Kingsmead Cave ~ Summer 2023
a term where we focus on caring for our environment
Just One Blade of Grass? ~ Years 2 & 4
Acrylic on canvas with recycled paper flowers ~ 1mx1mYear 2 and 4 made this work for the NEP Summer Art Show. We were so delighted to be awarded the Judge's Choice award.
Many Hands, Hearts and Minds Build a School
Ceramic Relief ~ 319 children each made a small tileEvery child in school made a ceramic square for the retirement of our school's first headteacher. Each square is a thing of beauty but when all are together we can see that our school is so much more than the sum of its parts.
EYFS
Drawing provides an opportunity for our youngest children to hone their observation skills, develop the fine motor skills that help with all recorded work and make their beautiful marks on the world.
As for painting? Painting is just a joy! In the paintings here, from the People Who Help Us at the beginning of term to the houses influenced by Kandisnky's colour mixing and imagining our summer holiday, you can see how children's colour mixing has moved from primaries to a wonderful range of colours.
Field ~ Key Stage 1
Having studied two dead artists this year, the children went on to look at one who is still alive! Sir Antony Gormley.
Antony Gormley is obsessed with human bodiues, very often his own.
We made living sculptures with our bodies. By using pictures of Antony Gormley's work to make with our bodies, we understood it more deeply.
We looked at how something like a cuboid with holes can, in fact, represent a human being.
What are these three people saying to you? What is going on here? Is one feeling a bit left out or vulnerable? Why might you think that?
We looked at Field for the British Isles.
Gormley's work of over 40000 small statues, made by 100 community volunteers raises some interesting questions.
Is the artist the person who makes the work or the person with the idea? Perhaps the Art is an interesting mix of the two?
Field for the Moonbears 2003
Our clay figures were Asian Moonbears. Like Field for the British Isles, our bears were modelled using just hands and a pencil. Ours were a little more detailed in the modelling and pencil details.
But we made our bears in a community.
Our community was ourselves, our parents, carers, grandparents and other adults who care for us.
The unit of work ended with curating an exhibition.
The Built Environment ~ Lower Key Stage 2
Year 3 and 4 studied Charles Rennie Macintosh and architecture as an applied art. Children honed their skills in using pencil, pen and charcoal for drawing, developing their understanding that different media need different approaches and that some are more controlable than others! They learned that there are many jobs and careers in Art and Design in what are known as applied Arts. Architecture, graphic design, illustration, furniture and wallpaper design are where artists put their talents to work in making things that are useful as well as beautiful.
Can you see any of our local Northwich buildings in the work below?
Birds in Art ~ Upper Key Stage 2
Year 5 and 6
Older children focussed on drawing this term. They experimented with a range of media and learned about different artists inspired by birds. First children looked at artists working today including Sarah Esteje (who works mainly in biro), Victo Ngai (whose illustrations appear in magazines like Vogue) and Craigie Aitchison (a Scottish painter known for vibrant colours).
We then looked at the father of all bird artists: John, James Audubon. Audubon was the first artist to draw birds from life. An ornithologist, naturalist and hunter as well as a painter, travelled widely to observe his birds and catalogue them. All his work represents the birds at scale, life size, printed in huge books. His birds are beautifully shown in action and in their natural habitats. Audubon's work was not only admired for its beauty but provided natural historians and scientists with a catalogue of 435 lifesize prints of the bird of life of North America.
Finally it was time to investigate drawing media in depth. Children worked collaboratively around one A1 sheet of drawing paper, experimenting with different media which they used alone or combined.
Final pieces were made based on the endangered Songbirds of Indonesia. Children researched how the Indonesian forests are falling silent due to human demand for songbirds in cages.
Children chose an endangered bird to draw in the style of Audubon in their own choice of media.
Our drawings invite us to think:
Why do humans take animals out of the wild?
Will these songbirds still be heard in the Indonesian rainforest when we are adults?
Making Music
The Cheshire Show is an annual agricultural show where Kingsmead Musicians make a regular appearance. This concert is very special. It was Mrs Whitham's last one after nineteen years directing our ensemble playing; Mrs W and Ms S (also retiring) were so proud of all our young musicians. This year children played a repertoire including Beethoven, Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi. Kingsmead pupils get that Classical Music is for everyone - unlimited, with the potential to enrich our lives. We had also been caught in rain of biblical proportions and everyone was soaked to the skin!
Kingsmead Cheshire Show 2023.mp4Musicians learn instruments in school and in year 4 children can choose from brass (trumpet, horn or trombone), strings (violin and cello) and woodwind (clarinet or saxophone). Usually children join Band in Year 5 but this year some super keen Year 4s on cello and trumpet have joined early.
You can find out more about learning an instrument at Kingsmead at https://www.kingsmead.cheshire.sch.uk/curriculum/arts-culture/music-lessons.
The Music doesn't stop after Year 6...
This year Summer a delight for music lovers. Ex-students returned for a final concert. Mrs Curry from Leftwich High brought the High School band. So many of our ex-musicians are making a fine contribution to the musical life of their high school.
Or after HIgh School...
Music plays a big part in so many of our young people's lives. Studying it at university, studying many other subjects and playing in university, college and ensembles like Bostock Band.
Eva and Sarah were among our first cellists in school. Now ex-pupils they went on to study for GCSEs at Leftwich High and A levels who at Sir John Deane's played cello duets for Ms Stewart's retirement party. Making the evening extra special.
Eva & Sarah 1.movEva and Sarah 2.movVID_20230718_140410.mp4Ex students play a Kingsmead Klezmer quintet
Freya on clarinet played clarinet at the Liverpool Phil Youth Orchestra. She is currently studying Biomedical Science at Lancaster university as well as taking a leading role in the university's Music Society.
Marcel on bassoon has just finished his GCSEs and moves on to Sir John Deane's in September. Marcel plays with the Halle Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra. He will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall for the NYO BBC Prom.
Tom on French horn played with the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra where he was taught by principal horn player Tim Jackson. Tom is now studying for a PhD in artificial intelligence at Warwick University.
Freddie on oboe has just finished GCSEs at Leftwich High and moves onto SJD with Marcel. Freddie also plays the violin beautifully. He was head person in his final year at Leftwich High School.
Emma on flute is the Music graduate of the quintet. She studied Music with flute and singing at Bangor University. She has sung Elgar's Dream of Gerontius at the BBC Proms with the Halle choir and now is developing her career in HR.
2023_07 CiaraM.MOVPiano lessons in school
Ciara learns piano with Mrs Harper and is getting ready for grade two. Piano is Ciara's second instrument; she is also one of our fantastic violinists who has been heard playing Vivaldi amongst others this year. Ciara's musicianship shines through whichever instrument she's on. You can play the notes. You can play the music. Or you can do both! You can also see from the T shirt that here at Kingsmead, We keep hitting the note right up to the last minute of the end of every school year.
