Fantasy Snow & Ice Creatures - Year 2

A few years ago we were very lucky to have worked with artist Samantha Bryan to develop ideas based around craft and character. Since then we have embedded this practise in to our Creative Arts work here at Battyeford. These projects inspire and ignite a passion for making and writing. We have recently seen Year 2 pupils imaginations explode with passion and determination to create to the highest levels. Pupils have worked to review and adapt ideas throughout, offering improvement prompts to each other. They have used checklists to summarise where they are now and what they can do next...all in all they have mastered this art of creature crafting. The finished models utilise a myriad of materials, foam, wire, plastic waste, metal scraps, buttons, beads and a variety of fabrics. Their ideas (mind mapped) have been fulfilled and surpassed. Are we happy with our work? WELL, YES WE ARE! Here are a few of our pieces!

Cookie Monsters Gallery - A Nursery Project

A fantastic morning was had by all, exploring the colour blue with our Nursery pupils. Mrs Snee and Mrs Deane (our Art Teacher) hosted an exploratory creative arts session involving three activities in our Artroom. Pupils experimented with drawing and collage materials (in blue) to create 2D artworks and with playdough, along with blue objects, to create 3D sculptures. First we developed expressive language skills and vocabulary in response to the work of artists working with the colour blue. Then the pupils levels of engagement was truly impressive, focused and determined, as they adapted their ideas developing a finished piece over 40minutes. Each artwork was photographed in 'Cookie Monsters Gallery' with Cookie Monster acting as the viewer. Learning, fun and total engagement. Hope you enjoy our pictures!

Year 6 

Being Human - Portraiture Project inspired by

USA artist Chuck Close

Year 6 pupils have been looking at the grid method (a mathematical device) for developing a scaled portrait using a photograph as a starting point. They have broken in to two groups those creating portraits of Her Majesty the Queen (as a celebration of her 90th birthday for an event at our local church 'Christ the King') and those who have chosen to create a portrait of themselves or a friend. Pupils have followed their own desires to depict their subject using materials of choice. Some have continued to work on a small scale and some on a large scale. The work this year is really exceptional. Dynamic and developed, this years cohort have really put in that extra effort showing resilience when overcoming problems. Everyone has had success and I am very proud of their achievements.

Here are some of the results...    

Sensory Experiences with Clay- Nursery Pupils and Parents (Family Learning in the Art Room)

Developing Family Learning opportunities is particularly important in the Art Room. These activities help our children and their parents to become familiar and confident with the 'whole' school at Battyeford. More importantly this is a place where we can take risks, get messy and provide unique learning opportunities that assist in widening our children's use of language building up vocabulary that reflects their new experiences in this exciting space.

Sensory/tactile experiences beyond pupils normal routines takes them into a place of discovery. Together with their parents they have journeyed through a range of experiences with clay to explore the material, enjoy, create and be challenged. Developing speaking skills, expressive language in the context of 'the arts', are key to this activity, we have also developed persistence, concentration and sheer wonder!

The activity is aimed at stretching and challenging the pupils capabilities. Never underestimate the 3 yr old!

The session is set up first to allow the pupils to seek out tactile and sensory manipulation of the material, playtime, whereby the pupils touch, roll, pinch, flatten, bash, print and score the clay material, using a range of tools and materials.

Next comes moulding, shaping, pressing and joining clay to form a tower inspired by the Austrian Architect and Artist, Hundertwasser. This young man below even learnt how to score, apply slip and join clay as ceramicists do, just because he was so inquisitive! This picture was liked on Twitter by Keith Brymer Jones the presenter of the recent TV series 'The Great Pottery Throwdown' as an example of what the very youngest of children are capable of. Amazing work and concentration!    

Following this we explore further the tactile qualities of the material with water, brushes and sticks. The clay is placed inside a washing up bowl and the children first play with the material and then quite naturally move on to their own story telling, widening their use of language linked to the activity rapidly learning new words and developing complex sentences.

Magical moments happen throughout the session! Not least when children bring their own understanding of the world around them to the activity and place this in a new context. Wonderful, wonderful learning though sheer enjoyment and curiosity.

A snails home!

A man in a hut, sitting in his pond!

The thrill and excitement of creating 'Stick Mans' habitat! 

Mrs Deane held Nursery Clay Experiences for Families before and after the Christmas holiday. If you missed out last time watch out for more of these experiences to come next term!

The Battyeford Angels

Over the last few months Year 5 pupils have been undertaking a project with Mrs Deane to create two very large angels for Christ the King church. There is a blog available with further photos of this work on Mrs Deane's Battyeford Art Blog. This can be reached via clicking on the image below.   

