emphasise certain parts. Barnaby definitely worked in the style of Jean- Michel Basquiat and embraced Jackson Pollock, whereas Keith Harding’s black outline inspired ‘Night and Day Cat door’ and ‘The Rainbow Creative Colourful door’.

Thank you to Abi, Charlotte, Husna, Natalie, Josh, Maisie, Hollie and Ricky for your planning and preparation of the workshops, for providing aprons with the ‘Room 17’ logo that protected clothes and the gift of the ‘Room 17’ tote bag. Your presentations inspired, your conversations encouraged and your presence motivated our13 pupils. Their excitement and enjoyment of the day was shared with Mrs Stott on their return to school.

The poem written by the poet Rachel Flint that inspired so much of 3H’s Arts Fortnight, is called ‘Meditation’. To grasp what it means to meditate- focus one’s mind for a period of time-the class were encouraged to pause, slow down and respond individually through paint and drawing materials to the calm music playing. Their meditative responses would later be collaged onto their chairs.

Together, we read the poem and discussed what Rachel meant. Could we use our recent shadow puppet skills and make a shadow poem for Meditation? Could this then be shared at Monday’s Collective Worship? The combination of Mrs Harbour’s ingenuity, the kindness of Matthew Bellwood -who loaned his overhead projector- and 3H’s creative collaborations to make lettering, clocks, arrows, slogans and drawings all contributed to a short, simple film.

In the studio, 3H used black paint and thick paint brushes to produce mindful breath painting. They were inspired by the artist Torkwase Dyson. Thin lines using biro was then added. The process was repeated, but this time in colour. These too would feature as collage on the chairs.

Referring back to the poem, 3H began to think about their safe place. What or who made it a ‘sanctuary’? What words did they associate with this place? These words would feature on their own chair. Each child, chose a colour for their chair that represented them. For some it was a pale blue- they supported Manchester City- for others it was vibrant yellow, calming green, delicious pink or energetic red.

Photographs of 3H’s safe place were emailed to school and included bedrooms, Grandma’s house, the sofa, pet dog or cat and the library. Something within the photograph was captured and using acrylic paint made into a backdrop for our chairs. These backdrops included wallpaper prints, duvet cover designs, paw prints, pyjama prints , a grandma in the doorway…

Our chairs had a lot of surface area. They could be viewed from all around. Therefore, it was important to plan where words, photographs and collage would go. Perseverance was required in bucketloads. The ‘feedback sandwich’ highlighted the wow of what we had accomplished so far as well as ‘even better ifs’! Oil pastels and paint markers were used to emphasise and outline.

Each chair, belonged to and was known and understood by the individual who had created it. To celebrate the uniqueness of each child, self-portraits were made. The process shared the need to understand proportions, to notice where our facial features were positioned on our face and to appreciate that our skin was made up of many tints and tones.

Friday’s celebration was memorable in so many ways. Both Bronagh Daly (Art Theologian) and Rachel Flint (poet) joined parents and interested adults from 3H and contributed to the afternoon’s carousel of activities.

The dance to ‘Safe Place’ choreographed by Miss Patchett was beautiful, powerful and emotional. The ‘bubbles’ were enjoyed later with Mrs Harbour!

In the hall there were privileged conversations and opportunities to be ‘present’ as well as create individually, side by side or in collaboration.

The following parental/ interested adult feedback gives a glimpse of 3H’s special celebration:

‘I always find the Arts Fortnight so special! It allows us as a parent to really get involved with our children on a creative and spiritual level. Thank you to all the staff for all your hard work in creating such a magnificent environment for our children to learn and express themselves.’ Holly Sewell

’Sanctuary- what a brilliant theme. It is amazing to see children from various countries across the world, cultures coming together to up a great show. The world sees hope and we are optimistic.’ Riaab’s dad

’Very interactive and inspiring sessions. Using art to encourage the kids to share is a wonderful concept. Truly welcome this initiative. We are conscious that children have so much to tell with the little words they know. This will encourage them to share what they feel courageously. Thank you.’ Tameem & Mubeena

’The program is very moving, very well planned. I see the much joy of each student. Good guests including poet & artist. Teachers are brilliant.’

’This was such a lovely experience and was really insightful to see the kids with their classmates in the school environment. The dance was amazing it actually made me cry and being able to do activities with the kids after was great. ‘

’Fantastic celebration with some real meaning and emotion. Thank you all so much. We were so impressed by the children of 3H (and Mrs Harbour and Mrs Woodthorpe)’

’As always great to see what the children have been doing. Was nice to have a 3rd party there (Bronagh & Rachel).’

