Arts Workshop

An Arts Workshop for year five and six pupils where teams of ten pupils worked collaboratively on a group piece of art based around cells.

Aims

The aim of this workshop was to encourage collaboarative creations where stronger artsits could support less able artists by creating a piece of art together and learning through teamwork and support everyone can tkae part in art. Teachers attending this event felt that the skills learnt by their attendees would enable them to futerh support and helpartists back at school.

Background

We have run this type of event previously over the past three years and recognised that primary schools do not usually have full art facilities and to be able to share our art department and offer our Teachers' expertise would benefit our partner schools and their pupils.

Resources

It was critical for our art teachers to be availabe to facilitate the morning's workshop by demonstrating and supporting the visiting pupils. We used two of the departments large studios so that the groups could spread out and work on their 1.5m cardboard circles. In addition to our teaching staff, our Outreach Co-ordinator and art technician were on hand to support the event. The financial contribution for the event was £111.

Impact

All teachers attending our Partnership events are asked to complete a feed back form, some of the comments received for this event are as follows

'By working on the large canvasas they felt a sense of freedom and ease to create'

'The activities conform with the primary art curriculum whislt being fun and new, allowing the young children to perform art with less scaffolding.'

'Our pupils came out of the workshop appreciating that art isn't just for those who are good at drawing and there is no right or wrong way to approach art'

Pupil Involvement

RGSW A Level Art pupils supported the event and the 60 visiting pupils were all in Years five and six and a mixture of boys and girls.

Frequency

Due to its success and benefits to our state school partners, our arts workshops are now run once or twice a year. Although it is likely that there will be different schools attending each time, we would hope to continue partnerships with the three schools in attendance at this event.