REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2007-2008 - Pershore High School

Art and DesignReport by David Reid, Head of DepartmentFollowing an inspirational trip to Barcelona at the end of the summer term the staff in the Art and Designdepartment returned to Pershore fresh and excited about introducing the works of new artists to thestudents. The visit of 25 Year 11 and 12 youngsters exposed them to a diverse range of art andarchitecture which was recorded in their sketchbooks. The staff and students did drawings and visualresponses to Gaudi, Miro, Dali and Picasso, among others.Mr Reid's sketchbook Mr Turfrey's sketchbook Miss Keen's sketchbookAfter spending the day in museums and galleries the students explored the city and its labyrinth ofstreets littered with street performers and aspiring artists. One night the group ventured up themountain to the infamous Tibidabo fairground. The co-existence of the fairground and the stunningmonastery side by side overlooking the city was the perfect illustration of the city's peculiar sense of funand strong Catholic roots. The trip enabled the students to make a strong start to their coursework andstrengthened their portfolios for Art College applications. A return to Barcelona is scheduled for July2009 and we hope to exhibit the work from this trip in the following September.Students at work Tibidabo church Tibidabo carnival performanceThis academic year has seen the continuation of the GCSE short course for committed andenthusiastic Year 9 Art students. The department was conscious that students going from two lessonsa week in Year 8 down to one in Year 9 may have a stagnating effect on pupil progress and decided tooffer an after school session once a week, targeting talented Year 9 artists. The workshops carriedout provided students with an opportunity to experience aspects of art that are traditionally impracticalwith entire year groups, such as woodcuts, plaster casting and multi-media painting. The work thathas emerged from this course inspired by Anselm Kiefer has been exciting and will be exhibited lateron in the year as part of the school Arts Festival.Year 9 Landscape work in multi-media by Daniel WilcoxDaniel Wilcox's landscapes were oneof a number of pieces of work thatwere selected for the tenth Voicesand Visions Exhibition at WorcesterCathedral. We have continued to tryand establish Pershore High School'sgrowing reputation for producingexciting and contemporary creativework, within Worcestershire and ourneighbouring counties. The work ofour innovative and talented students