’Today’s celebration has been very inspiring. I’m glad my child got to experience this event.’

’Thank you for this amazing work. The children have been very creative about their safe place.’

’We enjoyed and had a lovely time with our kids. Dance part was amazing and emotional. Writing our safe words on the sofa was brilliant. Daniel really enjoyed the drawing part. Thank you so much for making this great opportunity for us.’

’Always really nice to come and see the children in school and all their hard work. They love sharing it with us and every year that fortnight is a safe space for them to share and consider their emotions.’

’Very interesting to see what children have been doing over the last two weeks. It is amazing to see how engaged they have been and how they really enjoy it.’

’The afternoon was lovely. It was great to see and understand what the children have been learning over the past two weeks. It has been great to spend time with my daughter in each of the areas.’

’Very well put together. Dance was very moving. Good 20 minute activities. Lovely to see all the children’s work.’

Below is the artwork created in response to being present. Thank you.

Last month, a live brief for ‘Room 17’ (a space to create, make, invent, inspire, be entrepreneurial, use and share skills) was shared with Leeds Beckett Graphic design and illustration students. To evolve a strong brand for Room 17 and get it known and embedded in the local area is the remit. During their Arts Fortnight, 3A have also been involved in this remit. Utilising the PowerPoint presentation used at the live brief in the studio by Andy Edwards (retired lecturer at Leeds Beckett and still a graphic designer) they have embraced graphic design and explored logos, strap lines and branding. Through dance they have also explored what it means to be part of a community and to understand that they could be someone special.

To think about and record in their sketchbooks what inspires them as an individual provided the material for their paintings.

Together, we learnt how to create a self-portrait. It was really important that we looked at ourselves and so mirrors were to hand. Sketching lightly we drew the shape of our face. 3A discovered that their eyes are halfway down their face, the ear starts around where their eyes are and finish in line with the nostrils. Lips end where the iris is. Eyebrows lead into the nose. We then added hair.

Having grappled with the proportions, we then looked at skin tints and tones. We discovered so many colours. We created our own swatch of colours that we needed to use before applying the watercolour.

The A4 self-portraits were then enlarged on the photocopier to A3. These would be the heads from which our inspirations ‘escaped’ for all to see. Like our self-portraits, we needed to enlarge our inspirations.

Once our composition was complete, we added our background colour of red, blue, yellow or green. This was to share our house team- Sunningdale, Wentworth, Birkdale or Turnberry. We then continued using acrylic paint to bring our inspirations to life. I was so impressed with 3A’s brush control, concentration and perseverance.

In order to make the inspirations ‘pop’ we then added oil pastel and felt tip.

The end results were definitely inspirational.

Our last challenge in the studio was to create our own initial(s) using cardboard, corrugated card and masking tape. In sketchbooks we drew a large capital letter of our name using bubble writing. We then traced this letter onto another sheet of paper so that we could cut it out and make a template. This template we placed on cardboard, drew round and then cut out.

Because we wanted to add sides to our letters, we needed to find the perimeter. Therefore, we used wool to go around the outline of our letter shape. This gave us the correct length of the corrugated cardboard required. We then decided on the depth of the edge and adjusted accordingly. Then came the tricky part- attaching the edge to the letter. Dexterity of fingers as well as collaboration and perseverance was required in attaching with masking tape.

On completion there was definite pride.

Friday’s celebration was very special. Thank you to parents and grandparents, interested adults and Harleen, Ayesha and Charlie (role models) for being the audience as 3A performed their powerful dance and then accompanied them to the cafe, classroom and art studio to share in their learning.

The following comments share how special the afternoon was:

’Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high, still I’ll rise.’

To understand who we are and learn to love ourselves is tricky. 4A’s time in the art studio has been a gentle invitation to pause, take a deep breath, and explore our individual hopes and fears.
To appreciate our uniqueness, commenced with really looking at ourselves in creating our self portraits. There were challenges in the process. Working lightly, 4A discovered their eyes are halfway down their face, the ear starts around where their eyes are and finish in line with the nostrils. Lips end where the iris in the eye is. Eyebrows lead into the nose. We then added hair.

We then used watercolour to block in the many tints and tones of our face and hair. The results are impressive.

