What a week! All of the girls in FHS Junior School became real artists last week, to such an extent I think none of us could have imagined before. Their motivation and willingness to learn about any aspects related to art was just awesome. As for Spanish and the Spanish culture, we wanted the girls to be exposed to and enjoy some of our most well renowned artists, as part of a mini History of Spanish Art lesson. In so doing, they were introduced to eight artists that belong to different art forms. These were Antoni Gaudí (architect), Pablo Picasso (painter), Salvador Dalí (painter), Diego Velázquez (painter), Miguel de Cervantes (writer), Rosalía de Castro (writer), Antonio Banderas (actor) and Shakira (Colombian singer), whose Waka Waka was the funniest bit for the girls!

I can happily tell you all that the girls really enjoyed learning about what motivated and inspired these artists to create such invaluable artworks all in different forms. They understood how Gaudí’s illness when he was a child and the time he spent contemplating nature inspired him to design what is probably Barcelona’s most famous building, the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family). In addition to this, I will never forget the moment when the girls were first told about Cervantes’ Don Quixote’s questionable adventures. They will never see windmills in the same way again!

If I personally had to highlight one aspect of the week, I would say it was the deep questions the girls asked each other about the artists we studied. Both the ways they were able to formulate complex questions, and the deep and critical knowledge they showed when doing so, was just extraordinary. This made my teaching and their learning process such a real pleasure. Thank you all very much for being part of this lovely community!

Mr Cilveti-Perez, Year 5 Class Teaching Assistant