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Aberporth
Primary | Ysgol Saron | Ysgol
Llangadog | Ysgol Llangynfelyn My Square
Mile 2006 - Places and Spaces
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Artist's Statement My Square Mile Ysgol Llangynfelyn, Taliesin Artist: Catrin Webster We began by discussing with the teachers and head the best way to organize the project. I had worked in the school before and they were keen to make the most of the potential learning opportunities across the curriculum within the school. It was decided that the school would adopt the project and that the teachers would work outside of my contact time with the children to enable all of the children in the whole of the school to be involved. It is a small village school with some fifty pupils so we divided the middle age class in two, creating a group of children aged four years to seven and a second group of children seven to eleven. My aim was to encourage the children to look critically and closely at their local environment; to learn some skills so that they could document their observations or communicate their imaginations. It is hard to find a balance between training and teaching. In training a certain skill, technique, or idea is communicated. In teaching a philosophy around an idea s discussed revealing the nature of some thing rather than its practical application. With out skills or techniques it is hard to express ideas or gain a more in depth knowledge. For me the shortness of time is always frustrating because a project which suggests a different way of looking, or thinking can become the staring point for an extended journey of learning. My first day in the school was a half session to introduce the project to the children and discuss what they knew, noticed liked or disliked about their environment. What in fact is a square mile? In discussion with the teachers it was decided that we would take the younger group out for a walk around the village paying particular attention to how things had changed. How, for example a house with a huge front window may have once been something else. What could it have been? We stopped and drew the building. Drawing as looking. Drawing as thinking. How do you draw a building when you are very young and have little experience of thinking about this problem? First we looked and talked about what shapes could be seen in the make up of the building – rectangles, squares, triangle and circles. Where were they in relation to each other. Then we set about to draw them. And the building began to emerge on their paper. WE had the opportunity to go inside. To further explore what the building was. And so we wandered the village stopping and drawing. We made telescopes to pick out details –rolled paper tubes. We drew the stain glass windows of the chapel – which later became the basis for a design project. We made a 360 degree drawing of the sky line – where the earth met the sky, turning once, twice, thrice and finally for a forth time. Where and what is North – where does the sun set and rise?
Second session we looked at ordinance survey maps and tried to see if we could work out what the symbols represented and why. Then we made up our own symbols and created our own maps from the walks we had made. Younger children who liked to draw big could have their symbols reduced on the photocopier so the could use them on a smaller scale map. We also used the skyline photos as stencils to make sponged paintings of landscapes – by photocopying the drawings and cutting them into two pieces along the drawn line – sky and earth. And with the drawings of the village they had made we now tried to draw back into their drawings of buildings how it might have been – sweet shops, shoe shops etc; present and past coexisting – history as an imagined land. The next session we looked at the school and its grounds. Using the newfound drawing skills we sat and drew the school the collected rubbings of different textures. Back in the classroom the cut the records of textures into shapes they had drawn when looking at the school and build a picture of the building with them. The next session I brought in a stencil I had cut out of card of a flat packed building. What was it – how did the rectangles, triangles fit together? They used my stencil as a plan to make their own building plan which they cut out, stuck together, papier-mâchéd and then painted using their drawings and textures as reference. The children when on a forest walk, they collected leaves. We made trees using a sheet of A4 recycled paper for the trunk rolled into a cone and stuck with tape; half an A4 for a branch; a quarter for a branch off that etc. Then they papier-mâchéd them painted them and attached their found leaves – basic building structure. The whole school went on a trip to the centre of alternative technology (CAT) and into a slate mine – to look at past and present, inside and outside, geology, geography and architecture. The older group repeated many of the activities I had done with the younger group with their teacher. We decided that they would take the opportunity to think about what the village may look like in the future. To enable them to draw some of their imaginary designs, part inspired by , CAT, part by the present village and our discussions, I showed some basic drawing skills. One point perspective to draw an interior. Two point for a building. Use of shading to suggest an illusion of tree dimensionality. We were going to build these designs, so we looked at drawing to scale and they made plans. This was great when the architect came to the school because they could now interpret his drawings because they had gone trough the process of making them themselves. They then constructed scale models with card. These were reinforced and covered in mod rock them painted. On
the final session the children constructed their village, old and
new, on the floor of the hall. They used Christmas lights to illuminate
it then using their drawing kills sat and drew aspects of their constructed
village. In the evening the children came back to the school with
their parents to look at the village and their drawings. The project
had become an event and part of the life of the village, which the
children had studied and which had inspired their imaginations and
curiosities.
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Teacher's Statement Report on “The Square Mile” Art Project
The value of this project has depended on the valuable contributions of Catrin Webster, our resident artist and Mrs Anne Daniell, our art co-ordinator within the school. Indeed the value and purpose of the work would be lessened incredibly were it not for the vision and drive of these two. We are very grateful for their hard work. Pupils have had the opportunity to work individually, in small groups and as a whole class. The children’s sketchbooks show the wide variety of skills that they have been taught, and show the depth of understanding that they needed to complete that work. Artistic techniques have been taught that would be out of reach for normal class teachers, but have been taught with enthusiasm and patience by Catrin. Her vision and passion for the work has been extraordinary, and she has bubbled continuously with ideas and suggestions of how to improve the work, and move it forward. All those involved have gained much through the cross-curricular work which this project has entailed, since the planning stages tied in history, geography, language, maths as well as art and design and technology. ( see below ) The children and staff were given a new and alternative opportunity to study these subject areas through the medium of art, and were enthralled by the things they learnt. They have had opportunity to visually study the area, by taking walks and visits, and spending time observing and sketching what they saw, and considering the effects of history and geography on what they saw. Parents have commented on the change in the children due to this project, as they take more time to observe the environment around them. All those involved with the project have gained from it. The staff and adults had an opportunity to reflect on their teaching styles and to consider and try alternatives. The pupils have had a chance to learn in an a fresh and interactive way, and have also learnt many life-skill lessons. It has been very pleasing to see the pupils respond well to the stimulus given, and particularly those who often have difficulty learning, who have responded far above that which would usually be expected of them. The
project has been a great success, and as a school our thanks go to
Catrin and Anne who have guided, directed and ensured enjoyment and
pleasure through learning.
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