To be ‘free’ to be ourselves, to know ourselves and love ourselves is definitely a process. Together, we reflected on where we felt free to be ourselves. Who made us feel strong and courageous? Where did we experience a peace and joy in being ourselves? What and who inspired us?
A bird- not caged- but free became a way of representing our hopes and an attempt to capture what makes us feel free. Our own drawn bird outlines, once cut out became the template we used to draw around onto cardboard. As our expressions and body language show, perseverance was required!

It was important that our drawings were simple, as we would be ‘colouring in’ with acrylic paints. We recognised the importance of brush choice, selecting a thick brush for backgrounds and a fine brush for detail and where control was required.

Our cardboard bird – representing our hopes, dreams and what it means to be free- was then used as a template for our t-shirt design. These t-shirts would be worn for Friday’s celebration and dance performance. Consideration as to where to place the bird was encouraged before outlining in pencil. The design was then pencilled on.

We used fabric paints on our t-shirts, blocking the colours and applying our colour mixing knowledge to make secondary colours. Paint marker was used for the writing.

An opportunity to use collage and their imaginations resulted in some glorious compositions where colour and words, backgrounds and drawings expressed their hopes, dreams, peace and joy in being themselves.

In response to the questions ‘What have you enjoyed most about Arts Fortnight? What have you learnt about yourself? What are you proud of? 4A shared:

In the studio, we explored our uniqueness through really looking at ourselves in creating our self portraits and then applying the ‘rules’ to create a collage version of our wonderful selves.

It was important that we really looked at ourselves. Therefore on our iPads we took a selfie! We used this photograph for continued reference. Throughout we worked lightly. 4C discovered their eyes are halfway down their face, the ear starts around where their eyes are and finish in line with the nostrils. Lips end where the iris in the eye is. Eyebrows lead into the nose. We then added our hair.

Once confident in proportions we moved from sugar paper to cartridge paper. This was to have a go at adding skin tones using watercolour. The results are so impressive and showcase 4C’s skill in building up and blocking in the many tints and tones of their face and hair colour.

To create the collage element of their other self portrait, 4C enjoyed monoprinting, collograph printing and press printing. The results were unpredictable and impressive!

In order to capture the outline of our head and hair for the collage portraits, we placed a piece of paper over our watercolour self-portrait and traced. This outline was then transferred onto card by pressing heavily over the traced ‘head’ and creating an imprint. We then went over this with pencil. The ‘paper’ we then cut to create templates.

The next stage was imaginative, creative and fun. 4C created themselves by placing their hair/face templates over their prints, drawing around the template and then cutting out. Once happy with the position, the pieces were glued down.

Using acrylics, 4C then painted their backgrounds. It was important that a thin brush with a steady hand was used to outline the ‘portraits’.

Once the backgrounds were painted, lettering from newspapers and magazines were found and cut out to make the words and phrases that captured themselves and their personality.
This required patience. 4C then had to consider how to arrange the lettering so that it worked as a composition.

The results are impressive, colourful and showcase their printmaking.Miss Cuthill created her own collage self-portrait. What words and phrases describe her personality?

It was a privilege to share 4C’s creativity with parents and interested adults at Friday’s Art Celebration. There was drama, song, dance and an opportunity to walk the studio and have a go at press printing.

In response to the questions ‘What have you enjoyed most about Arts Fortnight?What have you learnt about yourself? What are you proud of? pupils in 4C shared…

What a privilege it has been to work alongside 4H and Mrs Housam. Together, we have looked at ‘Invisible Things’- our feelings and emotions. We have appreciated that we experience a variety of feelings and emotions and sometimes in quick succession. Questions such as ‘What do you love the most about yourself?’ ‘Who makes you feel loved?’ ‘How do you make other people feel loved?’ have made us pause, think and reflect.

Gratitude, vibes, worries, fears, having guts, getting the giggles, experiencing joy and having hope as well as being introduced to the ‘heebie jeebies’ are just some of the many feelings that we now recognise make up our unique weird and wonderful selves. We loved creating them in clay!

We built on our knowledge of clay from Year 3. Remembering how malleable, sticky and cold it is, how we could pinch, stretch, cut and roll it and how it keeps its form. Because it is sticky prior to drying out, it was difficult to remember the importance of cross hatching, applying slip and then joining the clay together with fingers or a tool when attaching clay to clay.

Once dry, we painted our clay sculptures using acrylic paint. Focus, dexterity and patience was required in abundance. The transformations were incredible.

During 4H’s time in the studio, they also painted two self-portraits. One was a study of themselves using watercolour, the other in acrylic created in the style of the illustrator Andy J Pizza.

