Star - The National Society for Education in Art and Design

ST
Transforming,
enhancing and
changing school
spaces ediTion
ART
THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
• murals – inside and outside
• mosaics
• collaborative textiles
• hospital spaces
Plus
• stamp-printing
• early years – forest school
part ii
• icT beyond the primary years
• learning outside the box
• Tudor houses
NSEAD The Gatehouse, Corsham Court, Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 0BZ
T: 01249 714825 F: 01249 716138 www.nsead.org ISSN 1479-0459
Number 28, 2008 £7.50

START
Number 28, 2008
Contents
Cover image: Changing spaces
Please note: While every effort is made to check websites mentioned in START, some
may contain images unsuitable for young children. Please check any references
prior to use in the classroom. Please note that the username to access units of
work on the NSEAD website has changed to ‘gilbert’ and the password to ‘george’.
See back page for further details.
Copyright ©2008 NSEAD. All rights reserved. With the exception of fair dealing for the
purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in
writing from the copyright holder. Subscribers to START may make photocopies for teaching
purposes free of charge provided such copies are not resold. Authors’ views in this publication
are not necessarily those of the NSEAD.
Editor: Michele Kitto, michelekitto@nsead.org
Design: SteersMcGillan Design Ltd: 01225 465546 www.steersmcgillan.co.uk
Advertising Sales: johnsteers@nsead.org
Publisher: National Society for Education in Art & Design, The Gatehouse, Corsham Court,
Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 0BZ T: 01249 714825 F: 01249 716138 www.nsead.org
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
Page 2
Start news
Page 3
Editorial
Page 4
Gallery round-up
Page 6
Hands-on in the classroom –
Tudor houses
Page 8
Transforming spaces –
Oxfordshire Hospital School
Page 10
Early Years Part 2 – Trees –
aren’t they just brilliant!
Page 12
Enhancing spaces – Murals
Page 14
Group-work feature – Shoal!
Page 15
Mini poster – Mosaics are fun!
Page 19
Early Years – Stamp design
Page 22
Community arts –
Changing:spaces
Page 24
After-school club – Learning
inside the box
Page 26
ICT – Beyond primary:
A snapshot of digital art
in the future
Page 28
Enhancing local spaces –
community art and textiles
Page 31
Readers’ panel review
Poster – The story of Katie
Page 31
Glass painting
Page 6
Hands-on
Tudor Houses
Page 8
Transformimg spaces
Page 16
MINI POSTER – Mosaics are fun
Page 26
ICT – Beyond primary
1
Contents

2
News
START news
The SPoon RAce
conTinueS To inSPiRe
After noticing the ‘spoon race’ and
‘yoghurt pot me’s’ in recent editions, The
Croft Preparatory School decided to
produce almost 500 ‘lollipop’ people. The
children and staff made themselves in
honour of the school’s 75th anniversary.
The children loved searching for each
other, and the staff revealed unknown
talents in creating ‘lollipop’ images of
themselves. The whole display made a
wonderful centrepiece for our
celebrations.
Lyndall Thornton,
The Croft Preparatory School
engAge cYmRu –
FoundATion PhASe RePoRT
In March 2008, engage Cymru ran a
conference at Aberystywth Arts Centre,
which brought together galleries, artists,
Foundation Phase advisors and teachers.
A conference report for those interested is
available on the website
www.engage.org/projects/foundation_
phase.aspx
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
megA moSAic
mAKeRS
BAMM and Topps Tiles are running their
first ever mosaic competition. It is open
to every primary school, for any mosaic
completed in the last three years, by
children in Year 6 and below. A category
is also available for individual children
who have done pieces of work on their
own – through school, after-school club
or any mosaic course. Entries must be
submitted by a teacher or course leader.
Application forms will be available from
the BAMM website; entries should be
received by the end of October 2008.
Prizes range from generous vouchers to
be redeemed against mosaic materials at
Topps Tiles, to mosaic books. There will
also be £50 vouchers for Topps Tiles for
all schools who are shortlisted. Queries
to toppsmosaic@mac.com
or contact Anne Cardwell on 01799
501137. www.bamm.org.uk
The LeonARdo eFFecT
– ART And Science
WoRKing TogeTheR
‘Everyone’s art got better ‘cos we don’t
normally do it … and made science more
interesting – big time!’
A new form of interdisciplinary teaching
called the Leonardo Effect is raising the
profile of art education in children’s learning,
as a result of the radical results obtained
from a nationwide pilot funded by NESTA.
About 1,500 primary school children in
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales took
part in the recent pilot devised by lecturers
at St. Mary’s University College, Belfast. A
teacher in Glasgow reported: ‘It blew my
expectations out of the water.’
The goal was to synchronise art and
science teaching through the use of joint
learning outcomes, where neither subject
played a secondary role. It resulted in
enthusiastic children working creatively,
independently and exceeding teachers’
expectations, not only in respect of art and
science but more surprisingly in literacy as
well. ‘Literacy went through the roof,’ said a
teacher in Belfast. The next issue of START
will include a report on the Leonardo Effect
pilot. For more information please email:
info@leonardoeffect.com or
www.leonardoeffect.com
If you have been involved
and would like to share your
experiences please contact
the editor.
LAunch oF SighTSAveRS
JunioR PAinTeR oF The
YeAR AWARdS 2008
For the third year running, UK primary
schools are being invited to enter the
Junior Painter of the Year Awards, run
by leading blindness charity Sightsavers
International.
The Awards, in partnership with the
Royal Academy Schools, are an artistic
celebration of the gift of sight, and
challenge children aged 4 to 11 to pick up
a paintbrush and use their imagination.
The Awards will also help pupils to reflect
on the importance of sight, and what it
might mean not to have it.
Sightsavers works in over 30 countries
across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, to
cure and prevent blindness and to improve
life for those who are irreversibly blind.
There are 45 million blind people in the
world, yet 75% of all blindness can be
prevented or cured.
Three winners, one from each category
(4–7 years, 8–9 years and 10–11 years), will
be selected from a list of regional winners.
They will then enjoy a fun-packed day out
in London with their teacher and attend an
awards ceremony at the Royal Academy of
Arts, where their painting will be the
central focus of an exhibition showcasing
the best paintings from the competition. In
addition, the winners’ schools will receive
a visit from an experienced artist who will
give a teaching session for aspiring young
painters.
Almost 10,000 entries for the Awards
were received last year. Schools
interested in participating in the Awards
this year can find more information at
www.sightsavers.org/schools or by
contacting the Sightsavers schools team
on 01444 446727 for a free
Awards pack. Entries must
be submitted by 12
September 2008.
From the
editor
With the summer holidays fast
approaching, we take this opportunity to
showcase a wide range of ways of
enhancing, improving and transforming
spaces within your school environment.
I am always amazed by the innovative
concepts that artists and teachers devise
to transform their environments into
settings where stimulating learning
experiences can take place. Projects
profiled in this issue range from a
stairwell, hospital corridors and wards,
to an old school garage and a local church!
These areas are transformed through
digital art, mosaics, murals and textiles.
I hope you to will be inspired to let your
pupils loose on an unexplored area of
your school and transform it into a
magical space.
We strive to find exciting projects to
profile in the magazine and in this issue
we cover stamp designs, Tudor houses,
boxes, and learning in the outdoors,
forest school style. The mini poster
profiles mosaics created with primary
children, while the main poster lets us
explore the work of author and illustrator
James Mayhew, through his character,
Katie, who has wonderful adventures
in art galleries.
We are usually aware of what pupils
experience in the pre-primary years, but it
is also important to find out what we are
preparing them for in secondary school.
In this issue we have an inspirational
article giving us an insight into the exciting
adventures that an interest in digital art
3
News/Editorial
explored in primary school can lead to
in later years.
In England, the new Early Years
Foundation Stage curriculum comes into
force in September. However, there is a
concern that this has the potential to stifle
creativity if followed to the letter. In the
next issue, we hope to address and
explore your ideas, views and ways round
and through it. We are also interested to
hear how the Early Years curriculum has
inspired creativity in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. To add your voice and
ideas to the current debate, please
e-mail me at the address below.
You can also look at the current debate:
www.savechildhood.org
I hope that over the summer you will get
the opportunity to recharge your batteries,
visit museums, galleries and exhibitions
for possible project ideas, or just update
your interests. On that note, I look forward
to meeting some of you at the START
summer school over the weekend of
18–20 July at Winchester University.
The next issue is a science and art special.
If you have been involved in any
interesting science and art teaching,
projects or events, please do get in touch.
Yours in art
Michèle Claire Kitto
Editor
Wanted!! Teachers for the new START Readers’ Panel
We are looking for art coordinators, non-specialist teachers, student teachers and
NQTs to form a readers’ panel in the magazine. In each edition different readers
will be selected to review books and resources as well as comment on events and
news. There will be lots of freebies for those who take part. Please send an email
with your name, school and contact details to: michelekitto@nsead.org
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN

Gallery round-up
The hAYWARd, London
Psycho Buildings – Artists take
on Architecture
28 May–25 August 2008
As the highlight of The Hayward’s 40th
anniversary season, ten artists from
around the world have transformed the
entire gallery in PSYCHO BUILDINGS.
The Hayward’s huge spaces have been
filled with artist-designed architectural
environments, which spill onto the three
outdoor sculpture terraces, radically
altering the interior and exterior of the
gallery. Inside, a village made from over
200 doll’s houses and a room frozen in a
moment of explosive disaster are among
the installations that both enchant and
disconcert visitors. Outside, on the
sculpture terraces, installations including
a boating lake, a transparent dome and a
What’s on around the country in museums and
galleries. To be included please send details to
michelekitto@nsead.org
gallery round-up
working cinema have altered the exterior
face of the Gallery. Visible from the
surrounding area and from across the
Thames, and illuminated by night, they
add a significant public dimension to this
major exhibition.
The ten artists are: Atelier Bow-Wow
(Japan), Michael Beutler (Germany), Los
Carpinteros (Cuba), Gelitin (Austria), Mike
Nelson (UK), Ernesto Neto (Brazil), Tobias
Putrih (Slovenia), Tomas Saraceno
(Argentina), Do Ho Suh (Korea), Rachel
Whiteread (UK).
On Friday 11 July, 40 years to the day since
the Gallery first opened to the public, the
ticket price of £10 will be dropped,
enabling the public to enjoy
12 hours of The Hayward for 40p.
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/visualarts/hayward-exhibitions
Mike Nelson
To the Memory of H.P. Lovecraft, 1999, 2008, Mixed media
Courtesy the artist, Matt’s Gallery, London and Galleria
Franco Noero,Torino. Photo: © Stephen White
BRiTiSh muSeum,
ReAding Room
Hadrian: Empire and Conflict
24 July–26 October 2008
The Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD117 to
138) is best known for his passion for
Greek culture, his interest in architecture,
his love for Antinous, and of course the
eponymous wall he built between England
and Scotland, then Caledonia. This
exhibition, supported by BP, will look
beyond this established image and offer
new perspectives on his life and legacy,
exploring the sharp contradictions of his
personality and his role as a ruthless
military commander. Incorporating recent
scholarship and the latest spectacular
archaeological discoveries, the exhibition
will feature over 180 objects from 28
lenders from Italy to Georgia, from Israel
to Newcastle. Loans of dramatic
sculpture, exquisite bronzes and
architectural fragments will be brought
together and displayed for the first time in
the UK, alongside such famous objects
from the Museum’s own collection as the
iconic bronze head of Hadrian and the
Vindolanda tablets. This exhibition will be
held in the Round Reading Room, often
compared to one of Hadrian’s architectural
masterpieces, the Pantheon in Rome.
www.britishmuseum.org
Bronze head from a statue of the Emperor Hadrian, Roman
Britain, 2nd century AD. Found in the River Thames near
London Bridge in 1834. © Trustees of the British Museum
Bronze Torso and head of Hadrian from Beth Shean, date
approx. after Jewish Revolt (AD135). © The Israel Museum,
Jerusalem, by John Williams
Exactitude by Pierre Fix-Masseau (1932 – French).
