From our Assistant Head: Working in partnership

This academic year, we have been proud to work in partnership with other educators both here in the UK and also further afield.

Art Partnerships

Workshops at local primary schools

Pupils from local primary schools took part in a printing workshop providing the opportunity for Year 1 pupils to develop visual arts skills beyond the existing curriculum. The focus of the session was to explore landscape art through class discussion, informative interactive resources and the development of printing skills.

The students were introduced to landscapes in art through exploring a range of artists such as David Hockney, Vincent Van Gogh, Hester Berry and Claude Monet. The pupils who took part were enthusiastic in their feedback:

• I liked printing the most because when we were drawing the picture on the polystyrene it was satisfying and it turned out well.
• I really enjoyed making the patterns and seeing my final design because I am usually bad at art, but this was good, and I am very proud of myself.
• I liked the press-printing because I liked to see what came out.

GCSE Workshop

We were also delighted to offer eleven Year 10 GCSE students from a local school the opportunity to join us for a creative workshop based in Studio 47 Arts Centre. Our visitors developed their existing skills through the creation of lino prints, harnessing the technical skills involved and using our specialist cutting tools to create a lino relief. They then created printed outcomes on a variety of paper-based surfaces using a traditional printing press.
 
The visiting teacher commented: The workshop presentation was excellent and the outcomes the students produced exceeded expectations.

A student commented: I really liked the outcomes because it is relevant to my studies in art and I can now use lino in my future work.

University of Cambridge PGCE workshop

Finally, we were extremely pleased to welcome eight Art and Design PGCE students from the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education to Studio 47 in June for an exclusive look around the summer exhibition of our GCSE and A Level Art and A Level Photography work.

Then the trainee teachers took part in a full-day workshop in which they developed a photo-silkscreen print and explored the possibilities for introducing this into their own classrooms, including looking at differentiating the process for all ages and abilities, and identifying the various applications of the process itself.

St Mary's School Head of Visual Arts, Su Conroy said:

Opportunities like this are a great way to upskill and share ideas amongst fellow professionals.

Participant feedback:

• A real strength of this workshop was being able to engage in the process fully from start to finish in one day. It was an opportunity for me to refresh my print making skills.
• This workshop allowed us to explore fun and accessible ways to make this process accessible for all Key Stages.
• I’ve learnt a new skill today and was very pleased with my outcomes. I can now transfer this knowledge into my own teaching practice.

Cambridge University Primary School - Sports Partnership

We were also proud to host to work with Cambridge University Primary School this year for the first time. All of our Year 9 students participated in a sports leadership programme culminating in an afternoon of activities for primary aged children. The day was tremendous success and we look forward to further devloping our partnerships in sport next year through rowing leadership.

Kate Latham, Assistant Head: Enrichment and Partnerships

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