Art Club with Wordsworth Primary School, Southampton

An Art Club whereby an Art teacher from KES (alongside students from Y10, 12 and 13) leads a six week course of Art sessions with a group of Gifted and Talented artists from a local primary school. The sessions are designed to be linked in with the primary school curriculum, based around the term's main topic.  The projects are designed so that students and teachers can take back ideas to share with the rest of their class to create pieces of art by the whole year group as well.

Aims

The aim of the project is to allow primary schools to benefit from the resources, facilities, and teaching experience available at KES and to inspire them to attain highly in Art.  The school has also used the club as a means for students with EAL to engage with their peers in a friendly environment to help to develop their confidence.

Background

This partnership project was established in the Summer term 2015 and has therefore been running for seven months.  This school became a partnership school as a result of a personal contact with a member of staff.  Partnership opportunities were then discussed and an Art club was identified as something that could be of immediate positive benefit to the primary school students, giving them an experience they might struggle to access in school. As a result of its success in the first term, the project has been expanded to run in both the Autumn and Spring terms with different groups to widen access.

Resources

The key resource for this project is the Art teacher that runs the group and the knowledge, experience and enthusiasm she brings.  Art equipment is also provided, which is the only cost element.  Last term the project used school facilities, although the club has temporarily been relocated into the primary school due to redevelopment of school facilities.  The club runs for an hour a week for a six week block.

Impact

Qualitative assessment is collected from the Head of Year and Art teacher at Wordsworth.  They report on the efficacy of the project, and last year reported that the project was extremely well received and other students had benefited as well, beyond those attending the club.

Pupil Involvement

The students are in Y6 at Wordsworth, and around 12 attend each session.  They are of mixed gender.

Frequency

This activity runs for one term a year in six week blocks.  There is no plan to discontinue the club.