Year 7 Get Creative With Specialist Workshops
5th March 25
Our Year 7 students enjoyed two days of creative workshops in the spring sunshine.
While Art, Computing and Design Technology are all interwoven into students’ timetables as part of the Explorations programme, these day-long workshops gave students the time and opportunity to really get to grips with the equipment, ideas and techniques involved in these creative arts.
Each student took part in two workshops (from a choice of three) which all shared the theme: ‘Connection to Nature’.
You can read more about each workshop below (scroll to the bottom to find a gallery of all their wonderful creations!)
Art Workshop
Head of Art, Will Lewer, explained: “The project we asked the Year 7s to take on was about journeys. Initially they looked at journeys of migration, of people and birds and that idea of recording a journey. We decided to look at their journey to school every day and we asked them to do a 10-minute blind drawing and draw the experiences or things which happen to them on the way to school.
“Then, inspired by the Marshall Islanders stick navigational sculptures, they made a stick sculpture of their journey based on their drawing. They also did charcoal sketches of these sculptures which focused on the overall shape and movement of the object rather than capturing it exactly.
“Next, we asked them to think about a detail from their journey and create a 3D model of it in cardboard which was then pressed into clay to create a relief which we made a cast from in plaster.
So while we’re looking at how to map a journey in each of these tasks, we used many different artistic processes. They have used pen and ink, sculpture, charcoal, clay, plaster and looked at the same topic through all of these lenses.”
Digital Art
Down in the Computer Lab, students were learning all about the basics of Photoshop and how to use the software to create a digital graphic. They were then tasked with using their newly minted skills to create an image which illustrated how light and movement can be shown in nature.
Head of Computing, Saurabh Gupta, talked us through the session: “They looked at the brush tools, magic eraser and transform tools, how effects like blur can give a sense of motion and adjusting the levels in an image to create and enhance lighting effects.
“They also looked at setting up organised folders for their work and about different saving formats in order to be able to use their image.”
Design Technology
The DT building was aflutter as the students taking part in this session got hands-on developing their workshop skills by designing and making their own bird feeders. Students were given the basic parts for a wooden bird feeder and, after being taught essential techniques, they were supported to build and personalise their own creations.
Head of Design Technology, Miranda Socratous, loved watching the students take the same basic design and make it their own. She told us: “Each person used nature as their inspiration and came up with a design to go on the side of their bird feeder. They then edited these drawings on TechSoft to create a stencil which they transferred to onto the wood using the laser cutter.
“They had to use jigs to mark out where the holes should go to attach the parts together and used pillar and hand drills to make the holes. Some of them added an extra hole so they could add a perch for the birds. They could then customise it and make it their own. They were supported in the workshop by our DT teachers and learned how to use a Hegner saw to make wooden shapes, which they took home. Some of them used this skill to sculpt the sides of their bird feeder.
“The techniques involved in this seemingly simple project included: computer design; accurate measuring; using hand saws, clamps, jigsaws, drills and jigs; sanding; varnishing; and assembling.”
