Primary Teacher UK

Find your talent

Ten areas around the country are to pilot the Government’s £25 million Find your Talent programme to give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school. Children in the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in the cultural sphere.

In time, the Government wants all young people to have the right to experience five hours of arts and culture every week.

The ten lead organisations chosen as pilots are:

• Bolton Borough Council;
• The Creative Foundation (serving Shepway District and including Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh);
• Customs House (North and South Tyneside);
• Hampshire County Council;
• Leeds Children’s Services;
• Leicestershire County Council;
• ‘Liverpool City Region’ Partnership (serving three Merseyside neighbourhoods);
• North Somerset;
• Telford and Wrekin Council; and
• Tower Hamlets.

ArtisanCam

Using ICT in ART lessons can be difficult - but by having a look at ArtisanCam on the Interactive Whiteboard or suite, you can really inspire the children and use ICT in the art lesson rather than for producing the art. This superb site is suitable from KS1 right up to KS4 and beyond. For me the best part is the Activity zone.

I can't list everything here that is worth visiting - but some of my favourites are the 'Figure it Out' for drawing bodies, charcoal drawings with Louise Bradley and the movies and interviews with Andy Goldsworthy my favourite artist.

Link: http://www.artisancam.org.uk

2012 Olympic Art

With all the controversy about the 2012 Olympic symbol what better time than to challenge the children to design their own.

Joe emailed a link to http://www.fubra.com/london2012/ which allows you to upload your own 2012 logos and then vote. Why not upload some from the children and see if they can fair any better than the one unveiled!

A great mini challenge for the children.

Art safety warning

The school science advisory service, Cleapss, has sent out a warning to all schools and local authorities about the dangers of mixing plaster of Paris with water by hand.  This was sent out after it was confirmed that a teenage girl had to have most of her fingers and thumbs amputated because of severe burns caused by mixing plaster of Paris by hand during a (secondary) art class.

Be warned! :)

Drawing made easy

If you're anything like me, whenever you attempt to draw something infront of a class, the children just laugh at you. I'm the first to admit that I can't draw - all of my drawings end up looking like some sort of animal with wonky legs and no neck.

I came across http://www.drawingcoach.com/ the other day. Drawing coach is a free website that contains step-by-step guides on drawing cartoon animals, portraits, cartoons and more. The site also provides you with drawing tips and techniques and links to free drawing software, among other things.

If you want to impress your class during the next art lesson, this site is a must.

Artroom

Artroom is another site that I picked up from my children today during the ICT lesson.  The site allows you to create your own picture using the drawing package and then display it online.  It's a simple concept that works well.  The children are keen to know that their art is displayed and have a chance to become the artist of the month.

Artroom is part of the Saatchi Gallery.  The Sattchi Gallery aims to provide an innovative forum for contemporary art, presenting work by largely unseen young artists or by established international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK.  Ideal for our budding young artists!

Link: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artroom/

stARTing Art

Nicky has emailed me a wonderfully inspiring site for art in the primary school.  Nicky's email continues: "The site, stARTing Points, covers painting, collage, 3D art, textiles, drawing and printing.  It shows examples of finished work across Foundation Stage and both key stages together with detailed schemes of work that incorporate all the necessary skills that need to be taught.  I has used it in part for my year 2 class with some very pleasing results!  Looking at all the examples throughout the site gives you plenty of new and inspiring ideas that are easily adaptable according to the age group that you teach!!  It's a lovely site that is well worth a visit."

Link: http://www.jeron.je/stARTing_points/

Any more sites worth visiting?  Let us know using the contact us links on the left.

Doodle 4 Google

A while ago I mentioned this competition - so it's only fair that we contribute to the voting to choose a winner.  Doodle 4 Google encouraged budding artists to design the Google Logo for their area.  All the finalists are now up - so vote for your favourite!

The Tate Gallery - Liverpool Cathedral

We had a superb trip to the Liverpool Tate Gallery yesterday before going to the Year 6 Leavers Service at Liverpool Cathedral.  The children loved the modern art and we had some really interesting discussions about what 'art' actually is.  I wasn't especially looking forward to the trip before hand - over 1800 Year 6 children were at the Cathedral - but it was well planned and executed so worth it.

Two things came from the trip:

1. The Tate - Fantastic place to take the children.  I thought it might be too much for them but I was wrong.  Some of the discussions that took place as we walked around were fantastic, as was the sketches that the children completed.   There is also an excellent website for the teachers with resources on many artists.  These include Constable and Kandinsky resource packs.
2. The Liverpool Cathedral - This place really caught the children's (and mine!) attention as they walked in.  The size is phenomenal and you could easily spend a half a day there with a tour guide.  It's a really beautiful place.  There is an online risk assessment form to save you writing one as well.

Doodle 4 Google

Google have sent out information to primary and secondary schools today for a new competition.  The 'Doodle 4 Google - My Britain' competition asks young people across the UK to design a doodle that represents what it means to be British today. The winning doodle, which will be displayed on the Google UK homepage for a day, will be seen by around 18 million people.

The Doodle for Google website contains everything schools need to know about the competition including a downloadable version of the School Pack with sample Google logos and lesson plans for teachers.   Schools must register by the 31 May 2006.  The Doodle Entry Deadline is 14 July 2006. 

For the full details visit the Doodle for Google webpage: www.google.co.uk/doodle4google/