Rivers, Sausages and Electricity
Year 5 and 6
Year 5 and 6 took part in a school trip organised by Winchester College this week to explore their nature reserve and learn more about life in our local rivers. Activities included: lighting their own campfire, cooking sausages over the fire, learning how the chalk base of the river affects the purity of the water and identifying some of the many creatures that live in our local rivers.
The weather held out for all groups and everyone had a fantastic time. Some of the comments after the trip included:
“I loved that we were able to see dragonfly up close.”
“I never realised there were so many different animals living in the rivers and that fly larvae could look so different form each other.”
“The walks were beautiful and the sausages were delicious!”
Thanks go to Winchester College for allowing us into their nature reserve and leading the tasks and for Mrs Horkan for organising the trip.
Year 3 and 4
This week, Year 3 and 4 have been learning about electrical circuits. They explored the components of circuits and used this knowledge to look at images of circuits and predict if they would work or not. The children used a variety of bulbs, buzzers and motors to check their predictions. What a lot of bright sparks!
Year 1 and 2
We began to look at the artist Andy Goldsworthy this week in year 1/2. We researched him using the chrome books, drawing his sculptures and making notes about his life. Then we had a go at creating Andy Goldsworthy inspired art using natural objects we found in our outside area.
Deep Sea Diving in Art
We learnt how to use tint to create a realistic sea background and then used collage to add to the picture. We also used a tool on Purple Mash called Mashcam to turn ourselves into deep sea divers and added this to our art work.
An irresistible curriculum this half term - volcanos, de Vinci and dens!
Our curriculum work has also been largely unaffected and children have achieved some fantastic outcomes. Some of the highlights include: Building a river on the school field, creating exploding volcanoes and puppet making. Inspired by the Year 6 visit to Stubbington, children in Oak and Elm class have been building dens.
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Making use of our grounds and exploring art
The children in school looked at Andy Goldsworthy's work and then created their own artworks inspired by his sculptures using natural materials they found in our grounds. They set up an open air museum and presented their creations. We think they are really wonderful.
Birch art work inspired by Kurt Jackson
Art work inspired by Kurt Jackson whose paintings reflect a concern with environmental issues and ecology.
Children used words associated with plastic waste, contaminating the worlds oceans, to spread the message that we need to think carefully about how our actions damage the natural environment. The children researched and then wrote persuasive posters to highlight the issue of plastic waste and suggested alternatives to ensure that the oceans are kept clean.
The Lost Words - an art project
As a school, we have been redesigning and improving our curriculum. It is an important part of ensuring the education that we are providing for our children is interesting and relevant, as well as meeting the National Curriculum objectives and showing progress in terms of the skills that children are learning and using.
Jayne Stillman, County Inspector/Adviser for Visual Arts came to meet with myself (Curriculum Lead), Sharon Taylor (Headteacher) Liz Jones (Art Lead) and Becky Stanley (PPA Teacher) and we started to design an art week. All of this proposed work hinged on the text The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. We used the book as our inspiration and then thought about the skills and experiences of our children in order to bring this book to life through various different mediums. All of the children learned five facts about the artist Jackie Morris and enjoyed the book, before developing their ideas for their artistic specialism.
Shortly after this initial meeting, Jayne Stillman came back to school to meet with us as a whole staff, to deliver a twilight training session. It was interactive and inspiring. It made sure that all of us knew how the subject of art worked and how to develop our own skills appropriate to what we are teaching. We established that during art week we wanted to cover all of the skills (drawing, painting, collage, printing, sculpture, textiles, art and ICT). We also wanted to make sure that our children were learning about artists and the visual elements (colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space).
During art week there was a real buzz around the school. The children were enjoying all of the hands-on experience and that they got to see an artistic project through from beginning to end. Teachers enjoyed displaying the artwork that their classes were producing and it was a real pleasure to wander around the school and see this in action.
Year R
Early Years focused on insects. Their high- quality outcome was a piece of collaborative art – a giant collaged caterpillar! All of the children joined in with the work, and it is still on display now! A real memory for them to treasure.
Year 1
In Year 1, their focus was on leaves. They completed sewing as well as observational drawings involving chalk and charcoal to show the difference in tone.
Year 2
In Year 2 the children completed 3D sculptures of flowers using pipe cleaners and natural resources. They also made observational drawings and then used different media to paint their sketches; the children used oil pastels and watercolours to do this.
Year 3
Year 3 enjoyed their theme of birds. They also completed a large-scale collaborative piece of art involving zen-doodling, inspired by the artist Johanna Blasford.
Year 4
Year 4 made small 3D sculptures of trees from wire. This developed their fine motor skills and attention to detail that is required in both observational drawings and then creating sculptures using those sketches.
Year 5
Year 5 used watercolours to create landscapes involving their theme of water, and they also made small fish sculptures out of clay. They explored the elements of pattern, texture, line and shape in order to make this successful.
Year 6
Year 6 used elements of collage and painting to create a mixed media piece on their theme of hedgerows. They were also lucky enough tohave a visit from a local artist who discussed how their patterns and artistic designs could then be transformed into actual items for sale. This related the children’s artistic knowledge and experience to the real world around them.
Our end goal was to create high-quality art that could go on display during Stanmore’s 90th birthday celebrations! The artwork that was on display set the scene for our celebrations. They have also helped to create high-quality and interesting displays for our school moving forwards.
Jayne helped us to outline a really positive week for our staff and children and helped us to develop our own skills and knowledge in relation to the art curriculum. Which in turn has helped us to demand high expectations of all children in all areas of the curriculum.
Claire Evers
Curriculum Lead Stanmore Primary School
Elm enter Birds in Flight competition
After being awarded a 3rd prize place last year, in the Birds in Flight competition, Elm class have been invited to partake in the competition again! ( No pressure!)
The competition is run by The Cameron Bespolka Trust - a trust that was set up in memory of a former pupil at pilgrims' School. The competition is a superb opportunity to encourage children to be curious about nature, observe wildlife and explore their art skills.
As a class, we decided that we would like to observe and draw garden birds. Using white card, charcoal and dark pencils we created silver-birch like tree branches, ready for our birds to perch on. With water colours, black ink and crayons, we painted several pieces of paper and waited for them to dry. Once dry, we then cut out simple shapes which we could layer up to make our birds.
The competition closes on the 28th February! Wish us all luck!
Elm exploring art with chalk and debating criminality
This week in Elm class, we were inspired by Charles Keeping who was an artist that illustrated the Highwayman Poem. To create our own drawings we had to produce two versions: the first one we completed with pencil and the other with chalk. By drawing on black paper with chalk we created images which fitted well with the end of the poem where Bess and the Highwayman become ghostly figures.
In English this week, we have been questioning this statement: The Highwayman was a criminal. Our brilliant ideas led to us planning and taking part in a debate. During the debate everyone had a say. We used evidence from the text to back up our ideas, thoughts and opinions. It was very exciting!
Written by Manas and Lily-Sue