Colour lithograph poster. Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
the Modernism Collection, gift of Norwest Bank Minnesota.
The RoYAL AcAdemY oF ARTS
240th Summer Exhibition
9 June–17 August 2008
Now in its 240th year, the Royal
Academy’s Summer Exhibition 2008
continues the tradition of displaying a
wide range of new work by both
established and unknown artists in all
media, including painting, printmaking,
photography, sculpture and architecture.
This year’s coordinators, Royal
Academicians Gordon Benson, Tony
Cragg and Humphrey Ocean, will select
works for the exhibition around the theme
of ‘Man Made’. Since the foundation of the
Royal Academy of Arts in 1768, the annual
Summer Exhibition has become the
world’s largest open submission
contemporary art exhibition. Highlights of
this year’s exhibition will include a gallery
curated by Tracey Emin RA; Stephen
Chambers RA will be overseeing the everpopular
Print Room; and a gallery with a
memorial display will be devoted to the
late RB Kitaj RA.
www.royalacademy.org.uk
WALKeR ART gALLeRY,
LiveRPooL
The Age of Steam
18 April–10 August 2008
A major exhibition captures the excitement
of the steam train in art from the earliest
days, through the boom years of Victorian
railway to the end of the line in the 1960s.
Art in the Age of Steam is the most wideranging
exhibition yet held to look at how
artists responded to the extraordinary
impact that steam trains had on landscape
and society.
About 100 paintings, photographs, prints
and drawings – transported from some of
the world’s greatest art collections – come
together in a dazzling display covering the
years 1830 to 1960.
Among the masterpieces assembled for
the exhibition are: The Railway by Edouard
Manet (National Gallery of Art,
Washington), La Crau from Montmajour,
with train (British Museum, London) by Van
The Queen’S gALLeRY,
BucKinghAm PALAce
The Art of Natural History in
the Age of Discovery
14 March–28 September
2008
This extraordinary exhibition, recently
shown in Edinburgh at The Queen’s
Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, has
been selected from the collections in the
Royal Library by Royal Collection curators
in collaboration with the distinguished
naturalist and broadcaster Sir David
Attenborough. It brings together the
works of four artists and a collector
who have shaped our knowledge of
the world around us. Leonardo da
Vinci, Cassiano dal Pozzo, Alexander
Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian and
Mark Catesby are diverse figures
who shared a passion for enquiry
and a fascination with the beautiful
and bizarre in nature. All lived at a
time when new species were being
discovered around the world in ever
increasing numbers. Many of the plants
Gallery round-up
Gogh, Lordship Lane Station by Camille
Pissarro (Courtauld Institute of Art,
London), four paintings by Claude Monet –
including Gare Saint-Lazare (National
Gallery, London) – and The Third-class
Carriage by Honoré Daumier (National
Gallery of Canada, Ottawa). Later works
include paintings such as Railroad Sunset
by Edward Hopper (Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York) and The Anxious
Journey by Giorgio de Chirico (Museum of
Modern Art, New York), along with
photographs by Bill Brandt, Alfred Stieglitz
and O. Winston Link.
British artists are represented by one of the
best loved of all railway images, The
Travelling Companions by Augustus Egg
(Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery),
showing two crinoline-clad girls in a
luxurious railway compartment, while
The Railway Station by William Powell Frith
(Royal Holloway College, Surrey) vividly
captures the hustle and bustle of
Paddington station. Others include
David Cox, Abraham Solomon, James
Tissot, Spencer Gore, Eric Ravilious and
Terence Cuneo.
and animals represented in the exhibition
were then barely known in Europe. Today
some are commonplace, while others are
extinct.
www.royalcollection.org.uk
‘There is a common denominator
that links all these artists. It is the
profound joy that all feel who
observe the natural world with a
sustained and devoted intensity.’
Sir David Attenborough
Above: Maria Sibylla Merian, Common or ‘spectacled’
caiman and South American false coral snake, c.1705-10
Royal Collection © 2008 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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6
hands-on in the classroom
Tudor houses
John Fidler explores the tudors with Year
four children at Bielefeld School, Catterick
Barracks in North West Germany – a
familiar theme to KS2 practitioners.
Alongside the literacy and history themes
ran an art and DT unit of study that sought
to bring together several related threads
in this exciting topic.
The children began the unit by looking at
portraits painted by Van Eyck (The
Arnolfini Marriage) and Holbein (The
Ambassadors). They were particularly
fascinated by the distorted skull that is
prominent in the latter. The significance of
objects and symbolism within the
pictures were discussed and
comparisons made with the present.
They were then tasked with creating selfportraits
that followed a similar ideology,
i.e. they had to include objects that held
significant meaning or that represented
them as individuals. Needless to say,
quite a lot of the finished pieces included
PlayStations and had figures attired in
favourite football kits. The children
became quite adept at ‘reading’ paintings
of the Tudor period and were quick to
appreciate the fact that the artists often
had to paint what their paymasters
wanted to see.
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
Visit
www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/
www.tudorbritain.org
Aspects of the QCA unit (4B) ‘Take a seat’
were also incorporated into the scheme.
After looking at images of religious and
ceremonial seats, the children sketched
out designs for ‘Thrones, fit for a King’.
Simple card models were constructed
and suitably embellished before being
displayed in front of a reproduction of one
of Holbein’s portraits of Henry VIII.
The children had been listening to stories
of everyday street life and had heard of
cut-purses. Needles, thread and felt were
duly produced. For most of the children,
it was their first experience of sewing
and, after a struggle, most were able to
thread their own needles! A combination
of running stitch and over stitch, coupled
with loop and button fastenings,
produced small but perfectly usable
purses.
The bulk of the unit of study was taken up
by a combined art and DT project.
Following a visit to a nearby museum,
where they had first-hand experience of
being in and around timber-framed
buildings, the children were split into
teams of four. They were informed that
they were going to build ‘Tudor’ houses.
Anticipating the usual collection of boxes
and paper, they were surprised to be
confronted with wood and saws. Their
remit, after a thorough demonstration of
correct use of saws and bench hooks,
was to construct models of Tudor
dwellings in as reasonably an authentic
manner as possible, given the limitations
of the classroom! A generic plan was
provided for them to follow, although
happily the outcomes were far from
identical. The timber (10 mm square
section lengths), had to be cut to size and
assembled into panels, much the same as
would have been done at the time.
Instead of wattle and daub infill between
the timbers, we opted for woodchip
paper, which ended up looking quite
realistic. Once dry, the panels were
assembled using PVA glue and were held
together with metal clips. Windows and
doors were coloured and cut from paper,
before being glued into the appropriate
positions. Roof spars were hot-glued by
the teacher and then ‘thatched’ by the
children with string, pipe-cleaners, raffia
and wool. The timbers were painted
black, not only to represent the patina of
age and applications of weatherproofing
liquids, but also because the buildings
didn’t look quite right otherwise.
In all, ten buildings were constructed.
They each displayed a pleasing degree of
non-compliance with right angles or
plumb-line verticals! When grouped
together and photographed as a street
scene the houses looked extremely
‘realistic’ – such that, after the children
had held a very successful ‘Tudor day’,
photos of them in costume were
superimposed onto the ‘streets’ to create
very lifelike images.
Key learning objectives
• to create a Tudor-style building by
drawing on first-hand experience
• to link the work to other curricular areas
• to learn how to use unfamiliar tools
safely and effectively
• to work as part of a team
Artists of the period
As well as the Holbeins (Elder and
Younger) and Van Eyck, you could try an
internet image search for:
• Lucas Horenbout (c.1490–1544) –
who became court painter after
Holbein the Elder.
• Levina Teerlinc (c.1510–1576) –
a renowned female miniaturist.
Cross-curricular links
History: You could spend a whole school
year exploring various aspects of Tudor
life, or just limit your studies to specific
areas like family life (contrasting rich and
poor) or exploration.
Literacy: A link from Tudor houses via
significant other public buildings, i.e.
theatres, should arrive at The Globe and
William Shakespeare. The fact that this
holds opportunities to encourage drama in
the classroom goes without saying.
Science: Many important discoveries and
theories came to light during this period.
Film references
Anne of the Thousand Days, 1969, Richard
Burton, Genevieve Bujold. Rated PG
A Man for all Seasons, 1966, Paul
Schofield, Robert Shaw. Rated U
A few places to visit
• The Mary Rose
• Hampton Court Palace
• The Museum of London
• Ulster Museum
• York (for the experience of walking streets
that remain essentially medieval in layout)
hands-on in the classroom
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8
Transforming spaces
Transforming Spaces
oxfordshire hospital School
Anne Stevenson, art co-ordinator for the
Oxfordshire Hospital School, shares an
imaginative digital art project devised by
herself and Judie Waldmann, a
photographic community artist.
Transforming Spaces took place over
about ten sessions, spread over two
terms. Children were asked to respond to
the spaces, specifically a room or area,
which they encountered on a daily basis
and transform it using digital software, in
a very personal way. They suggest
imaginative and creative transformations
to spaces that can often be perceived as
functional and sterile.
Background
Oxfordshire Hospital School (OHS) is one
of several state-funded special schools
situated within an NHS hospital. It caters
for school-age children and young people
who are experiencing disruption to their
education due to chronic and acute
medical conditions. The school operates
on three different sites within Oxford and
Oxfordshire. Teaching takes place in
classrooms on wards and in isolation
rooms. The school aims to ensure that
children and young people can continue
with their learning at whatever stage they
are at in their education, and considers
carefully each pupil’s individual needs in
order to provide appropriate education
while they are in hospital.
During their hospital stay, in addition to
continuing with their own schoolwork,
children and young people have access to
a wide-ranging curriculum, including
creative and cultural projects, which
include artists in residence, musicians and
workshops with the Museum Outreach
Service. The school also participates in
national projects, like the National Gallery
Take One Picture scheme and The Big
Draw. The school has had work selected
for the Take One Picture exhibition at the
National Gallery, and has been the
Transforming spaces
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recipient of an Artworks Award from the
Clore Duffield Foundation.
The art curriculum at OHS aims to
provide children and young people
with opportunities to express their
ideas through a wide range of creative
activities, and by engaging with artists
and other professionals from the cultural
and creative sector they are able to learn
new skills and develop an insight into the
creative process within an environment
that can be stressful and invasive. These
opportunities also provide important
situations to socialise and to explore
ideas with others. They can also help to
alleviate stress, increase motivation and
raise self esteem. Projects are regularly
evaluated to assess positive outcomes
for young people and the views of
participants are sought and taken
seriously.
