textiles issue - The National Society for Education in Art and Design

NewsNews/EditorialSTARTNewsInspiring LearningEducation EveningTurner Contemporary Project Space,MargateMonday 27 April, 5–7pmTeachers, youth workers, communitygroup leaders, lecturers, tutors and artistsinterested in education are invited toexplore the exhibition Sound of Music withtheir peers, try out resources and developideas for related projects. It will be led byAudience Development Officer Karen Esleaand Helen Caddick, a composer who haswritten for theatre, film and a number ofbands, including Shack and My Life Story.Helen currently teaches music atGoldsmiths College, University of London,and works with a number of primaryschools in Kent. Booking is essential.Please call 01843 280261 or emailinfo@turnercontemporary.org.Mosaic competitionThe first MEGA MOSAIC-MAKERScompetition, searching for the mostexciting primary school mosaic work in theUK, was held in 2008. Entries for this year’scompetition will be welcomed in theautumn and entry forms will be available onthe BAMM (British Association of ModernMosaic) website from October 2009. Anyprimary school in the UK can enter; eachmosaic can only be entered once. Thecompetition is sponsored by Topps Tiles.To read more about the competition or todownload an entry form, visitwww.bamm.org.uk.Free Animals AsiaEducation Resource packDo your pupils love animals? Would youappreciate a lesson plan on global animalwelfare issues already sorted? Would yourschool like to set up links with Chineseschools? If the answer to any of thesequestions is Yes, then the brand newAnimals Asia Education Initiative is for you.And it’s FREE!Throughout Asia, many animals areexploited, abused and neglected. TheAnimals Asia Foundation, founded by JillRobinson MBE in 1998, is dedicated toending cruelty and restoring respect for allanimals across the region. Theorganisation has just launched aneducation initiative with UK schools tooffer a close, ongoing relationshipdesigned to provide pupils with a uniqueinsight into animal welfare issues in Asia.The focus is on Animals Asia’s mainproject, the Moon Bear Rescue, whichaims to rescue suffering and endangeredAsiatic black bears (nicknamed ‘moonbears’ because of the crescent of goldenfur across their chests) and place them insanctuaries.The Animals Asia education pack is aimedat children between the ages of 8 and 13.In full colour, it contains information,quizzes, fact sheets, a PowerPointpresentation and details about links thatcan be set up with Chinese schools. Thereare art, writing or music competitions, andspeakers are available to visit schools andgive illustrated, fun presentations to pupils.Schools can also undertake fundraisingprojects to support this vital work orbefriend a bear!For further information or to obtain a freepack, please contact Nicky Vyvyan-Robinson on 07778 313250 or atnvyvyanrobinson@animalsasia.org.The Muscular DystrophyCampaign YoungPavement Artist’sCompetitionThis is the first major art-based initiative toexplore the relationship between using thepavement as a canvas and chalk as themedium. This year, the environmental andconservation theme is EndangeredSpecies.Natural history and wildlife presenterSteve Backshall, who is among thecelebrities backing the event, said:‘Pavement paintings that wash away withthe rain are the perfect way to representthe endangered species of the world.The survival of some of the world’s mostcharismatic creatures is just as fragile asthese images.’Open to anyone up to and including the ageof 19, the competition will have winners ineach of five age categories, with one overallwinner taking the prestigious title of YoungPavement Artist of the Year. The age groupsare 4–5; 5–6; 7–11; 11–14 and 14–19 years.The national winner will win the chance todiscover and to see grey whale migrationalong the Canadian coast, courtesy ofEarthwatch. Their chalk drawing will beexclusively produced as a poster anddistributed with National Geographic KidsMagazine.For full competition details, visit www.muscular-dystrophy.org/pavementart.Children’s Art Day9 July 2009Register now to take part inChildren’s Art Day 2009Children’s Art Day is anational programmeencouraging children,young people, familiesand teachers to engagewith visual art. It takesplace during Shine week – a nationalfestival celebrating talent in all youngpeople – which on Thursday 9 July willfocus on the visual arts.All visual arts venues, schools and youthand community organisations are invitedto take part. The first 150 venuesregistering events will receive a grant of£50 as seed funding for an event, whichcan be claimed after the event, onsubmission of a brief report. Allparticipating venues will receive balloonsand stickers with Children’s Art Daybranding, and will be offered support toattract media coverage for their events.For further information, please contactLaura Cherry at laura.cherry@engage.org, or on 020 7729 5858. To sign up tojoin Shine 2009 and start adding yourwork to the virtual ‘wall of talent’, pleasevisit www.shineweek.co.uk. To registerfor Children’s Art Day, go towww.engage.org.From the EditorI recently met a student I had taught in aYear 5 class, now doing her art GCSE.How exciting it was to see where she wasgoing and how she had developed, and tohear that she had won a coveted artscholarship for sixth form! She asked howI knew that at age 10, she had a talent. Atthat time, she had little self-confidenceand was very shy, but that was not what Iwas seeing before me now! With theschool year fast approaching its climax,this may be a good time to stop andreflect on the impact you have had thisacademic year: you will no doubt haveinspired many young artists in yourschool.In this issue of START, our inspirationcomes from textiles. A question that I amoften asked about textiles is – is it designtechnology or is it art? I would argue thatit is very cross-curricular in its nature, soyou could say both and more besides. Inthis issue we look at a wide range oftechniques that can be explored in theprimary classroom, including decorativeIndian textiles, silk painting and abstractcollage.Also in this issue: I was very lucky to havethe opportunity to interview the artist duoOlly & Suzi and to share some of their ideasfor collaborative art in the classroom,while members of the Readers’ panel havebeen busy reviewing a wide range ofbooks and materials.Free Janome Mystyle 22sewing machine worth£239……plus 200 universal needles worth£29.98 (100 x size 70, 100 x size 90),and 50 reels of guterman 1000m threadin assorted colours worth £97.45. Thissewing machine is perfect for use insecondary or primary schools fortextiles. It’s hard-wearing, easy toservice, robust and fit for purpose inan educational environment.All you have to do is join or re-join theReaders’ panel and email the editorWe are very grateful to Heart EducationalSupplies for providing exciting and inspiringtextile materials and some of the books forreview. If you would like to be involved inreviewing books or materials for futureissues, please do get in touch by email.Looking ahead: the START summer school2008 has been inspirational to many of ourreaders, and on page 29 you can read allabout out why you should think aboutsigning up this year.Things are going to change – well so theytell us. The Primary Review is reportingback as we speak; we will try to cover theissues in art and design education infuture editions of START. In the meantime,if you want to share your thoughts on thistopic, please do get in touch.The next issue has a ‘sculpture’ focus,while future themes include ‘design’,‘history’, ‘maths’ and ‘printmaking’.Please get in touch if you would like toshare a project, a resource or an idea.Michèle KittoEditormichelekitto@nsead.orgexplaining why your school should winthis sewing machine package, by 25 May.Kindly donated by Heart EducationalSupplies as they launch their new200-page catalogue.www.heart-educational.co.ukSTART THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGNSTART THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN