Art and Literacy Evening

On Thursday 20th October 2011 we were delighted to be able to deliver a twilight workshop to the Year 5 children from our feeder Primary Schools here at Highcliffe School.

The session took place in the school’s inspirational Da Vinci suite from 6.30 – 8.30pm.   The aim of the evening was to experience a taster lesson encouraging families to work together with their son or daughter.  Children attended with their family members to undertake an art project using the inspiration of a poem entitled the ‘The Sea is a Salty Road’. 

Anna Martindale, Head of KS3 English, read the poem and started the session asking for key words from the audience which provoked ideas for the art work.  Janet Bullas, Art teacher, then guided the audience on how to use different sketching techniques such as hatching, tone and shading to improve their drawing skills.  Examples of David Hockney’s work were shown to emphasise these techniques.

Participants were given a booklet to support their work for the evening. The response to this event was overwhelming and so we divided the family groups into three; each group working in a different classroom, where they then set to work to create an original piece of work on a template associated with the sea. 

The outcomes were stunning.  It was incredible how many different interpretations there were from the same stimulus.  Everybody was invited to wander around the classrooms look at each other’s work and then they were asked to complete a written evaluation which highlighted the success of the evening.  Here are some of the comments;

"Excellent evening, we will use the techniques at home."

"We enjoyed the chance of a learning and provoking lesson together away from home."

"I think this type of evening is a great way to work with your child and I’m sure it will make the transition from junior school to Highcliffe easier."

"Would love to do this again."

"It was a very different evening doing something completely outside normal comfort zones but very worthwhile."

"This evening inspired me to be more creative by using different techniques.   I am going to ask my granddad about David Hockney because he has met him."

"Thank you for a great evening, well organised and informative.  Nice to spend time working alongside my child."

It is hoped that we have awoken a few thoughts and aspirations and that the parents and the children will continue to be creative together.

V Deadman, J Bullas, A Martindale, L Devlin, V Swayne

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