Learning objectives
• to look at a specific space within the
hospital and consider how it could be
transformed and personalised
• to experiment with Adobe Photoshop
• to develop technical skills using a
digital camera
• to import images from a variety of sources
• to use and become familiar with a range
of tools
• to develop clear ideas and translate them
into images
Process
On an individual basis, Judie worked with
pupils ranging in ages from ten to
fourteen. Some were able to leave their
beds and consider public spaces, while
others were isolated in their rooms. Most
were familiar with digital cameras, but
none of them had used Adobe Photoshop.
They were asked to think about the spaces
they had encountered within the hospital
and to consider how they could transform
them, with no ideas deemed to be too
surreal or silly. Corridors and wards
became a blank canvas awaiting their
creative input and imaginative ideas.
Having selected a space to transform,
pupils then had to decide how they would
accomplish this, and had to research
images to enable the transformation to
take place. Ten-year-old Leah decided that
a curving corridor that passed the
schoolroom, leading to one of the wards,
could do with a makeover. She took
several photographs of the space and
then selected the one that she would use.
She decided that it would be fun to turn
this into an underwater scene, with a
shoal of bright fishes and a menacinglooking
shark swimming towards the
entrance to the ward. She used books,
magazines and the Internet to find the
pictures and carefully photographed
them. The next stage was to create a
layer of images over her original
photograph. This required building up
the image in layers, learning how to use
the tools on Photoshop and developing
the ablility to visualise the completed
image. This process took about an hour
of concentrated work, learning about
levels of exposure and making the layers
look realistic.
Eleven-year-old Amy changed the ward
corridor into a golf course, with some of
Quentin Blake’s characters for Roald
Dahl’s books populating the space by
peeping out of doors or flying across the
corridor. Libby, another 11-year-old in
isolation, was missing her dog, so she
decided to transform her space by
including not just her own dog but several
others to keep her company.
Robin, with an eye for detail and a great
imagination, transformed his bed space,
primarily by the addition of a rather large
elephant at the end of his bed. He added
small details like a flying laptop, a car
where the patient would normally be and a
few melting chocolates on the chair for an
unsuspecting doctor to sit on.
A particularly imaginative response was
by Alistair, who selected the hospital
atrium as his starting point. He
transformed this space in several ways: by
the addition of the god Mercury hovering
above the space; the creation of a
moonscape populated by aliens, and
rockets taking off while people calmly
sipped their coffees in the café.
All of the images that were created by the
pupils were first and foremost to do with
personalising a space relating to their own
individual interests. They learned new
skills and quickly became proficient at
using and manipulating the software.
‘Doing the project was fun.
I really enjoyed it and it got
me out of my room.’
unexpected outcomes
Many projects have unexpected
outcomes and this was no exception.
Following the completion of the
photographs, some of the young people
were keen to look at all the images that
had been made by others, and it was
suggested that it would be nice to have
them contained within a book. The idea
then emerged that the book could be for
younger children, that it could be
interactive, sensory and contain small
artefacts and puzzles. Young people were
then asked to look at a particular image
and suggest a way in which a small child
might respond. Ideas were prolific – from
‘spot the difference’ to counting games –
and so another stage in this project will be
an art book combining all the ideas and
images with exciting interactive activities.
The work will also be exhibited in a new
gallery space at the hospital so that the wider
hospital community and the general public
will be able to see how some young people
perceive the spaces they encounter, and how
they transform them and learn new and
exciting skills along the way.

10
Early Years
Emma Tyson continues her Forest School
adventures by revealing an inspiring
Reception class tree project, which takes
them on a creative investigative journey.
It took place over three Forest School
sessions, most of which were in the rain!
The idea behind this particular project was
to make the children understand the
importance of trees in our environment.
During the week they had been learning
about healthy eating with their class
teacher so we had decided to link this in
with art activities.
‘By completing this project
they have understood the
relationship between nature
and art and even at such a
young age have an appreciation
of how powerful it can be.’
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Contact:
Emma Tyson
emma.tyson@stpetersprep.co.uk
Part 2: Forest School
Trees – aren’t they just brilliant!
Session one
The session started with looking at the
different trees in the woods. We then
began by talking about what we could use
wood for and why it is so important. The
children suggested that we could use it to
make a fire, to cook on and to make paper.
They also knew that we have used it to
make many objects in other sessions. The
aim of this session was to make some
paper from old envelopes. Paper was torn,
mixed with water and left to soak. It was
then mixed to make pulp. The children
then found natural materials like petals
and leaves to add to the pulp mixture. This
was then poured onto a mat and flattened
out and left to dry. As it was pouring with
rain we took the paper sheets inside to dry
at the end of the session!
Session two
This session began with a recap on what
they knew about trees. The paper that had
been made was now dry and they looked
at the sheets to see how they had turned
out. We had decided to make a fire, so the
children, who are used to the routine of
how to make one, set about collecting
Visit:
www.forestschools.com
wood. The intention today was to make
some vegetable soup over the fire to link in
with their healthy eating topic, as well as
to make some charcoal from willow.
We talked about charcoal and some of the
children knew that it was produced when
‘you had a fire and the wood did not burn
away.’ I explained that we would make
some in a special tin and put it in the fire so
we could control how the wood burnt.
Once the vegetables had been peeled and
the soup put on the fire to cook, we set
about making our charcoal.
First, small pieces of willow were cut and
packed tightly into a metal sweet tin. The
tin was then placed into the hot embers of
the fire. You can see the thick smoke start
to come out of a hole left in the top of the
tin. As the smoke begins to go clear, the
tin is removed and the hole bunged up
with mud to stop any oxygen getting to
the wood. The aim is to let the wood
continue to burn, but by starving it of
oxygen charcoal is made. As smoke was
seeping out of the side we decided it was
best to bury it as well! Once the tin had
gone cold, it could be opened up and if all
had gone well we would have sticks of
charcoal! We did!
Session three
This week the focus was on using the
charcoal we had made to draw a picture
on the paper made the previous week.
The aim was to do some observational
drawing of flowers that we found in the
woods. A few flowers were picked for
closer inspection. The children then
experimented with how the charcoal
worked and set about drawing them
carefully onto their special paper. The
results were fantastic, so we decided
that we would frame them.
As our focus for this project was trees
and their importance, we decided to
use twigs that were lying around to
make a frame. In previous
sessions, the children had
learnt to tie knots, so
helping each other, they
made a simple frame for
their picture. The
finished pictures were
then sewn over the
frames using raffia
threaded through a
needle.
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes from this project
are fantastic. Not only do the children
create an observational drawing, but
they also make the paper to draw on
and the charcoal to draw it with. This is
finished by making the frame to mount
the work in. What I have found
so fascinating about
teaching art through
Forest School is that
the children have been
so much more
engaged with the
different processes
involved in each step,
as they have been
directly involved in
making them happen.
By completing this
project they have
understood the
relationship
between
nature and
art and even
at such a
young age
have
11
Early Years
an appreciation of how powerful it can
be. By creating their work outside in the
woods, it seems as if a real connection
is made about how important trees
are to us.
Another one of the joys of teaching the
children outside has been seeing what
happens when they are left to explore
by themselves. During the last session,
one child found a very old rusty key while
digging in the woods. This in turn
sparked a fantastic role play about a
magic door that it opened and what was
on the other side. Their class teacher,
who attends Forest School sessions
with them, was then able to use this as a
starting point for some creative writing
the next day!
As you can probably tell, this project
meets a huge number of learning
objectives from the six areas of learning
and development in the Foundation
Stage curriculum, not just creative
development. It is now a very important
part of the children’s week and is being
expanded further up the school so more
children can benefit from it.
If you would like any further details,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
emma.tyson@stpetersprep.co.uk
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12
Enhancing your school environment
murals
A whole-school response
Newly qualified teacher Jonathan Hyde
shares a whole-school mural project
undertaken in Arts Week at Haslucks
Green Junior School, Shirley, Solihull,
while studying for his final BEd year,
giving us an insight into how you go
about planning and constructing a
lasting outdoor artwork.
Starting point
During the planning leading up to Arts
Week 2007, and through discussion with
the then arts coordinator, I was made
aware that the headteacher would like a
permanent mural adorning the outside of
the school. Having only just participated in
the planning and completion of a mural at
another school during the second year of
my degree, I was only too keen to plan a
mural project as part of Haslucks Green’s
Arts Week.
All of the teaching team at Haslucks Green
were involved in Arts Week, each member
having responsibility for the teaching of a
different artistic skill, from painting to
pompom-making. As the week
progressed, each class would be taught
by a different member of staff, ensuring
that the whole school experienced and
joined in with all of the planned activities.
The mural was therefore going to be
worked on by over 200 children!
Location, location, location!
To ensure that all of the children were able
to contribute to the mural in a meaningful
way, it needed to be of a reasonable size.
Before the size of the mural could be
decided upon, however, a location had to
be found.
The mural’s eventual location was to be
the school’s garage, no short length at over
12m. The garage looked onto the school’s
main sports field, which was used for PE
lessons, the school sport’s day and interschool
football matches, and was
therefore perfectly positioned to be
admired, it was hoped, by visitors.
To take full advantage of the surface area
available, the mural was to measure 12
square metres, made up of four 4 x 8 foot
marine plywood boards.
covering the curriculum
Planning the mural’s content began with a
discussion with children from the Year 6
class I had been attached to for my final
placement. Through the completion of a
mind map, a variety of ideas were offered,
which included using the mural’s
construction, through the use of four
boards, as a starting point, i.e. using each
board to reflect the broader curriculum
‘It is a fabulous piece of work. Not only does it
enhance the exterior of the building, but it was
also produced by all the children in the school at
that time.’ Headteacher Carol Taylor
taught to each year group. The children
were then tasked with remembering and
verifying which key topics they had covered
during their time at Haslucks Green.
From these reminiscences, the children
were then challenged to visit the school
library to gather pictorial ideas to reflect
such subjects as the Romans, India and
Aborigines for Year 3; the Tudors, the
Greeks and the rainforest for Year 4; the
Victorians, rivers and Shirley (the children’s
local area) for Year 5 and World War II, the
Earth and the Egyptians for Year 6. The
children then set about identifying the
most appropriate and visually pleasing
images for use on the mural from the wide
variety they had collected.
Although the boards were planned to
cover each year group separately, the
overriding idea was to have the four
boards ultimately come together to form
one large mural. The designs therefore
had to include aspects, that would tie in
with each other and provide a smooth
transition from one board to the next.
different styles
With the size of the mural in mind and the
desire to have a completed mural by the
end of Arts Week, the initial drawings
reflecting each of the topics to be covered,
were completed on the boards prior to the
children starting work on them.
To reflect the different ages of the children
who would be working on the mural, the
styles in which the drawings were created
and composed were varied, from
cartoonish for Henry VIII to ‘historically
representational’ for the Roman soldier,
the Grecian urn and the Egyptian figures.
coverage and techniques
Because of the size of the boards, the health
and safety of the children was obviously of
prime concern. As the hall had already been
designated for other events, the murals had
to be placed around the perimeter of the DT
classroom, which impinged on the freedom
of movement around the room.
