The term began with a drawing programme to get everyone back into the swing of school and the practice of looking and recording what we see. Brand new sketchbooks were quickly filled with exciting observational sketches and mark making. Everyone drew every day for four weeks. 

In years 1 and 2 we have linked closely with the main curriculum, my aim being to introduce the children to a wide variety of materials so they could experiment with them. We have drawn, painted, worked with clay and made a huge 3-dimensional ‘family tree’ with beautiful leaves.

In year 3 the children have been making, making, making. The focus being to develop dexterity and control a variety of media. Making clay pots, impressing them with stamped marks and painting them was a great success. For the remainder of the term we have been making books and developing them in individual ways, the key area of skill development being on cutting and gluing as well as a lots of fun learning how to create marbled paper.

In year 4 there has been triumph! The children have worked on individual paintings of the forest. We began by stapling A1 paper to the nursery fence so they could experience the feeling of painting while standing ‘facing the canvas’. Huge learning has taken place in colour mixing and then adjusting those colours. As the weather changed, we moved inside, adding pattern and details in many ways and with every material we could think of. The results are fantastic, I am very proud of them all.

In year 5 the focus this term is printing, and we began with the huge project of painting an oak tree on the new yurt floor, and subsequently printed hundreds of leaves on to its branches. The reception children added acorns and Mr Buckland was challenged with the task of sealing the floor with a few coats of varnish! We took a break then from the hard work and lit the pizza oven in the forest and made our own pitta pizzas. Wetter weather drove us inside to the classroom and we have begun to develop pattern making skills printing with fingers, found objects and of course the trusty potato.

In year 6 we are working 3-dimensionally, building skills. The children experimented with ‘Mod-roc’ (Plaster of Paris bandages) to cover an old shoe which they then painted. We then began to work in wire, making tiny figures and a life-sized model of their own hand. The children used a variety of wire and pliers and have been learning to overcome their  frustrations as they work with more difficult materials! Lovely sculptures are emerging. This work is the foundation for the more challenging sculptural figure they will be making after the half term holiday.