In 2016 AccessArt launched the Children’s Art Competition, supported by Cass Art. Amongst the categories for children we had one for teachers, to acknowledge all the hard work and dedication we know you put in to inspiring and enabling children.
Thank you to all the teachers who entered – you filled us full of enthusiasm and passion!
We’re very pleased to announce the winner: Jan Miller from Moreton Hall School in Oswestry. Congratulations Jan!
Jan impressed us with the sheer energy and range of her work with the children – we’re sure the snapshot of images below will give you a flavour of the work she submitted. We hope Jan will be collaborating with AccessArt very soon to create some resources for us, so watch this space!
Jan Miller – Talented Teacher Award
Jan Miller
Year 1 Size 6-metres Collaborative Work. Ink and paint, inspired by their holiday memories.
Year 5 Size-A1 Emulsion, collage and graphite, inspired by Gainsborough’s Mr and Mrs Andrews. Her dress with a drawing of a baby doll as we believed the unfinished area of the painting could have been planned for a baby.
“I completed my degree in Illustration at Kingston University followed by a PGCE at UCL. I have almost 20 years experience of teaching Art, across the full primary and secondary age spectrum. My interests particularly lie in the students’ development of observational drawing and mixed media. I strongly believe in the use of personal sketchbooks at all levels. I expect the older students to have the same confidence and spontaneity as their younger counterparts. Similarly, I encourage the younger pupils to develop large work, over several sessions, alongside the older students. For several years I have been the Art Editor for SATIPS, a prep school magazine, to inspire Art teachers nationwide. I have recently developed Able, Gifted and Talented sessions for my own students and have extended this to a biannual event to other schools.”
Year 3 Size-A4 Wood, nails and recycled stripped wires. Self-portrait.
Year 5 Size- A4 Mock-etching (scratched card, inked and put through the printing press) Self Portrait. Inspired by Tracey Emin.
Year 4 Size-A2 Paint, oil pastel and painted-paper collage. Autumn Still-life painting with pumpkins and gourds
Year 5 Earthenware ceramics (with melted wine bottles inside) Tudor-style shoe with buckle inspired by drawings from a local shoe collection.
Year 3 Size A1 Mono-printing by inking up entire tables in my Artroom. Indian-themed portrait with birds.
Year 5 Papier-mache bowls inspired by Delft pottery and Grayson Perry’s ceramics. Theme- family heritage.
Year4 Size-A2 Mono-printing with gold leaf. Drawn from direct observation of old toys
Year 3 Size-A2 Oil pastel and graphite. Studies drawn from direct observation of sardines.
Year 4 Size-A2 Mixed media with paint, collage, oil pastel and coloured pencils. Self-portrait Inspired by Roman portraits on wood.
Year 4 Size-A1 Mixed media- paint, oil pastel, graphite. Inspired by Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ at Crosby beach.
Year 6 Size-1m width Soft sculpture- sewn painted fabric. Inspired by seaweed observation drawings and patterns by Artist Yayoi Kusama and designer Donna Wilson.
Year 5 Size-A3 2-colour Press print. Shape and patterns drawn directly from collected shells and marks made from various found objects.
Year 6 Size-A4 Photography. Directed and photographed by peers in class – recreating the poses in a historical painting.
Year 6 Size-A3 Tonal pencil drawing from own photography.
Year 4 Size-A3 Fine-liner and pencil. Drawn from direct observation of Drama props, inspired by objects in a studied painting.
Year 3 Size-A2 Drawings. Inspired by a painting of a Saint, a still life set-up composed by pupils from drama props and using viewfinders used to focus on materials, shapes, patterns and textures.
Year 3 Size-A2 Mixed media – Dip pen/ink, mono-print, map and dress makers pattern collage, fine-line, graphite, gold leaf and emulsion. Drawn from still-life set-up.