Each class was split into two during their
hour-long mural sessions, to keep learning
of new techniques manageable, and also
to ensure the health and safety of all the
children. Classroom management worked
with one half of the class working with a
support assistant on another activity while
the other worked on the mural.
The first couple of classes to work on
the mural were tasked with applying the
base colours to the whole of the mural,
a momentous task in itself as the
children were used to working on a
much smaller scale.
As the children filled up the four boards,
detailing began to be added, firstly through
the layering of darker shades of the original
base colours. The children experimented
with creating a range of shades by mixing
the original base colours and differing
amounts of black. These were then used to
create depth.
A stippling technique was used for the
aboriginal artwork that adorns the Year 4
board. Pencils with rubbers on the end
were used for this, as they ensured that the
dots (made with the rubber end) would be
of a consistent size. Using paintbrushes
carried the risk of unwanted splodges of
paint on the mural. This was to prove the
single most time-consuming aspect of the
mural but, it could be said, the most
visually stunning. The children who worked
on this part of the mural excelled
themselves and proved through the quality
of their work that patience really can and
does produce wonderful results. The
Aboriginal piece consists of a simplified
lizard shape surrounded by thousands of
dots that make ever-widening outlines of
the lizard.
Elsewhere, other techniques were used.
For example, on the India picture, the
children used sponges to create the sea
and landscape effects, as well as to
create depth in the trees painted on the
Year 5 boards.
it’s all in the detail
Children identified as being gifted and
talented in art were chosen to add the
detailing. The three-dimensional aspect of
the mural was achieved by these children
through a combination of shading,
additional layering of different shades of
paint and a variety of criss-cross patterns
with thick tipped, industrial black
permanent markers. The children also
13
Enhancing your school environment
used these to create the batik-effect detail
that surrounds the painting of India.
Gold paint detailing for the Egyptian
figures, and the addition of several
Egyptian symbols, required great
concentration from our young artists.
Other detailing included adding gold and
silver adhesive-backed stars and sequins
of differing sizes to the night sky in the
World War II picture.
The paintings on the wall
Towards the end of Arts Week came the
last push to complete the mural, and
completed it was, in readiness for the
whole school to see at the end of the
week. The mural was then coated in
several layers of yacht varnish, front,
sides and back, before being fixed to its
new home.
Knowing that the majority of the children
in the school had in some way participated
in the completion of the mural is really
pleasing, especially as it is a permanent
reminder of how a whole school can
come together to create a wonderful
piece of artwork.
Headteacher Carol Taylor comments, ‘It is
a fabulous piece of work. Not only does it
enhance the exterior of the building, but it
was also produced by all the children in the
school at that time.’
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14
Group-work feature
Shoal!
Kate Allan tells of a multi-pupil waterthemed
artwork created in response to
the 2008 theme of the East Riding of
Yorkshire’s School Improvement Service
initiative and Arts Council England part
sponsored project Creative Contexts for
Learning (CCfL). Here she shares her
inspiration for a KS2 project undertaken at
Garton CE Primary School, East Yorkshire.
In July 2007 I was asked to lead an arts
project over a few days with pupils in
Years 3 to 6 to create a water-themed
artwork to be exhibited in the school’s
small entrance hall. What aqueous
statement could be made, involving all Key
Stage 2 children? My thoughts turned to
an artwork in parts: something to which all
pupils could contribute and of which all
would have ownership; a single outcome
reflecting multiple input.
A shoal is a group, especially of fish. It was
an ideal model for our artwork. Shoals
appear like a single organism – like a
school (of pupils) – but are a collection of
individuals, like individual children and
staff. We studied images and footage of
shoals of fish (a simple Internet search
produced thousands of results). We
discussed shoals’ form and movement:
some closely packed, others more spaced
out; coordinated manoeuvres,
synchronization. We also looked at the
paintings of Cornish-based artist Nicola
Bealing, in particular Twist Shoal, Small
Shoal and Puff Fish Shoal, discussing the
artist’s representation of en masse animal
behaviour. www.lemonstreetgallery.co.uk
A further stimulus was the shoal sequence
in Pixar’s Finding Nemo. Marlin, Nemo’s
father, encounters an animated shoal
whose hundreds of fish coordinate to
mimic a swordfish, lobster, octopus, ship,
the Sydney Opera House, and an arrow.
I used the opportunity to introduce
children to the work of other artists who
feature water in their work – Turner,
Hockney (A Bigger Splash), Derain, Monet,
Constable, Lowry (Seascape), Hokusai,
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Visit:
www.artscouncil.org.uk
www.eastriding.gov.uk
www.tate.org.uk
Seurat, Frost, Barns-Graham,
Goldsworthy, Hepworth (Wave), O’Keefe,
to name but a few. Much discussion was
generated from the class of 8–11 year-olds
by a look at Mark McGowan’s
controversial 2005 artwork The Running
Tap, created to highlight water wastage.
How, then, to create a large-scale shoal in
a short time frame? We began with A3
paper and watercolour paints (the latter an
overt link to the project’s theme). I
encouraged pupils to experiment: what
could they make the paints do? Results
were vast and all valuable: some delicate,
others dark; all unique. I laminated the A3
sheets to give substance and to add gloss,
created card fish templates for all pupils,
and we set to work. Our task was to cut
out as many ‘watercolour’ fish as possible,
drawing around the templates on the
reverse of the sheets.
While at work, pupils enjoyed listening to
water-themed tracks from Art Songs, Ten
Songs about Artists by Agnes and Aubrey
(purchased online from Tate). Children
sang along to ‘Turner’ (‘Turner! Loves to
paint the water, lakes gently rippling in the
breeze / You can almost feel the wind and
the water on your skin / When he paints
the waves crashing down on ships in
stormy seas’), and ‘St Ives’ [‘In 1928 two
artists on holiday (Ben Nicholson and
Christopher Wood) / Returned from the
beach and passed a doorway where the
local painter Alfred Wallis stood … On
scraps of cardboard he chose to convey
sailing ships and views of the bay’].
The arithmetic involved in calculating the
number of sheets required to reach our
target of one thousand fish provided a
cross-curricular link to Numeracy. Other
cross-curricular links were made – to
Literacy, when a pupil wrote an article
about the artwork and had it published in
the local newspaper, and to PSHE &
Citizenship (see discussion about
McGowan’s artwork, above). On the fourth
day of the project, we reached our target,
and it was interesting just to look at the
vast array of differently patterned cutouts
– from one with a single splash or stripe
and those with ‘accidental’ eyes and
mouths, to the heavily detailed. Cutting
out from the reverse meant the patterns of
the fish were a surprise. With pupils’ help I
put up layers of shimmering netting,
creating a subaquatic-like environment
into which to place our fish. The placing of
individual fish was important, and I worked
with a number of pupils to ensure a shoallike
progression across the exhibition
space. The sloping ceiling in the small
entrance hall was a quite welcome
obstacle – the shoal was part-exhibited on
this slope, making for overhead viewing
and an enhanced sense of us being under
water.
The overarching aim of CCfL is to inspire
pupils to use their creativity and
imagination in the hope that this will
influence classroom confidence levels and
achievement. It isn’t just about outcomes,
though; it is about process and ‘doing’,
too. What I hope Shoal! has done is to
underline the importance and value of
everyone’s involvement. Shoal! wouldn’t
be the same without that particular Year 6
pupil’s black and brown striped fish, nor
without the Year 3 child’s contributions.
The pupils have greatly enjoyed spotting
their own fish among the hundreds on
display, and much fun was had in the
overall artwork’s creation – in the ‘doing’.
Kate Allan is a trainee teacher
representative on the Teacher Education
Board of the NSEAD. e_kateallan@
fsmail.net
www.makingmosaics.co.uk
www.jfpobrien.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
www.buddmosaics.co.uk
www.martincheekmosaics.com
mosaics are fun!
‘I enjoyed doing the big mosaics because
it was fun trying to make them fit …’
Mosaic artist of Making Mosaics,
Anne Cardwell, showcases some of
the work of professional and nonprofessional
artists across the country
and their different working methods.
She highlights the diverse methods that
mosaic artists employ when working
with children in schools, revealing how
even the youngest children can get
involved in this exciting artform.
Every mosaic artist who has had the
opportunity to work in education will
talk with animation of how children are
vitalised by the challenge of being
introduced to this ancient craft. Colour
and construction stimulate the senses and
charge the imagination. Mosaic can easily
be linked into the curriculum: the Greeks
and the Romans, patterns, tessellating,
symmetry, creativity, dexterity, teamwork –
not to mention having fun! Dull educational
establishments and stark play areas can be
transformed with bright works of art and
give the pupils an immense sense of pride
in their achievements and a new respect for
their environment.
Many schools are confidently and
successfully designing and creating large
works of mosaic art – but it is often largely
down to one individual teacher (or parent)
who has some knowledge of the process.
Others are daunted by the level of
knowledge needed and as health and
safety regulations become ever more
stringent, teachers need to be aware of
how to ensure good working practices.
There are many exciting and feasible
projects for all levels, starting right down in
Reception.
I have created a number of projects with
schools and youth groups and recognise
that there are limitations to working with
children. Risks cannot be eliminated, but
sensible precautions will keep everyone
clean and away from harm. For example, by
dispensing the adhesive through a
disposable piping bag (from Lakeland
Plastics!), the children can press the tile
www.mosaic-madness.co.uk
www.splat-arts.co.uk
www.bamm.org.uk
www.mosaictraderuk.co.uk
pieces into the adhesive without their
fingers coming into contact with the sticky
stuff at all. Mapei Ultramastic tile adhesive
which comes as a paste, is an excellent
adhesive, without a fearsome
red cross on the back, and is ideal for
projects that ‘slip’ (and where PVA is
therefore unsuitable). For statues made
by Foundation Stage pupils the adhesive
was piped on to figures made by the
children with modroc, using kitchen
funnels and wooden spoons. The children
then pressed the pre-cut (and washed)
vitreous glass tiles into the paste and later
grouted them.
John O’Brien recognises that very young
children love to make mosaics but have
limited manual dexterity and can’t do work
that is neat, tidy and regular. His solution is
to outline simple drawings with black cable
pinned into position, which provides ‘dams’
to contain different coloured aquarium
pebbles. The pebbles are inexpensive and
come in many colours. After pupils have
graded them into different sizes, the
pebbles are used to fill in the design and are
then tamped down and left to dry. The
pebbles do not require any cutting and are
colourful, and work well with little hands.
A veteran of countless huge public art
installations, Oliver Budd brings much
knowledge and enormous enthusiasm to
the subject. A large part of his working life
involves teaching and he has adapted his
own professional techniques for the school
environment. His method of working
involves making the mosaic onto a mesh.
A large piece of polythene is placed over a
drawing and over this is fixed the mesh,
allowing the drawing to show through.
The tiles are cut away from the working
area (into large transparent bags), so that
the shards do not fall into the work or mesh,
concentrating on fine detail first and
background later, and applied using PVA
glue. Once complete, the work is left for
24 hours and then flipped over and the
polythene is peeled off so the back can dry.
1
Mini poster
The work can now be installed, either
whole, or if large, cut carefully into
sections. This method works well for
interior and outdoor projects, as the PVA is
embedded in a cement-based adhesive
during installation (and is therefore not
vulnerable to frost, damp, etc.)
