Summer saw a wealth of workshops across Teignbridge. Here are more reports of inspiring and creative arts days in schools.
KENTON PRIMARY SCHOOL
Our hearts go out to all at Kenton school following a disastrous flood on Sunday September 17th. Water poured into the village and burst into the school causing very considerable damage. Pupils are currently sharing premises with nearby Kenn School. We hope that they are able to return to their own much-loved school as soon as practicable.
It was water of a much gentler kind - water colours - that occupied year 6 pupils when they took part in an art project supported by The Helen Foundation. The school wrote:
Led by Daisi-registered artist Cara Roxanne, they created four pieces inspired by our school values using water colours. All of our Year 6’s worked really hard and created some beautiful pieces that will be displayed in school. Well done and a huge thank you to The Helen Foundation and Daisi for making this art project possible.This project is a THF supported workshop facilitated by Daisi, and we are very grateful to THF for funding our project, as they have with numerous others over past years."
The children said:
“I learned that watercolors can be bled into each other to make your artwork with a bit more flair.” Harry
“The hard bit was the painting, because people painted outside of the lines”. Morgan
“I didn't know what watercolour paints were. They taught us about how to use brushes correctly so that the bristles don't bend and more! I really liked the workshop and how our paintings turned out.” Pamela
DENBURY SCHOOL
Daisi-registered artist Peter Margerum led a full-day Helen Foundation-supported workshop with youngsters at Denbury School. They spent the day making their own versions of sea creatures using recycled materials, much of which Peter had gathered from local beaches. The children loved it! The sculptures have all been attached to the the framework of the outdoor classroom, next to the the tree sculpture created by the children under Peter's guidance back in 2021 in a previous THF workshop and which is still on display. The children said afterwards (names changed to protect identities)
"Thank you! I had an amazing time in the workshop. We use tools such as drills, pliers and screws to attach plastic objects to each other to create a sea creature." Wanda
"I found it hard to decide which animal my team wanted to make but I enjoyed it so much that I want you to come back!" Daniel
"I learnt never to give up, because I was really stuck trying to put the wire through the sculpture." India
BROADHEMPSTON PRIMARY SCHOOL
Peter Margerum also worked on a similar project with all pupils at Broadhempston Primary School over two days to create a permanent piece of art/sculpture linked with their eco-school priority that was then displayed within the school to raise awareness of plastic/marine pollution. Peter said: "Many of the pupils were surprised by what they had created with basically a wide selection of waste materials and were keen to show family members at the end of the second day when the artworks had been installed outside in the school playground."
The children said (names changed to protect identities)
“I absolutely loved working hard to make my and my partner's sculpture. It was tricky because we struggled to find the right size head. It was so hard attaching the circle but we did it in the end!” Peta
“Thank you so much for inspiring us in what we can do with plastic. I loved how creative it was. It was amazingly fun when we were threading everything together.” Cara and Anne
“ I liked it because we used all these cool tools. I enjoyed making the sea horse. I am very grateful to make sea creatures with you.” Paul
COCKWOOD SCHOOL
Daisi-registered artist Becki Driscoll led a Helen Foundation-funded music workshop at Cockwood School. It was based on folk music and included: singing, songwriting, dancing, learning traditional tunes, and exploring instruments such as: violins, guitars, ukuleles, pennywhistle, Appalachian dulcimers, squeeze boxes and some percussion. Quite a list! Cockwood teacher Laura Buttree said: “The workshop was absolutely fantastic, and the children really enjoyed themselves whilst making brilliant progress in their musical skill. “
The children said afterwards (names changed to protect identities)
“I would like to learn more tunes. I hope you come again! “ Jonno
“Thank you for the best music lesson ever!“ Maria
“I really want to do drum lessons and play the piano accordion all thanks to you. I want to carry on playing the piano accordion.” Ethan
“I really love to play the violin! I really loved it because the violin made me fall in love with the instrument.” Marcus
"Thanks for a lovely day. And for letting us use your instruments like guitar, ukulele, drum and penny whistle. Playing the guitar was tricky because it hurts your fingers.” Ella