Now We Are Back
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Creativity Session at Spinney Primary School
Using Monoprinting and Sketchbooks to Explore GCSE English Literature Poetry
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What Did Your Child Make With Their Hands This Week? (and why it is important)
By Paula Briggs and Sheila Ceccarelli
If you are a parent of a primary-aged child, please ask yourself “What did my child make with their hands this week?”
For many years, AccessArt has been actively inspiring making through the sharing of excellent practice. However small the making journey, and whether the outcome leans towards craft, fine art or design, the very act of transforming the materials of the world is one of empowerment, and the skills involved need time, space and input just like any other area of learning.
We are always so grateful to be in contact with the many thousands of inspirational supporters of visual arts education – the advocates, teachers, artist-educators, facilitators, parents, arts organisations and of course the learners themselves, who all understand the value of visual arts education, and all of whom work so hard to help nurture creativity.
However, now more than ever AccessArt is becoming aware that many children are not being given the opportunities to explore making. Schools face great time pressure to deliver “more academic” subjects, and there is a shortage of specialist teachers. Whilst many children do benefit from fantastic art teaching, others do not have art lessons on a regular basis, and the teaching can be less rigorous than in other subjects.
Evidence suggests that in 2012, 1 in 12 people worked in the creative industries, and the cultural and creative industries are the fastest growing industries in the UK*. If we do not provide our children with the opportunity to develop their creativity, and we as parents do not demand a place for creativity within our schools, then we are failing to enable our children to meet their potential, and we are not preparing them adequately for the future:
“The pipeline to the creative industries begins at preschool, continues through primary school, through to secondary school and into HE and FE. At each of these stages, and every time we fail to provide an opportunity for children and young people to explore their relationship with the world through making and drawing, we weaken this pipeline, and potentially prevent the next generation of creative individuals from helping build the creative industries of the future.” Paula Briggs, AccessArt
As parents, we want to support our schools and our children’s education, and we recognise teachers work very hard to deliver the best education possible. However, if you feel your school might do more to support your child’s creativity, then there are some simple positive things which can be done:
Show your Support and Interest
You probably know what your child is learning about in maths and english, but what about in art?
Take an active interest in art in school and find out what your child is learning about. How often do they have art lessons? What are the lessons like? What are they learning about? Which materials are they experiencing?
Ask!
Time spent making, or time spent drawing, is never time wasted: it is an investment. Art should have an equal weight to other curriculum areas, and in fact there is a body trying to move away from a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, English, Maths) towards STEAM (Science, Technology, English, Art, Maths).
If you do feel your child would benefit from more time spent on creativity, then do express your concerns to the school. There may be many reasons for the perceived lack:
Priority given to other subject areas/time pressure on the school day. Some schools choose not to timetable art for a short time each week and instead choose to run art weeks. If a school offers pupils 1 hour art per week, that equates to approximately 39 hours of art per year. Find out how your school timetables art lessons, and if art seems thin on the ground due to time pressure, request art as a subject is given more weight. You might also want to contact the school governors with your concern.
Lack of specialist teaching/knowledge. Most primary schools have an art or creativity coordinator who will help teachers plan the curriculum in this area. Subject knowledge can be built through organisations such as AccessArt, which aims to inspire and enable schools through the sharing of resources, or NSEAD, who have regional networks to support teachers. Make sure your school knows about these organisations and about how they support art teachers.
Please get in touch if you would like more help as a parent to help support creativity in children.
In a cottage in northern Scotland, Megan Boyd twirled bits of feather, fur, silver and gold into elaborate fishing flies — at once miniature works of art and absolutely lethal. Wherever men and women cast their lines for the mighty Atlantic salmon, her name is whispered in mythic reverence, and stories about her surface and swirl like fairy tales. With breathtaking cinematography and expressive, hand painted animation, Kiss the Water adheres to and escapes from traditional documentary form, spinning the facts and fictions of one woman’s life into a stunning film about craft, devotion, love, and its illusions.
Enjoy the preview of Kiss the Water below – the film is sure to inspire.