For school mosaic projects, Oliver offers
several key pointers. Remember you are
designing for a material that is fragmented
– keep it simple, with well-defined areas of
colour. Try employing a mix of closely
related colours, rather than dull, the piece
will become vibrant and alive. Avoid
complicated lettering, and choose your
grout colour carefully – never use white
grout as it kills the subtlety, a neutral tone is
better. Look at other mosaics (the BAMM
website is a good place to start) and see
how other artists have overcome the
limitations of the medium.
Martin Cheek, internationally renowned
mosaic artist and ceramicist, has an
interesting technique that involves the
bringing together of both media. Mosaics
are made with vitreous glass and
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START
Anne Cardwell
John O’Brien
Martin Cheek
Richard Heathcote
Ellie Byran
David Bowers
Oliver Budd

18
Mini poster
handmade ceramic elements. The children
gained the hands-on experience by
drawing their ideas onto pre-prepared clay
sheets. These were then cut out and
bisque fired and then painted by the
children using non-toxic ‘paint your own
pottery’ glazes. Having glaze-fired these
elements Martin was finally able to
incorporate them into the finished mosaic.
David Bowers works as a participatory
mosaic artist in schools. He believes the
best school art is created by the children
and he is there to direct and assist them in
creating mosaics through the stages of
design, the actual mosaicing and finally the
grouting. Projects can be inside or outside,
floor- or wall-based, and can be created by
a class, a year or the whole school. Every
child can then say, ‘I helped to make that.’
David recently worked at Sacred Heart
Primary School in London, to create an
entrance mural based on their mission
statement: ‘To go forward together in
Christ, to respect our neighbour, to always
give of our best.’ This involved working with
a small group of children to design three
murals and then with the whole school of
360 children to create the murals. David
recommends using the direct method,
which is to stick the tiles face up on the
desired surface, as it is far more suited to
children and can create results in a shorter
time than the indirect or reverse method.
He believes that mosaics are best when
kept simple, as there is a massive
difference between what a child can draw
and what they can mosaic, and that by
using broken ceramic tiles children can
independently create the pictures. As one
child said, ‘Mosaics are like a jigsaw but
there are no wrong pieces.’ David’s
fabulous and inspiring website is a
testament to the success of his methods.
Ellie Byrant of Splat Arts in Manchester
believes that schools can say so much
more about their ethos through a mosaic
rather than through traditional signs. The
process of making a mosaic may be seen
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by schools as a potentially hazardous
activity, so Ellie starts by providing a risk
assessment for the headteacher, detailing
how risks will be lessened without taking
away the fun elements of mosaicing.
Friezland mosaic was created with a whole
school over four days. It includes
references to all parts of school life and all
the images are taken from children’s
drawings. Two years later the children can
still remember which tile pieces they
placed and still polish them.
Richard Heathcote, Head of Art at West
Hill Park School, describes his first foray
into the world of mosaics without
professional help on hand. ‘We decided
upon mosaic because we try and explore a
new technique each year. We found out
about mosaics by looking at a few books.
The main concern was health and safety for
the children when cutting the tiles and also
making sure they didn’t just chuck the tiles
on but actually tried to place and arrange
them carefully. Working in groups, they
drew the designs on to plywood and used
pre-cut 20mm tiles, and glued them on
with normal school PVA. It would certainly
be helpful to have access to a website that
could offer advice about buying tiles and
choice of adhesives, as now some of the
tiles are falling off. Nevertheless, I felt the
project was a success and something we
would tackle again, especially with the
benefit of more knowledge.’
There is no need, however, for a school to
employ an artist. With research and a little
sound information, a project can be
designed by anyone. As far as materials are
concerned, mosaics are generally made
from either ceramic or vitreous glass
mosaics. Both require cutting into a more
workable size by nipping with tile cutters
while wearing goggles. Ceramic tiles are
less problematic as they do not shatter
when they break. The fact that they are flat
on both sides is an advantage, too, as they
can be used both ways up. Vitreous tiles
shed little shards when they break and
‘Mosaics are like a jigsaw but
there are no wrong pieces.’
these tiny pieces of glass are not ideal
with young children around. If using glass,
choose enough tiles for your project and cut
them in advance, then rinse and dry them.
For expedience, your design, especially if it
is a large one, should contain an element of
full- sized tiles. If the work will reside
indoors, MDF is an ideal base. Prime it first
with dilute PVA (and water) on all sides. For
outdoor projects, use marine ply; it is not
infallible, so prepare it very thoroughly by
painting the back and sides three times
with yacht varnish, and when it is installed
run bathroom sealant around the edges to
prevent damp getting behind the mosaic
and eventually into the wood. Concrete
slabs and breezeblocks can also be used.
Whether or not you choose to engage the
children in the process of nipping depends
on their age, the size of the group and the
time and patience available, but always
wear goggles!
Another option is to recycle (sometimes a
bane as there are not enough of any one
colour and they are different heights,
making grouting a nightmare) or use kitchen
tiles. MOSA tiles (supplied by www.
mosaictraderuk.co.uk) provide an unrivalled
range of colours, but like any kitchen tile are
not completely frost proof for use outdoors.
To overcome their porous nature they can,
however, be sealed with diluted PVA or
Johnson’s Water Seal on the reverse to be
used outdoors. Children can break these
easily with hammers, wearing goggles,
with the tiles under towels – a major
attraction! The drawing is then filled in with
‘crazy paving’ shapes and the benefit is they
can do it all themselves. The end result,
depending on the age of the children, can
look at little haphazard but, importantly, it
will truly be ‘all their own work’.
Whichever method your schools choose,
be assured it will be a memorable and
popular part of the school programme. If
you have an interest in mosaic it is worth
joining BAMM (the British Association of
Modern Mosaic).
Stamp design
Yes, small is beautiful!
Mark Dyson reveals how he was able to
inspire Foundation Stage (4–5-year-old)
children at Hull Collegiate Preparatory
School to design and print their own set of
commemorative stamps as part of the
term topic ‘People who help us’.
Starting point
We began our summer half-term topic by
building a post office role-play area within
the classroom. The post office provided
many opportunities for cross-curricular
activities, covering many aspects of the
early learning goals across the six areas of
learning.
design and print your own
commemorative stamp!
The children watched the ‘Lenny the
Letter’ video, a resource available for free
from the Post Office that follows the
sequence of events of a letter being
written, posted and delivered to the
recipient. We then looked closely at the
features of the addressed envelope and
what the stamp was for. This created a
discussion about the history of stamps and
the introduction of the first stamp, the
penny black, designed by Sir Rowland Hill
in 1840.
Mark-making is an extremely important
area of any child’s literacy and creative
development. Making marks in different
media and the creation of an image is the
beginning of communicating a narrative.
Children enjoy making marks and drawings
to depict events in their own lives, but are
used to being able to make only one single
image, which more often than not teachers
keep as evidence for their profiles.
Resources
Stamp template available from RSA
website, pencils, charcoal, A4 polystyrene
plate (press-print), ball point pen, roller
trays, rollers, cartridge paper, newspaper,
water based printing ink, computer and
scanner.
Key words and vocabulary
Machin: the current low-value definitive
stamps of Great Britain are referred to as
‘Machins’ because they were designed by
Arnold Machin, a sculptor. A typical
Machin is printed as a single colour and
depicts the Queen’s bust in profile with a
stamp value. The French word machin
(pronounced ‘maychin’) roughly translates
to ‘thingamajig’.
Perforations: this series of holes punched
between the stamps on sheets enables
separation. Victorian stamps had to be cut
by hand using scissors.
1
Step by step
Commemorative stamp: a postage stamp
issued to honour or commemorate a place,
event or person. Several of these are
produced each year; first day of issue
ceremonies are often held at locations
connected with the subjects.
Facts about the history
of stamp-printing
Recess printing was the method of
printing stamps until 1855 and is often
called intaglio printing or line engraving
this was the method used for the penny
black. The designer of the stamp would cut
lines by hand into a die, which was then
transferred many times onto a metal plate
using a roller. Ink was then put into the
engraved lines on the plate and the surface
wiped clean, before paper was pressed
into the lines to take up the ink.
Surface printing, also known as
letterpress printing, was introduced in 1855
by printers De la Rue. As this was a dry, flat
method of printing, it allowed perforating
machines to perforate sheets of stamps
that before had to be cut by hand because
of the paper shrinkage of recess printing.
The stamp was printed from a raised
design on a printing plate, created by the
rest of the plate being etched away. This
method was widely used until 1934.
Gravure became one of the major stamp
printing processes after 1934. It is more
commonly known as photogravure,
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Step by step
because the cylinder used for printing
from was made using a photographic
process; today this is more likely to be
computer generated. The cylinder holds
inks in tiny cells, and with the excess ink
removed from the surface of the cylinder,
is then rolled over the paper, producing the
picture.
Lithography uses water and ink applied to
a printing plate, as is used in the production
of some modern-day stamps. Because the
ink is oil-based, it is repelled by the water
and does not stick to the non-image parts of
the plate. The image is then transferred to a
rubber cylinder and in turn is printed onto
the paper as it passes between this cylinder
and another cylinder.
individual project idea
Polystyrene tile printing With this focus
group project, children learn step-by-step
to design and create their own
commemorative stamp to mark a special
event or depict something personal about
themselves. They then apply printing
techniques to develop their skills in using
different media to build upon their original
mark-making and create multiple copies of
their pictures, so every member of the
family can have one to adorn their fridge!
Visit:
www.rsadesigndirections.org/projects/
projects8_resources.html
Polystyrene tile printing is an accessible
method of printing within the classroom
and is similar to the surface printing method
first used in 1855 by the printer De La Rue to
produce the first surface-printed stamp, the
4d Carmine.
1. In small focus groups of 6–8, children
look at different commemorative stamps,
discussing how the stamp has been put
together, the effectiveness of the design
and the depicted event or person.
• What they can see in it?
• What colours are used?
• What do they think the perforations
around the edge are for?
• Do they think bolder images and patterns
may work better than very detailed ones
on a small stamp?
2. Provide the children with an A4 template
of a stamp (available as a PDF from RSA,
www.rsadesigndirections.org/projects/
projects8 _ resources.html) to design their
own commemorative stamp. Using this
template ensures that the children don’t put
a vital part of their design in the space used
for the Queen’s head and stamp value.
3. Discuss their individual design and then,
using a pencil, draw it on to the stamp
template making sure that the image is as
big and bold as possible.
4. Next, the children need to transfer this
image, using charcoal, to the polystyrene
printing plate, so making a negative image
to print from. Do this by carefully going over
the pencil drawing with charcoal, pressing
hard. Be careful, as this is a very messy
process; I suggest you work from the top of
the image down so as not to smudge the
drawing. This will leave a thick, powdery
line on the paper.
5. Now place the charcoal drawing face
down on an A4 polystyrene plate. Holding
the paper steady with one hand to prevent
smudging, rub firmly but carefully over the
lines with a finger. This will produce static,
which will attract the charcoal dust to the
plate, thus transferring the image as a
negative.
6. Slowly peel back the paper template from
the polystyrene plate, being careful not to
touch the charcoal as it will easily brush off.
