Aberporth Primary | Ysgol Saron | Ysgol Llangadog | Ysgol Llangynfelyn
Morriston Primary | St. Joseph's Primary

My Square Mile 2006 - Places and Spaces
Ysgol Llangadog
Artist's Statement | Teacher's Statement

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Artist's Statement

My Square Mile - Places and Spaces 2006

Llangadog Primary School

Artist: Helen Booth

Llangadog is a village rich with architectural styles. It has traditional Welsh buildings alongside very grand houses, a beautiful church and lots and lots of details. The children love their space. They spent long hours really looking at particulars. Each architectural style pulled up different problems and solutions.

The class itself was enormous... 33 children in all between the ages of 7 and 9 and every one of them a real character! We talked about the past, how the village looked a hundred years ago and how it looks today, which is actually not dissimilar; only cars have made their mark. There is a deep-routed respect for the place, which the children also harbour. They enjoy their environment and their school. I had lots of fun and learnt a great deal from the children about the mythology of the place, its ordnance and its people.

We filled every moment with materials. They consumed the different methods with passion, moving really quickly through their ideas. The volume of work that they produced was quite astounding.

My Square Mile in Llangadog was about the children. They determined what they wanted to do, how they wanted to express themselves and planned the route, an emotional response to their surroundings.

We worked in pencils, both coloured and graphite, charcoal, photocopies, we printed, collaged, painted tiles, we painted, and we scaled up and scaled down. We constructed and made a stop frame animation.

The project was successful because of the commitment that the children and staff gave to the work. It’s a project that crosses over into lots of different areas of study... It’s a shame I could not have worked with the class longer!

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Teacher's Statement

My Square Mile - Places and Spaces 2006

Ysgol Llangadog School

Teacher: Shirrie Williams

We felt very fortunate as a school to be involved with the art project, ‘Our Square Mile’ .It has been a great privilege to work with our artist in residents Helen Booth. The children involved in this project were Key Stage 2 pupils Year 3 and Year 4.

This project began with pupils making sketches from first hand observations of buildings within the village. Whilst drawing from direct observation they were able to observe different shapes, patterns and architecture within each building.

The activities that followed were based on the initial observation. The observational drawings had stimulated great interest and this visual experience had enabled the pupils to explore ideas. Pupils were encouraged to choose their favourite sketch and enlarge the initial drawing on a large piece of paper, using water colours and Chinese ink to add colour and detail.

Various activities which were undertaken such as collage and tile painting which encouraged the children to develop their creativity and imagination. Children enjoyed tearing various materials instead of using scissors. They learnt that this was one effective way of producing a collage. Producing a collage enabled them to work with a variety of materials such as coloured chalk, coloured paper and charcoal with pleasing results.

The children were encouraged to observe and interpret their environment, past and present and represent their learning visually, by looking at old photographs of Llangadog and drawing how the village looks today.

During this project the children had the opportunity to work individually and in pairs to produce a variety of creative work with enjoyment. The children particulary enjoyed collaborating to produce a large picture of Llangadog, with each child taking ten seconds to draw a picture.

The children also enjoyed working with an architect which made them aware of the different types of building around the world. They could also could also appreciate the different building materials used. A great interest was shown in the stages that Gil the architect would be involved in, which included the planning stages and initial drawings.
With planning ,they also learnt the importance of measuring correctly which would be vitally important to an architect. Gil worked with the children to measure the classroom and also to calculate a suitable scale. The children then went on to make a plan of the classroom. This activity proved to be both enjoyable and educational for the children.

Working with an artist has helped the children to appreciate other artists work and to experiment with different techniques. They have had the opportunity to be creative and investigative on a small and large scale and to appreciate their own work and others.

Ysgol Llangadog School

‘ I enjoyed the art project. My drawings are much better. I have learnt how to make plans.’
Elle Poulson Year 4

‘My best activity was tile painting. I painted a house from the village.’
Cerys Hopcroft Year 4

‘It was fun and I enjoyed every activity. My favourite activity was making a collage.’
Catrin Allen Year 4

‘ I enjoyed drawing sketches of different buildings and using pen and ink to make lovely pictures.’
Iolo Year 4

‘My best activity was the ten second drawing . Everyone had a turn to draw a picture of the village.’ Kasper Andreasen Year.

 

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