Sculptures in schools
An initiative supporting the development of sculpture in schools within the borough providing opportunities for pupils and teachers to experience the practice and processes of creating and appreciating sculpture
Background to project An initiative supporting the development of sculpture in schools within the borough providing opportunities for pupils and teachers to experience the practice and processes of creating and appreciating sculpture
ACAVA (Association for Cultural Advancement Through Visual Art) with the support of the Hammersmith and Fulham Improvement Service and the Arts team, have secured funding from John Lyon’s Charity to support the development of sculpture in Hammersmith and Fulham schools.
In the recruitment of sculptors for the residencies we have ensured that their own artistic practice is directly relevant to the aims of the project. The residencies will be planned in order to meet the following aims:.
Aims of project
- To provide opportunities for pupils of schools in Hammersmith and Fulham to experience the practice and processes of creating and appreciating sculpture through artists’ residencies.
- To enable pupils to gain insight into the artists’ own practice as well as excercising their own ideas and imagination
- To provide professional development in sculpture to enable teachers to broaden their technical skills and art and design knowledge.
- To create a specific learning resource for teachers to encourage and support the development of sculpture in schools after the project.
Activities
Artists residencies in schools
Initial Meeting for all teachers
School teachers and artists will attend an initial project introduction.
Planning meeting at the school
There will be an individual planning meeting for teacher, artist and project coordinator at the school, before each project start.
Sculpture workshops
The artist will work for 10 sessions, (half a day) with one class and one teacher. Owing to health and safety artists may need for the class to be divided in order that they may work with half at one time. For example half in the morning and half in the afternoon. Secondary schools may find this difficult with timetable constraints and therefore this would be discussed with the school.
Insets
2 twilight insets per term for teachers from 4 – 5.30 pm on dates to be agreed with the school.
From the following list, schools will be able to prioritise the process they want to develop:
| Process | Technique | Materials |
Modelling | Using plastic materials to shape objects | Plasticine, clay, plaster, cement etc |
Carving | Cutting into materials to shape objects | Wax, polystyrene foam, breeze blocks etc |
Construction | Building objects from elements | Card, wood, plastics, metal etc |
Installation | Assembling elements and relating them to their space | Various materials, adhesives and fixings |
Owing to the high response of schools we will be working with four different schools each term.
Over the two years, each process will be taught at four levels. For each level the teacher and artist will produce a resource card. All cards will be centrally collated to create a borough resource folder for all schools.
Off-site visits to museums and galleries
During the 10 sessions the artist will introduce the school to museums, galleries and off site events. The school will be responsible for planning, arranging and the cost of the off site visit. In order that the visit is set in a meaningful learning context, appropriate planning and preparation led by teacher will need to take place. The artist will accompany the class to the Gallery but is not responsible for planning or organising the visit.
The Tate Modern has a good range of sculpture and installation and provide excellent free educational opportunities eg. schools are able to book a 60 minute Gallery talk for KS1 – 5. Please see the pink section for information on the Tate at the back of this pack.
**Please remember to bring drawing materials with you on your visit**
Materials/equipment and project expenditure.
The project is free to schools, with a budget of £250 per term, per school for materials and a further £250 for equipment. Artists will introduce new materials and sources, including scrap banks. All materials and equipment will need to be discussed by the artist and teacher and a materials and equipment list drawn up by the artist. The equipment and materials must be signed off by the headteacher.
Ordering materials/ equipment:
Schools have regular suppliers and so schools may order materials and equipment for the project. The school will then invoice ACAVA for the cost at the end of the project. Artists may need to source specialised equipment and materials that are bot available from educational suppliers.
Documentation
A professional photographer Justin Pippager has been employed to photograph classes during the project. We have enclosed the Permission letter which needs to be given to parents and carers of the pupils in your class prior to the visit from the photographer. This will then ensure that we know which pupils may be photographed and their photographs used in the final resource pack for the project.
**Please remember to give the permission letter out well in advance of the photographers visit to your class**
Health and safety
Each artist will have a ACAVA risk assessment for their activity in your school. They will discuss health and safety and the risk assessment with the teacher at the planning meeting and at the first session. A Guide to Safe Practice in Art & Design is an education resource researched by the National Society for Education in Art & Design with the assistance of the Health and Safety Executive.
There is an up-dated on-line 2004 version of the guide, which is now accessible on www.nsead.org In order to locate the document go to “Site plan” on the main website
Evaluation
It is very important for your school and for the project organisers to have a record of the evaluation. In order to evaluate please give out questionnaires to pupils, colleagues, and please complete your own questionnaire. Evaluation forms will be forwarded to you. If your school has your own evaluation forms which you would rather give to students please use those, but we would need you to share them with us thank you.