Using a ballpoint pen and working from the
bottom of the plate up, etch over the
charcoal lines into the polystyrene, leaving a
raised surface for the ink to adhere to
(surface printing). This is a slow process,
but children are fascinated by how the
image feels.
7. Ink up the plate, by getting the children to
roll out the water-based printing ink on to a
printing tray; the consistency should be
sticky. Roll the ink across the polystyrene
plate to ensure an all-over coverage. They
could mix and blend one or more colours
together to produce a graduated tone.
8. Place A4 cartridge paper on to the inked
plate and, using a clean roller, press firmly
over the top to transfer the ink from the
plate to the paper.
9. Taking hold of one corner, slowly peel
back the paper to reveal the finished printed
image. Place this on a drying rack while the
child re-inks the plate for another turn.
10. To make the sheet of stamps using a
computer and scanner, first cut out an
image of the Queen’s head using the
stamp template and place over the finished
printed image. Place the print and cut-out
head onto a flatbed scanner and save the
image as a JPEG file to a folder on the
computer.
11. Finally, once all the prints have been
scanned and saved to a separate folder on
the computer, select one of the images
and under ‘Picture tasks’ click on ‘Print this
picture’ and follow the ‘Photo printing
wizard instructions’.
12. Select the images to be printed by
checking the boxes, then under ‘Layout
selection’, select ‘Contact sheet prints,
35 per page’, selecting 15 as the number of
times to repeat printing the same image.
This will produce a sheet of the child’s
design reproduced at stamp size.
13. Use the finished stamps in the role-play
area to cut and stick on to letters and
postcards.
cross-curricular links
Mathematical development:
• Wrap various 3D shapes as parcels in
brown paper and string, and different
sizes of 2D shapes as letters all with
address labels
• Use money to purchase items and pay
for postage.
• Look at children’s postcodes and house
numbers and discuss odd and even
numbers. Sort the various letters and
parcels by different criteria.
• Use Machin stamps to make a number
line.
Communication, language and literacy:
• Make pigeon holes from banana boxes
with upper- and lower-case letters of the
alphabet on them to sort the letters and
parcels by.
• Laminate the children’s addresses for
them to sort.
• Write postcards and letters together and
practise learning your own address and
postcode.
Knowledge and understanding of the
world:
• Look at the penny black stamp and
discuss the history of stamps. (Images
are available from Royal Mail website or
Google.)
• Use Google Earth to view the children’s
homes from aerial images by inputting
their postcodes.
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Step by step
Physical Development:
• Use various small-scale equipment to
make marks in different media and
produce children’s individual printed
stamp designs.
Creative Development / ICT:
• Produce your own Machin stamp by
projecting an image of a stamp template
onto a whiteboard with a child’s
positioned head in profile between the
projector and the board to cast a shadow.
• Have another child draw the outline of
the profile directly onto the whiteboard to
make a Machin stamp. Use the ‘fill and
flood’ tool to fill in the outline.
Additional idea:
Alternatively, why not get your class’s
stamps made into real stamps called
Smilers? Visit the Royal Mail website at
www.royalmail.com/stamps, click on
‘giving stamps’ and follow the online
instructions. A sheet of 10 Smilers can be
made for as little as £8.95.
Royal mail teachers’ packs: 01795 426465
or email: socialpolicyteam@royalmail.com
RSA – http://www.rsadesigndirections.
org/projects/projects8_resources.html

22
Community art
On Monday 25 February, children from
Lucas Vale Primary school in Lewisham,
south east London, returned after halfterm
to find that their bleak, ugly stairwell
had been transformed into a magical fourtiered
world of silver unicorns, dancing
fish and shooting stars. This was thanks to
changing:spaces, a project designed and
run by the dynamic creative arts charity
Create, with funding from the Royal Bank
of Scotland (RBS).
Founded in July 2003 by Nicky Goulder
and Samantha Lodge, Create uses the
creative arts to help transform the lives of
those who are disadvantaged and
vulnerable. Using the expertise of
professionals across all the art forms, the
charity aims to give people of all ages
access to the therapeutic, educational and
social benefits of the creative arts.
Visit
www.createarts.org.uk
changing:spaces
Transforming a learning environment
Three years ago, Create began formulating
the idea for changing:spaces, as Nicky
Goulder explains: ‘We are passionate
about the environment in which children
learn and play. The project was designed
to enable children to engage with their
environment in a creative and positive
way, using their poetry and artwork to put
a personal stamp on the school space and,
in doing so, reclaim it as their own.’
The first school to benefit from changing:
spaces was All Souls CE Primary School in
central London. In partnership with Hilton in
the Community Foundation, changing:
spaces transformed the school’s bleak
rooftop playground into a dream world of
technicoloured palm trees and cupcake
cars. The teachers were so inspired by the
result that they decided to use it as a
springboard for further creativity: ‘We are
going to put a writing table in the
playground so the children can use their
artwork as a stimulus for creative writing’.
The success of the first changing:spaces
led Create to run the project again on a
larger scale. In late 2007, Create and RBS
ran a competition to find the state-funded
inner London primary school most in need
of a free changing:spaces makeover
(covered in the START news section
October ‘07) To enter, schools had to submit
a photograph of the space they wanted to
transform and a ten-line poem – written by
one or more pupils – describing what the
space looked like now and how they
imagined it could look if their school won.
The quality of the entries was impressively
high, but there was one that stood out
above the rest. Lucas Vale Primary School
had sent in a picture of the gloomy stairwell
that led from the playground into the heart
of the school and pupils from Years 5 and 6
had written a poem.
The judges were unequivocal. ‘The pupils at
Lucas Vale sent in such a wonderfully
inventive poem and their passion for the
competition just shone through,’ said one of
the judges Esther Freud. ‘Now they are
going to get a chance to make their poem
into a reality’.
changing:spaces started in February, with a
series of workshops led by a visual artist
and a writer from Create. Using their
winning poem as a starting point, children
from Years 3 to 5 were encouraged to think
of visual ways to characterise the four
different levels of the world – the sea, land,
sky and space – which would be
represented on the four different stairwell
floors. Using their artwork as a stimulus,
Create’s writer worked with the children to
develop their creative writing skills,
exploring the representation of imagery,
rhythm and sound.
The workshops gave the children the
opportunity to put their creative skills to the
test. ‘Children from this very low socioeconomic
area often lack self-esteem and
confidence in their abilities,’ said
headteacher Alexandra Hardy.
‘The workshops provided opportunities
for children who may perhaps struggle
academically to achieve. Children
complimented each other and looked for
positive things to say about each other’s
work. They worked effectively together
and supported each other practically
and helpfully.’
Before the workshops began, one nineyear-old
pupil admitted that art had never
been one of her favourite subjects. After
having created an urban underwater scene
complete with a disco for fish, she changed
her mind. ‘At first it was really difficult,’ she
admitted, ‘but now it’s really good fun. You
get to create a masterpiece that you never
thought you’d be able to’,
The idea that their artwork would be seen
by everyone coming in and out of the school
was a particularly special one for the
children taking part. ‘It’s really exciting that
our work is going to be on the wall and
everyone will see what we’ve been working
on’, said another Year 5. ‘I think the mural
will be welcoming for people who come to
the school and it will give all the children
who’ve worked on it lots of confidence’.
‘I would feel really proud if I saw my artwork
painted big on the school wall because that
was the first time I have enjoyed art. I think
people will see the mural and think “I’m
going to have a really nice day today”’.
When the children broke up for half-term,
Create’s artist and forty RBS volunteers
took advantage of the quiet and got to work
transferring the children’s words and
pictures onto the walls. For two full days,
the volunteers swapped their briefcases
for paintbrushes, flexed their rusty
creative muscles and began bringing the
children’s imaginations to life. For many
of these novice painters, it was a steep
learning curve.
‘I imagined myself painting the walls of the
school from floor to ceiling – you know, up
down, up down, that kind of movement
with a big brush or roller,’ said RBS
employee Debbie, who travelled to Lucas
Vale all the way from the bank’s office in
Paris. ‘I admit that I was quite nervous
when I found out that we were expected
to recreate the children’s drawings on
the walls.’
But, with the artists’ guidance, Debbie
and the rest of her colleagues
soon got into the swing of it and
the stairwell quickly turned
into a hive of creative activity.
‘These are guys whose daytimes are
usually spent juggling phones, meeting
clients, doing paperwork, etc.,’ said RBS’s
Sharon Barbour, ‘and there they were lying
on the floor, painting a butterfly or a bee,
chilling out. It was such fun. To take a day
out of your working life to do something like
this – you gain so much personally.’
On Monday morning, the first day back after
half-term, the new stairwell was revealed to
the children for the first time. There were
pink jellyfish on the ground floor, prehistoric
purple mammals on land, silver unicorns
flying in the sky and technicoloured stars
shooting through outer space. Lines of the
children’s poetry were carefully painted
around the images on every level.
‘Our pupils are proud of how exciting,
colourful and cheerful the stairwell is now,’
said Mrs Hardy. ‘You can see the pleasure
they get from spotting another creature or
identifying their own work or that of one of
their friends.’
changing:spaces seems to have had a
profound effect on the children who took
part. ‘It has given them a greater belief in
themselves, which is apparent in their
behaviour and attitude,’ said Mrs Hardy. ‘It
has resulted in greater cohesion amongst
them and a more positive attitude. They can
actually see the benefit that working
together has had and are happier working
together in class and encouraging each
other rather than showing negativity.’
‘I’m delighted that changing:spaces has had
such an important impact at Lucas Vale,’
Create’s Executive Director, Nicky Goulder
said. ‘I hope it’s a legacy that these children
and future generations of children will be
able to enjoy for a long time to come.
www.createarts.org.uk
23
Community art
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After-school club
Freelance artist Kerry O’Brien shares an
exciting box art project undertaken with
pupils at Arno Vale Junior School in
Woodthorpe, Nottingham over a three
week after-school art club for Years 3 to 6.
The project was inspired by Peter Blake,
and although undertaken in an afterschool
setting, is easily transferable to
the classroom.
As a freelance artist running art
workshops in a variety of settings, I’m
continually amazed by children’s talents
and achievements. I feel very strongly
that given the right encouragement and
opportunity, children in primary education
have the potential to achieve so much
more than they think they can.
Having had an interest in the work of Peter
Blake for many years I was inspired to
pass on his fascination for all things
collectible to the children, through a box
art project. The promotion of recycling is
very much the focus of this kind of
artwork, which is all about collecting
material to display in a box frame.
Resources
Box frame, either a pre-made wooden
frame or a cardboard fruit box/shoe box,
Contact:
Kerry O’Brien
ciarraiobrien@hotmail.com
Learning inside the box
acrylic paint, watercolour paper/board,
watercolour paints, air-drying clay, clay
tools, old envelopes, old stamps and
tickets, cheap plastic toys e.g. those
found in crackers, clothes tags, shells,
badges, PVA glue, scissors, large brushes
for painting box, small nylon brushes for
finer detail on clay work and watercolour
painting, black permanent marker pen for
signature, old food blender, mesh frame
for straining pulp, cloths and a flower
press.