It was important that we really looked at ourselves. Therefore on our iPads we took a selfie! We used this photograph for continued reference. Throughout we worked lightly. 4H discovered their eyes are halfway down their face, the ear starts around where their eyes are and finish in line with the nostrils. Lips end where the iris in the eye is. Eyebrows lead into the nose. We then added our hair.

Having grappled with the proportions we looked at the darker and lighter areas of our face and then moved onto cartridge paper. Prior to applying the watercolour, we looked carefully at our skin and hair tones- we discovered so many colours.We created our own swatch of colours that we needed to use.

We then applied watercolour to our self-portraits. We started lightly and worked in blocks of colour. The results are wonderful.

Now for the ‘cartoon’ like self-portraits. We placed a piece of white paper over our watercolour self-portrait, traced the shape of our face and then added the simplified mouth, nose and eyes all in the style of Andy J Pizza. We placed the simplified portrait over a piece of card and then traced over again but this time with a pen. A lot of pressure was applied in order to leave an imprint. With a pencil we went over the indentation.

Our ‘incredible feelings’ were then added in pencil. Using acrylics, we then painted. Finally, words/phrases from the lyrics of ‘Hounds of Love’ and feelings important to ourselves were then added.The results are inspired.

It was a privilege to share 4H’s creativity with parents and interested adults at Friday’s Art Celebration. There was song, dance, Kennings, an opportunity to walk the studio and appreciate the self-portraits and clay installation as well as create a ‘mini morph’.

In groups, 2H worked collaboratively on drawing Leeds over the years. Using a variety of drawing materials they started by illustrating the River Aire, then the surrounding fields and built up their pictures so that factories, markets, Leeds Minster, Leeds Bridge, important streets such as Briggate and Boar Lane as well as more and more and more housing was depicted. Their focus was wonderful to see and their final pieces impressive.

Our fine motor skills were definitely tested when cutting out the letters of important historical Leeds landmarks. During Friday’s celebration, the stippling technique was used with the stencils. The results were great.

During the fortnight, 2H drew inspiration from John Atkinson Grimshaw’s painting of ‘Boar Lane.’ We noticed the Victorian Lamp posts, arched window with lots of panes of glass, as well as the tobacco sign and cobbled streets. We looked at his use of colour- mostly warm colours- and learnt that he liked to paint nocturnal urban landscapes.

Using clay, we then created slabs with some of these features added. We now know that to attach pieces of clay to the slab, we need to cross hatch and add slip (clay and water.) We also saw how clay changes from being cold, soft, sticky and malleable to hard and fragile once dry. We then mixed our own mixed warm colours to resemble those of John Atkinson Grimshaw’s.

Once again, the dance choreographed by Miss Patchett was performed brilliantly on the day (three times!) The class worked so hard and once again demonstrated good collaboration and skill. The sports important to Leeds were celebrated- rugby and football- as well as netball.

Thank you to the parents and interested adults of 2H who were able to attend Friday’s celebration. Your presence, participation and time was really appreciated. The children love an audience and delight in sharing their successes and challenges in their learning with you. Your comments were truly precious!

‘We had such a lovely time today. Was so nice to come and see the classroom, library and art studio. Thank you to all of you for all your effort. Was nice to interact with everybody. The performance by kids was amazing! I’m so proud. Lovely school. Thank you.’

’Lovely to see the dance in the hall. Very well choreographed and fab to see the pupils smiling. As ever, the art studio is a pleasure to see in action- such a brilliant facility. You’ve really nailed the city of Leeds theme. I’ve even learnt a few new things. Thanks for organising a lovely afternoon. Well done all staff and pupils, as always we’ve felt very welcome.(Millie’s mum)

’It was lovely to see all the work the children have done. I really liked the clay arched window. The dance was brilliant all three times!’

’I have really enjoyed the Arts showcase today. I can tell a lot of work has gone into this fortnight and my daughter has really enjoyed it. Watching them perform their dance and then participating with them create some art was lovely. I am grateful for the opportunity- thank you. I would not change anything! Given a chance, I think my daughter would prefer to do this twice a year or more! Thanks once again.’ (Amy Taylor. )

‘Thank you Mrs Johnston. Luca loves art class and his time in here with you. It’s fantastic to see the great work you do in here with him.’

’Thank you for all the work you do with Felicity Rose. She loves art. Thank you for a brilliant afternoon.’