The Junior School this week has been buzzing with excitement, transformed into a hub of creativity and collaboration. It has been bursting with children eager to learn new skills in a variety of art practices and mediums! We have had four very wonderful and accomplished artists deliver a range of incredibly engaging and diverse workshops, trips out to the ‘Beyond the Streets’ exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, workshops hosted and delivered by the Putney School of Art, interactive History of Art sessions with Magic Lantern, embroidery and painting workshops run by Ms van Kamp and Miss Smith, all of which were ably and willingly assisted by teachers and parent volunteers.
Alongside this, the girls have explored symbolism in religious paintings, engaged in creative writing stimulated by texts inspired by art and explored symmetry and sacred geometry in maths.
It has truly been the most creative of weeks and the children have gained knowledge and key skills in a wide variety of areas!
Miss Smith and Ms van Kamp
“I have enjoyed the big weave because it was fun, and I have never done that before. My mummy also came, and we did drawing on a big piece of paper. I loved the Saatchi gallery the most because I liked the room with all the funny lights and toys. We also went to Forest School which was so much fun because we did the collages with lots of leaves and red berries. I would like to do it again next year!” – Isabel, Reception
“I loved making the mini-beast wasp. I got really sticky and there were some really fiddly bits too. I enjoyed making it with my friends. I also enjoyed our trip to the Saatchi Gallery where we saw a Lego crime scene. I thought it was mysterious. I wondered who was going to solve it and who started it. I asked myself why it was in a gallery.” – Freya, Year 1
“This week we have done lots of fun workshops and we even visited the Saatchi Gallery! I loved the willow tree workshop because we did loads of sticking, it was so much fun.” – Marlena, Year 2
“Arts Week was fantastic because we got to do lots of new activities. My favourite was willow weaving because we got to decorate the butterflies, beetles and other insects. I also loved the felting workshop and would really like to do it again. Arts Week was super fun!” – Victoria, Year 3
“We have had the most fantastic week full of creativity, imagination and joy! Some highlights of our week have been the trip to Putney Art School where we took part in printmaking and pottery workshops, the trip to Saatchi Gallery to the Street Art Exhibition and the wonderful willow sculpting, embroidery, print making and felt workshops in school. Art Week has brought big smiles to our faces and we have loved working with multiple inspiring artists.” – Maya, Elena and Hepzibah, Year 4
“Arts Week has been full of surprises. We think that we have had the chance to become real artists, and we are so proud of the work we have done. We now feel confident enough to create artworks that we see in different shops, because we know how they have done it! We also loved how art can make all our ideas come true, like a jumper with a mushroom becoming a mushroom-shaped rug for a child’s bedroom. How amazing is that? If we had to summarise Arts Week in two words, we would say it has been ‘inspirationally empowering’.” – Ruby B and Charlotte, Year 5
“During Arts Week we have completed a variety of inspiring activities. On Monday, Group A hand made willow sculptures where we bent and intertwined twigs and tape to create a magnificent sculpture of an insect of our choice. Group B made beautiful butterflies out of wool that we then rolled and transformed into felt. All throughout the week we have stitched, painted and crafted countless pieces of artwork. On Tuesday there was a trip to the Saatchi Gallery, where Year 6 debated whether graffiti was art or vandalism. We learnt about different graffiti artists such as Lady Pink and discovered that Miss Ivison’s brother is a graffiti artist and a set designer. Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed art week and I hope you did too!!!” – Evelyn, Year 6
