Art

We are lucky enough to have a specialist art teacher working in our custom built Art Room within the school. Phoebe Coulson has worked in Primary schools for 6 years, she is a real expert in Art teaching and has run her own successful Art Club, which has operated in a number of schools.

The art curriculum is cross-curricular and is closely linked to the children's wider learning, specifically to their classroom topic. It also draws on the environment, current affairs, as well as local history, geography and science links in order to develop the children's understanding of the world around them.  The Art curriculum is also inspired by music, cuisine and belief systems.

Each lesson builds upon the last, to demonstrate a pattern of enquiry. Children begin their work with research and recording of ideas on a theme; they then experiment with materials and design ideas to create their work, which is then self and peer evaluated.

The Art room at Heber is an extremely exciting and special place. Children enter a large and bright studio to explore and access a multitude of objects, imaginative ideas and making opportunities. Children are introduced to a wide range of materials and processes, artists, designers and outside stimuli.

Realising and nurturing personal ideas is paramount and encouraged through the use of recording observations in sketchbooks, where both the imagination and accurate looking skills are developed and refined. There are many types of drawings and reasons to draw, which the children uncover through different starting points revealed in the lesson.

Providing the children with wealth of materials and processes to create with is extremely important. We demonstrate how a contemporary artist can work from upcycling waste materials into a myriad of mixed media sculptural work, as well as practising skills in craft, graphic design, print, drawing and of course painting.  Children can express themselves using a variety of different media such as clay, paint, textiles and collage.

Children are given the space, time and support of enthusiastic staff to help them develop their potential. When children ask, ’Can I do this?’ they are told, 'Yes you can as you are the artist'.

We are keen for the children to participate in as many art experiences as possible and take advantage of living in a progressive and creative city.

 

  • Year 3 and 4 entered the Global Canvas Competition earlier this year (read more on this below!)
  • Year 1 and 2 have competed in the 4th Plinth Awards.
  • All Year groups participated in the local Mother’s Day Portrait competition this year with Heber being extremely proud to have one of the only State school winners amongst many private schools in the area.  Winners and participants work was displayed in local shops in the area so that children and families were able to view.
  • All year groups were given the opportunity to enter the Royal Academy Young Summer Show competition this summer.
  • Year 4 have a trip to the National Portrait Gallery this year to assist and inspire them in their Portraits topic.
  • Year 4 take part in street sketching in the local area as part of their ‘Our Art in the Middle of our street topic.’
  • Year 5 visit Dulwich Park to experience sketching ‘en plein air’ for the Nature in Art topic.

We hope to cram in even more Art experiences this coming year, exposing Heber children to as much creative thinking as possible.

The Art Room organises and hangs an annual show that celebrates the hard work and success of our children.  All parents and carers are invited to attend and marvel at the artistic talent that Heber children have shown.

In the past, Heber art has appeared on a local housing development in East Dulwich and featured on the huge video wall at Waterloo station as well as other rail stations throughout the land as part of a Christmas themed competition. Children have also won local art competitions and exhibited this success in local shops.

We entered the Global Canvas Competition which is set up to encourage young people to express their concern for the environment through art. Children cross disciplines with Science and Citizenship through their extensive research of environmental issues that informs the most arresting visual outcomes. We are very proud to have come 3rd in the Global Canvas Competition 2019 with our Hydrothermal Vents Habitats of The World entry!  Our children attended the finals at the Natural History Museum to display their work, hear insightful artist talks on Conservation Art, as well as present their own film (documenting the children at work) and giving a speech about their chosen habitat. This was an incredible experience which we hope will have a lasting impact.

This film documents the children throughout their extraordinary making process, from conception through to delivery of an incredibly diverse Coral Reef installation.  We hope you agree that this film is an incredible reflection of their attitude, compassion, collaboration, and determination to achieve such beautifully captivating and considered works.

Please watch our exciting entry of Year 3 making their chosen Habitat of the World, Hydrothermal Vents.