During arts week, the school has once again focused on Take One Picture with The National Gallery. This year the painting was ‘A Muse (Calliope?)’ by Cosimo Tura. Each year group had their own way of introducing the image and then exploring different paths. We use a plethora of HPL skills throughout the week.
Year 3 -We developed our understanding of feelings and emotions by making inferences about The Muse before writing diary entries from her point of view. In Science, we investigated how light creates shadows and explored how artists use light, shadow and colour to make objects appear more realistic. We also linked art and maths by investigating lines of symmetry and created our own muses through collage artwork.
Year 4- After looking at the painting, we thought about the throne Calliope is sitting on. We went outside and collected different materials so we could print different patterns and experiment with marks. Then we designed our own throne and thought carefully about what a muse is and who influences our own lives. Finally using the printed marks and magazines, we collaged a throne for our modern day muses.
Year 5- In history, we looked at Greek mythology to broaden our understanding of gods, goddesses and muses. We then looked at important buildings and the mosaics within. In Geography, we used VRs to see some of the developments in ancient Greece and discuss their impact on modern day. In maths we learned Algebra. Finally, we looked at texture and ancient Greek ways of dyeing fabric (liking to Caliopes dress) and then linked back to the mosaics creating our own mosaics inspired by the mythical beasts featured in the painting.
Year 6 wanted to investigate the creature behind Calliope and researched mythical beasts. From the information we found, we created ‘top trump’ cards. Then we designed our own creatures , and working collaboratively, put our ideas together. The next stage was to make an armature from wire, foil and masking tape. This gave us the base/ skeleton to then put the clay on top and the creatures came to life!
Ismaeel: “I’ve enjoyed that we have had time to do some fun, creative activities and work together to build a throne for our art project. I felt valued when giving ideas to my team.”
Every morning during arts week, all children did a 10 minute activity to get their creative juices flowing!
Chris: ”I enjoyed making marks and it was fun to hold the pencil in different ways because our teacher always tell us to hold it properly. We had to be creative by listening to sounds. I liked the screeching sound!”
The week ended, with the now famous, Parkhill Charity Art Auction. The Parkhill community had a fantastic opportunity to bid on some wonderful artwork our children have produced.