Last week the teachers and children at St Saviour’s had their first visit from Liz Atkin, visual artist, as part of our Paul Hamlyn Foundation funded project Confident Creators. During the visit Liz and the teachers had time to plan the lesson together, then the teacher led the activity with Liz giving support and finally, but crucially the teachers and Liz reflected on how the lesson had gone. These art lessons are all about giving children time and space to experiment with art, to learn new techniques, to work together and to take risks with their drawings. In the morning year 2 experimented with paper cutting – building pictures using just coloured paper and scissors (no pencils!). The children gradually built up a range of materials to use in their final pieces and the pictures they produced were all different, but with children able to talk about their work and sometimes build narratives from them. In the afternoon year 3 explored cave paintings through producing their own collaborative pieces. They experimented with mark making using charcoal and chalk, with texture through crumpling their paper canvases and experimenting with drawing outside on the tarmac playground, and with paint outlining animals and shapes having looked at some cave painting examples. In their groups the children started to build a narrative about their paintings. Teachers commented on how helpful it was to concentrate on process rather than worrying about a finished product that needed to adhere to a uniform piece. We are really looking forward to exploring more media, working together and developing their creativity.
The Brixton Learning Collaborative 
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