Background
Prior to the workshops, the children were
asked to collect items and think about
their theme. The aim wasn’t necessarily
for them to be bound to their original idea
as they needed to be able to continually
develop their box art. I usually start off
with an initial idea, then invariably deviate
from it without inhibitions, to produce
something that is nearer to my ideal.
getting started
The first workshop introduced the
children to the world of Pop Art and key
artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy
Lichtenstein and Peter Blake. The latter
artist was our main source of inspiration.
We discussed the subjects he chose and
the images he created, such as the cover
for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album.
Sketchbooks were handed out and many
used them as a scrapbook for ideas and
investigated Peter Blake’s work further at
home. Front covers were decorated with
personal ephemera, which encouraged
freedom of creative expression. Each
child was also given an art folder in which
to carry their sketchbook and artwork.
The children could choose individual
themes, but if this work is to be carried
out in the classroom it could be linked to
curriculum areas. These can encourage
discussion about popular imagery today.
Look in your food cupboard and rummage
through paper rubbish to discover a
treasure trove!
handmade
During the following weeks, I encouraged
the children to use man-made objects
that were manufactured and synthetic, as
well as creating some complementary
handmade artwork. These took the form
of paper-making, watercolour painting
and clay. Themes included fashion and
celebrities, the sea, ponies and horses,
the jungle, cars and sport. Most children
had come armed with plenty of materials
to work with. Plastic toy horses, chess
pieces, cars, keyrings and playing cards
all helped to reinforce the portrayal of
popular art culture.
Painting the box
The first task was to paint the pre-made
wooden box. Either a pre-made wooden
frame or a cardboard fruit box/shoe box of
an appropriate size can be just as suitable.
Any printed writing on the edge and inside
can play an integral part in the final result
or be covered up with white paint first to
subdue the print and then painted over.
White under-painting will also ensure the
top colour will remain bright.
Acrylic paint was used to cover the box
frame. More than one colour may be
chosen, but always remember to use the
lighter colours before the dark as it is
much easier to paint over yellow with blue
than vice versa. I cannot stress enough
that a good selection of paint brushes are
needed in the classroom. As an adult I
would find it incredibly difficult to paint
fine detail with a thick brush. Always keep
some nylon brushes with a good point
handy.
While the paint was drying, we looked at
the quality of watercolour paper,
compared to the cartridge paper in the
sketchbooks. Some children had brought
in their own watercolour paints; I think it is
important to nurture their eagerness to
use their own materials, as it will often
boost their confidence and sustain their
attention. Samples of paper were initially
handed out to experiment on and
sketches were made to decide on the
images to be portrayed.
Paper-making
Each week I had a few children at a time
making their own piece of handmade
paper. Maybe paper was a little
misleading as this basic method resulted
in something resembling cardboard!
Envelopes were saved in a range of
colours and stamps were torn off and
used in some of the work. The envelope
remnants were shredded and then
soaked overnight to make it easier for
pulping the next day. A handful of wet
paper strips were placed in an old blender
and topped up with water. It was then
blended until well pulped.
The pulp was tipped onto a mesh frame (a
piece of dense net secured to an A4
wooden frame) and placed in a deep
plastic tray. The pulp was pressed by
hand to squeeze out excess water. This
ritual was repeated with several different
coloured envelopes, but ensuring that all
colours were kept separated. The pulp
was tipped into old ice cream containers
and mixed with a small amount of PVA.
glue. This enables the pulp to stick
together when left to dry.
When all the required pulp was made, the
children chose a colour, then took a
handful and pressed it flat on to the mesh
frame. A fabric cloth was placed on top of
the pulp and held against the frame at
both ends and tipped over so the pulp
now remained on the cloth. This was
placed on the press and another cloth laid
over the top. This process was repeated
until each child had made some paper.
The press lid was tightened and the paper
left to dry for a few days. When dry, the
paper was used as either a background
for an object or something to draw
directly onto.
3d embellishments
Air-drying clay provided a suitable
material to sculpt with. After initial
sketches were made, clay was given
to each child. After discussing how to
ensure two pieces of clay adhered to
one another (by scoring each piece
beforehand), they were free to mould their
own shapes. They were painted during
the next session, when the clay was dry.
Acrylic paints were used to give a glossy
finish.
Assembling the piece
It was now time to place the artwork in
the box. Children were given the freedom
to glue each item (clay model, paper,
found objects) wherever they desired.
This meant overlapping the 2D and 3D.
The results were amazing, and works of
art in their own right. The finished
artworks were proudly displayed in school
for all to see and would be well placed in
many an art gallery.
cross-curricular links
Geography: Items such as postcards,
admission tickets, luggage labels, shells
and feathers can be saved from holidays.
Literacy: The ephemera could be a tool to
promote story writing and aid imaginative
thinking. Randomly placed words
emphasise the importance of the written
word.
History: Samples of historical design and
literature can be added to the box.
Photocopies of newspaper cuttings can
be torn and layered. Old photographs can
be placed next to contemporary ones to
show a comparison of past and present.
Science: Materials of different textural
qualities and made from various
processes can add relief to the artwork.
Kerry O’Brien can be contacted at:
ciarraiobrien@hotmail.com
Artist inspiration
2
After-school club
Peter Blake
• The Toy Shop 1962 – a 1950’s
shop front
• On the Balcony 1955-57 Oil on canvas
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
1967 Copyright Apple Corps Ltd.
• Stop the Clocks – Oasis album
cover 11/07/06
• Stanley Road – Paul Weller album cover
Andy Warhol
• Campbell’s Soup 1, 1968
• Marilyn diptych, 1962
• Brillo Box, 1964
Roy Lichtenstein
• In the Car 1963
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26
ICT
Beyond primary
A snapshot of digital art in the future
Ross Wallis presents a snapshot of
secondary digital art, emphasising that
the skills and experiences we expose our
pupils to in the primary years can help
create the designers of the future, and
answers a reader’s question: What do our
pupils do when they leave to go to
secondary school; where can skills and
interest in digital art lead to?
As an art teacher, I have gradually
specialised in working with digital media.
I am building up a repertoire of ideas for
activities involving a potent mix of
traditional and new media. The intention
of this article is to share some of this
through a snapshot of the projects of this
academic year to date.
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
I take a small group of enthusiastic juniors
for a weekly after-school activity. My plan
was to mix digital media with drawing,
painting and other traditional media.
The very first lesson involved taking a self
portrait using the computer’s built-in
camera. In my lesson plan, this was to
take a couple of minutes at the start of the
lesson, but I lost the rest of the session to
hilarity, my plan falling apart as the pupils
played with the digital effects that
squeezed and distorted their images like a
hall of mirrors. Such is the power of digital
media. Frustrating as computers can be,
they can also be captivating. Children love
to see themselves on screen, and using
computers can add magic to lessons.
We took Year 7 on a trip to the Eden
Project so a jungle theme seemed fitting.
It being the autumn term, there were lots
of colourful leaves to be collected and
scanned. The scanned leaves were then
assembled into jungle pictures using
‘Copy’, ‘Paste’ and ‘Transform’ in Adobe
Photoshop, with the paintings of Henri
Rousseau as inspiration. The jungles were
then populated with crazy animals,
created by finding images on Google, and
combining the top half of one creature
with the bottom half of another.
The theme for Year 8 was Myths and
Legends. In the initial discussion about the
project ahead, the class chose to do an
animation based on a Greek myth. With
the class divided into smaller groups to
create each chapter or scene, silhouette
puppets were cut from black card, with
limbs articulated using split pins. The
action was filmed on digital movie
cameras connected to Macintosh laptops
running a wonderful stop-frame animation
program called icananimate. As the
project progressed, some of the students
worked on titles, some on sound effects,
some on the musical soundtrack, and
others script and narration. As homework
for each session, I set a little research
project: in this case, it was obvious that
they should look at the work of great
animators such as Lotte Reiniger and
Oliver Postgate.
In the Indian summer at the start of the
term, I worked outside with the Year 9
students. They worked in groups, each of
which was armed with a simple digital
camera and a tripod, and created stopframe
motion using themselves as the
subjects. For inspiration we looked at the
classic Canadian animator Norman
Mclaren, but there is a great deal of this
type of animation to be found on YouTube
at present too. In one of the best of these
animations, the students actually used
their shoes rather than themselves,
creating a tour of the school. Stop-frame
animation does not need special
equipment. The simplest digital camera
linked to any movie-making software that
will import still images can make quite
sophisticated animations. Two other
movies from this session were the girls
who made themselves disappear in quick
succession behind the thinnest of trees,
and a group who created a sort of ballet or
synchronised swimming display on the
grass. The technique they need is called
pixillation, and can produce effects with
the slapstick qualities of early comic
masters such as Buster Keaton, or the
antics of The Goodies and the mad
professor from Vision On.
Later in the term, students worked in
groups to create a two-minute public
service advertisement on an anti-smoking
theme, the outline plans of which we
entered in a Channel 4 competition called
‘Breath’. The films were shot around
school, one involving some great acting by
a passing teacher! Students were able to
take roles within the group, behind the
camera or in front, creating sound tracks
and titles using software such as Apple’s
Garage Band and iMovie.
In Year 10, small groups and individuals
continued to experiment with animation,
over a longer period and with greater
sophistication. One student recreated a
still-life painting using real objects, which
he then animated. The original painting
cross dissolved into the animated version.
A Year 11 student has become very
proficient in the use of Flash, and has
programmed some fantastic interactive
works: screens of coloured lines
reminiscent of Bridget Riley or Mark
Rothko that react to the movement of the
mouse, changing colour or moving.
A second student has become fascinated
with clocks, creating a number of his own
clocks, using Flash as the engine to make
his digital works of art tell accurate time.
A third student is passionate about the
whole punk rock genre. He has taken
photos of his punk rock peers and is using
Photoshop to create moody images with
altered levels of colour and contrast. To
add spice to a Year 10 visit to a gallery, we
asked students to talk about paintings in
the exhibition from the point of view of the
painting’s subject. Back in school we
combined the sound track with a
reproduction of the work so the subjects
of the paintings appear to talk about
themselves. This was done with a
wonderful bit of software called Crazy
Talk. I used this software to experiment
with some self portraits that another
group had produced, in effect getting the
drawing to evaluate itself.
2
ICT
At sixth form level, I have several students
experimenting with photography in
different ways. One is creating stunning
images using coloured dyes, water,
mirrors, distorting lenses and digital
distortions in Photoshop. Another is very
keen on the work of photographers such
as Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert
Doisneau. He has persuaded his parents
to take him on a trip to Paris this Easter so
that he can produce images of Parisian
café life for his A-level examination. A
number of these senior students are
creating websites to publish their work,
with integrated blogs to explain the
processes they use and the influences on
their work; all the traditional sketchbook
work translated into digital format. Other
students have experimented with
scanning and self portraiture, and are
currently in the process of making
photographic screen prints from their
digital creations.
I have given a very speedy snapshot of
two terms of work, and have not even
touched on the many technical and other
issues that working with digital media
generates. The computers and software
are expensive and prone to error, much of
the work is done in groups rather than
individually, and often these groups need
to be out of the classroom, in charge of
expensive equipment. When students use
images found on Google, there are
copyright issues, and issues of child
protection when they put their work back
onto the web. Sites like Bebo, Facebook
and YouTube have great potential, but are
fraught with issues for teachers and
teaching in this digital age. But I will finish
where I started: despite many challenges,
my experience of experimenting with
digital media in the art room is generally
motivated students being creative, having
fun, coming to lessons with enthusiasm,
working at home and sharing their
experiences with me, all the things that
excite me and keep me motivated as a
teacher. I’m hooked.