We hope when you attend Church this year you will enjoy seeing our Angels in situ! Year 5 have really enjoyed making these for Christ the King, it has been a big project!

Year 1 -  Rabbit Dolls

Year 1 have been looking at the artwork of British Craft artist Julie Arkell. Julie creates fabulous creatures from recycled materials. Our Yr 1's are learning to name and experiment with many different materials during this project. They are labeling their ideas and working as designers to create, make and show curiosity, planning their intentions for their own character. The pupils are learning to be confident when cutting fabric, holding scissors correctly and using fine motor control to develop various collage approaches.

Our designs are already great fun! Here are a few ideas below. What creative and imaginative children we have here at Battyeford!

The Cowboy Rabbit Doll!

Fantastic annotation on display here, totally independent! Wow learning!

Below is a picture of one of Julie Arkelll's creations, you can see where we have got our inspiration from. We just love her work!

Year 4 - Rome

Year 4 are currently working on a mixed media (drawing and painting) project where they are using various materials to record and document sections of the city of Rome. In our first part of this project the pupils used inks, powder paints and acrylic paints to create a city segment onto cardboard. These were then all put together at the end of the lesson to make a single image. In future weeks we will be persevering to question and imagine new sections of our city landscapes. Each week will focus on a different material until every child has an individual layered image of their own to display. I can already tell from Week 1 that this is set to be a marvelous project!  

As part of this project we are looking at the artwork of British artist Emmie Van Biervliet. Emmie's work is magical. If you want to find out more about her work you can go directly to her website by clicking on the photo below.

Year 5 - American Art History

Mrs Deane has been super impressed with Year 5 so far this term. The level of work produced in their sketchbooks, based on their classroom theme of America has really improved this week. Following peer discussions based on creating written answers to a series of questions, pupils pulled out all the stops to create some fantastic pieces of insightful statements and illustration, showing off their understanding of their chosen artists. Each pupil chose four artists to research from American art periods beginning in the early 20th century to present day. Here are some samples of their sketchbook research...

"This artwork makes me happy because of how bright it is. What I find most interesting about this painting is how he has blended the paint really well!"

" The most interesting thing about this is how it is in the middle of the street."

"I think this artwork is about features and pattern. It is interesting because it looks like it is imaginary."

" This work makes me feel dizzy because I think it is moving"

Fantastic work Year 5!

Year 3 - Rocks and Fossils

Year 3 have been exploring real rocks for observational drawing, rock strata images for collage and fossils for producing tonal zentangles. The classroom has been set up as a carousel of activities and the pupils have been able to choose their preferred activity. They have loved these lessons!

Even Oscar the Rabbit Doll got in on the action with his black and white spots blending in to the drawing activity!

Year 2 Africa Theme in Art & Design

Year 2 have been responding to African music experimenting with a range of non-standard drawing tools. Pupils have worked to create patterns and lines that represent the language of mark making, as well as the sounds they can hear. 

Following this, we began to create larger scale painted responses. You can see by their work how their tests in the sketchbooks have progressed into a more considered approach to the pattern in music.

Next comes the response to artist Prince Twins Seven Seven. Still thinking about pattern we are working on a much smaller scale and controlling smaller drawing tools (great for fine motor control). We intend to create animal images filled with pattern in response to African artist Prince Twins Seven Seven (named as such, as he was the only surviving twin from seven sets of twins). This comes later in the term...watch out for a follow up post! 

Access Art Project (Yr4) - #ShareaBird

Last week Mrs Deane received the exciting news that Battyeford were to receive one of 120 artist works that are being posted out to schools across the UK. The project #ShareaBird has two main aims:

• To celebrate and highlight the diversity of artists and makers in the UK today
• To demonstrate the importance of visual arts education for all

Click on this picture below to find out more about Access Art and the #ShareaBird project

The picture above shows the artwork by artist Hester Cox, the piece sent to us by Access Art. Today Yr.4 children have started to respond to this piece in their art & design lessons through printmaking.

First we drew around the shape of a British bird onto tracing paper. Next we inked up a section of our table with black ink and then laid a map of Mirfield (face down) on the ink. Then tracing over our bird image onto the map, printing onto its surface by drawing with a pencil (the force of the pencil pushing down onto the ink). Further to this we used photographic imagery of our school playgrounds and looked at the layers and textures within these images, drawing these into the centre of our birds (just like artist Hester Cox does). Then came the big reveal!

This is not the end of #ShareaBird as the project will now be continued through writing activities in class. Watch out for more activity on this scheme! We would like to say a big thank you to Access Art for enabling us to take part in this wonderful project.

If you would like to find out more about our artist Hester Cox, please click on the image below and this will take you to her website.