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN

28
Enhancing local spaces –
community art and textiles
collaborative Fauvist
wall hanging
Sarah Baker, art subject leader at
Longlevens Junior School, Gloucester
describes how her school got an exciting
textile art project off the ground, involving
their local feeder infant school, local art
status secondary school, local
businesses, the local church and the
press, inspiring us to create our own truly
collaborate community art project and
enhance our local space.
Background
Longlevens Junior School is situated in the
city of Gloucester. Due to its size (460+
pupils) the school does not include
classes below Year 3 and the community
of Longlevens is served by a separate
infant school. While both schools share
the same name and are almost within
sight of each other, historically they have
operated as two entirely separate entities.
However, this is something both schools
are keen to change, and as both are
recognised by the Artsmark Gold status, it
seemed like a joint art project was a good
place to start.
Partly inspired by the Artsmark
application’s recognition of community
involvement, it was agreed that we would
create something that could be shared
and enjoyed by the local community and if
possible, we would involve a local artist.
The big idea
As the finished article was to be shared
with the local community, we thought
it would be appropriate to create a
piece that reflected everyday life in the
local area. We decided upon producing
‘a street’, which would include what the
children considered to be key buildings,
people and local features within
their locality.
‘Longlevens Street’ would be developed
through combining a range of collaging
techniques, using textiles as the sole
medium. We were keen for the children
to see how fabric could be manipulated
in a range of ways to convey their
ideas, without thier having to be
‘expert stitchers’.
An equal number of Year 2 and Year 4
pupils were chosen to undertake the
project. We used this as an opportunity to
select more able pupils in art, to extend
their skills base and experiment with ideas
beyond the constraints of normal
classroom activity. It also enabled the
Year 2 pupils involved to gain a calmer
insight into ‘life at the big school’, through
the operation of a buddy system with
the Year 4 pupils. Many happy faces and
positive stories were taken back to the
infant school by previously nervous
Year 2 pupils.
organisation and funding
In order to enrich the project further (and
to tick another box on the Artsmark
application form!), we really wanted a
professional textile artist involved.
At this stage, we sought the advice of our
local art college status secondary school,
Churchdown School. As all art college
status schools, Churchdown has a
commitment to support their local/ feeder
primaries with the teaching of art. Some
schools do this by providing INSET
training for teachers out of hours, some
have a more hands-on/ in-school approach
to support. Churchdown provides a
combination of both and were not only
able to recommend a suitable artist, but to
part fund her working with our schools.
Anyone planning a similar venture or
requiring support in school would do well
to research similarly recognised
secondary schools in their area.
To publicise what we were planning and to
attract further funding, we then convinced
the local newspaper to do a piece on the
project before it commenced, outlining
our intentions. This proved to be fruitful,
as both the local butcher and the vets
pledged financial support, enabling us to
employ our artist for three days in total. In
addition, the local clergy invited us to
place the final wall hanging in the parish
church to be viewed by the public. We
even had a letter from a local resident who
was adamant that a certain supermarket
should not be included at the expense of
longer established businesses!
getting started
Before meeting as one group, both the
Year 2 and Year 4 pupils undertook a
walking tour of their local area, armed with
digital cameras. They recorded everything
they found that they felt was important
and relevant to their lives, from the village
hall, which had been hired for many a
birthday party, to ‘the slow down, too fast’
signs that had children’s illustrations on
them, to their old playgroups, to the
school crossing patrol attendant. Once
printed and shared, the images produced
by the two groups were remarkably
similar. Finding similarities and differences
in shots certainly provided an ice-breaker
for the two groups of children.
Professional involvement
At this stage we introduced textile artist,
Alison Harper. Alison challenged pupils to
think outside the box by introducing a
range of Fauvist portraits and landscapes.
Initially they were alarmed by the ‘wrong’,
‘too bright’ colour palette. However, Alison
initially asked the children to draw each
other on paper using brightly coloured oil
pastels. Because of the nature of the oil
pastels, the resulting drawings had
fuchsia pink, banana yellow or tropical
mango skin tones. Without consciously
realising it, the pupils had already begun to
work in a more colourful, flamboyant style.
Alison then asked them to cut out their
drawings and use them as a template to
draw around, onto thick white fabric. They
then used a wide range of material that we
had collected and PVA glue to recreate
their drawing in fabrics. By this stage,
most had lost all inhibitions about lifelike
colour and embraced those on offer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the green school
sweatshirts were the only things that
remained staunchly green.
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
Progress
2
Enhancing local spaces –
community art and textiles
Pupils continued to manipulate this
collaging technique to create a range of
buildings and people to inhabit the street.
The natural manner in which their portraits
developed into caricatures (huge hands,
very long hair, tall and skinny…) only
added to the diversity and richness of the
final wall hanging.
Children used brightly coloured felting wool
to create lollipop style trees to line the
street. We used a very simple, yet effective
technique, that allowed light and other
layers of fabric/ paint to show through,

30
Enhancing local spaces –
community art and textiles
resulting in beautiful ethereal trees. To
achieve this, pupils teased the wool out
into a fine layer of colour in the shape of
their tree. They placed this between two
layers of gauze-type fabric (think plain net
curtains), then used a weak mixture of
washing-up liquid to squirt onto of the
gauze and pummel until the felt had
bonded. They used a similar technique to
create a very long, technicoloured scarf
that was eventually used as a frame for
their street.
Finally, the background was created by
painting hessian, first with a mixture of
PVA and white emulsion to bond it, and
then by rich acrylic paint used in a bold,
almost pointillist, manner to create a
tonal skyline.
Final stages
As part of her fee, we employed Alison for
an additional day, to take all of the
elements of the wall hanging the children
had been busy creating home with her, to
piece it together away from the hustle and
bustle of school. While it could be argued
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
that this removes the chance for direct
child input in the final stages, we felt
strongly that as the wall hanging had
grown so large and had so many pieces
that needed to be included in a meaningful
way, it was worth taking away from the
school premises and piecing together
carefully and quietly.
This also meant, from a practical point of
view, that we had the completed wall
hanging, overstitched to ensure its
durability, back in school within a week.
With the best will in the world, this would
have taken the school staff much longer
given their already heavy workload.
completion and celebration
The speedy turn-around meant that we
were able to celebrate the wall hanging
swiftly while it was still fresh in everyone’s
mind. The completion actually coincided
with Easter, so it was decided that the wall
hanging would be displayed in the local
church for the first time on Easter Sunday.
This proved to be a highly successful
move as it was received by a large
congregation of local people, who went
away and told their friends! The wall
hanging has since become a local ‘tourist
attraction’, with the community visibly
enjoying recognising people and places
within in, while really appreciating the
children’s interpretation of them.
A joint service was held at the church for
pupils and parents in Year 2 and Year 4 to
celebrate the completion of the wall
hanging. This served to further cement the
first joint project between the schools,
with pupils very proud of their
achievements and the praise they had
attracted.
The wall hanging is unable to take up
permanent residence in the church,
so its next ‘home’ is the current topic for
discussion – the library is currently
favourite – although the discussion is
already beginning to inspire future joint
community projects: virus microscope
paintings for the doctor’s surgery? A
Renoir-inspired ballet mural for the village
hall or Rangoli mosaics for the
pavements? Only time will tell.
Readers’ panel
PRoducT RevieW
Glass painting class pack
A pack of 26 non-toxic glass paints, 5
outline, 8 vinyl sheets and 16 patterns and
instructions. Cost £7.99 exVAT from Art
School Supplies 0800 0111697
My Year 5 art club tried out GLASS DECO
and had a lot of fun creating their own
designs and turning them into stained
glass type decals that can be peeled off
the plastic they are created on and applied
to glass surfaces such as windows,
mirrors and tiles. The set comes with
many ready-made designs and details of a
website containing many more, but we
decided that it would be more creative to
make our own designs.
The designs were drawn with a medium
black felt tip and then the plastic provided
was placed over the design which was
traced using the special tubes of black
outliner. A word of caution: if the activity
group is large, there may not be enough
pieces of plastic for everyone to trace
their design onto, so get hold of extra
sheets (see below). Even when dry we
found that the GLASS DECO remains
firmly stuck to it! However, we found that
that punched plastic pockets of the sort
used for filing work well and are a good
substitute for the plastic sheets provided.
Also, avoid storing the designs on top of
each other even between plastic, as it is
very tricky to get them apart again.
This is a two-session activity, because
once the outline is done, it has to dry
before the colours can be filled in. It then
needs to be left overnight to dry
completely before being peeled off and
stuck anywhere.
– Extra vinyl sheets cost £3.98 for a
pack of 25
– Extra outliners cost 40p each
Tested by Year 5 and
Mrs Fenwick, Aldro School
31
Inspiring Readers’ units panel of review work
Some comments
from the pupils:
‘It was fun doing
something completely
different and
doing our own design
was good because it
means that
nobody on earth will
have one like mine.’
‘I like all the different
colours, especially in
the big pack, that has
got loads of glittery
colours.’
‘I like having something
that I have drawn
decorating the window
and the colours are
lovely when the light
shines through.’
Do you and your
pupils want to test
out new products
for START? If so, get
in touch with the
editor and join the
readers’ panel.
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN

uniTS oF WoRK
Subscribers to START receive a
year’s free online access to over
300 units of art, craft and design
work on the NSEAD’s website:
www.nsead.org
username: gilbert
password: george
How to access art lessons and art projects on-line
The National Society for Education in Art & Design ‘Units
of Work’ database has about 300 units of work that can be
accessed free of charge by subscribers to START magazine –
there should be something there to surprise and inspire you.
The units have been written by some of the UK’s leading art
educators and include art projects, art lessons and descriptions
of classroom and art room teaching strategies for children,
pupils and students from 3 to 18 years old. However, most of
the units are easily adapted for use by a wider age range.
The Society is always keen to receive new ideas to add to
the existing units – if you have a lesson you are particularly
pleased with, please write it up in a similar format and e-mail
it, together with one or two examples of your children’s work
to johnsteers@nsead.org
To access the Units of Work you should go to www.nsead.org
and log on using the username ‘gilbert’ and the password
‘george’. Then click on ‘Resources’ followed by ‘Units of Work’.
You can simply browse through the units or search them by
using keywords such as artists’ names, themes or techniques.
Alternatively, you can search for age range, particular media
and processes, and the elements such as shape, form, colour,
tone, and texture.
To subscribe to START call 012 1 82 or photocopy and
complete the subscription form on the right.
ABouT nSeAd
START is published by the National Society
for Education in Art & Design (NSEAD) with
the support of Arts Council England.
The NSEAD is the leading UK authority concerned with art,
craft and design education and promotes and represents art
and design in all phases of education throughout the UK.
A professional association with active membership among
art and design teachers and lecturers in the UK, the NSEAD
is also a leading provider of in-service education, online and
other publications for art and design education.
Visit www.nsead.org for more information.
START THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN
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