Sense of Place

Summer 2024

“Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive.”

Sir Anthony Gormley

Wincham Community Primary

Flashes

Year 2 created images of local beauty spot Neumann's Flashes. The nature reserve is used by children and families for recreational purposes and is a place of calm and tranquility. The flashes provide an abundance of nature now, a place for many species visit and make their home but in fact, they were home to an industrial wasteland, when Northwich's salt industry fell into decline and decay.

watercolour pencils and oil pastels

Neumann's flashes remind us that nature can recover if we make the choice to care about it and value its importance for our own lives. They give us an important message for in own times of climate change and declining biodiversity.

Dyptich with collage celebrating the biodiveristy living in what was a wasteland.

Hartford Manor Community Primary

Hartford Manor and Nursery school is surrounded by nature. Marshall's Arm is a spectacular nature reserve, right on the school's doorstep. Hartford Manor take every opportunity to take their learning outdoors.

Year 3 used the nature reserve as inspiration for their sense of place. Using collage they recreated the wild places where they learn and enjoy being in the natural world.

Around Us

Beneath Our Feet

The Russett Special School

Weaverham

This work was made by the wonderful students at The Russett Special School. The Russett serves students aged 2-19 with severe and complex learning difficulties. Having taken a walk around their village students chose to depict one of the oldest cobbled streets, 'Woodward Street'. Their research led them to discover that in the Middle Ages, craftsmen lived on the street, working in yards behind. The many textures in the student's cobbles reflect the many textures and feelings you can experience in places and that a sense of place can be multi facetted, involving the ancient and modern and all our senses.

Leftwich Primary Academy

Blue Bridge

'I know where that is! I see the bridge when I go for walks along the river with my family.'

Year 2 and 4 made a model of the iconic blue bridge across the river Weaver, connecting Northwich to Hartford.

Leftwich children's blue bridge is made of cardboard, hosepipes, kebab sticks, foil, mod-roc and painted in acrylic.

Read, learn and connect to the community

The Weaver Hall museum is hosting Northwich Library until the new library is refurbished. Leftwich children say thank you to the Weaver Hall Museum for keeping the library going and bringing so many of their books to their doorstep.

Watercolour pencil and oil pastel

Kingsmead Community Primary

Hundertwasser never visited Northwich but if he had...

Year 2 and 4 channeled the vibe of Austrian Eco Artist Hundertwasser to celebrate their town.

Pen, pastel and ink wash

Year 2 thought about local landmarks in the area. They wanted to choose buildings they recognised and which were important to them. The children made careful observations using pencil, pastels and pen and used acrylic paint for the background. Children will go on to study Hundertwasser's work in year 3 or 4.

Lower Peover CE Primary

Anderton Boat Lift

Year 2 and Year 4 made this work of the Anderton Boat Lift because it is one of the most famous (alnd large) industrial landmarks in the Northwich area. The life connects the River Weaver with the Trent and Mersey canal. It linked us to the Manchester Ship Canal, the superhighway of its day.

Using different media and techniques such as painting, sponging and stipling the children showed the different textures in the natural and man made world.

acrylic, oil pastel and watercolour on canvas

ink, paper and fabric collage on canvas

The Anderton nature park has been a special place as part of Year 2 studies on plants, insects and other animals.

Witton Church Walk Primary Academy

More Tea Vicar?

Children made something of an installation for their sense of place centred around St Helen's church. Grade 1 listed, the building dates back to the 14th century. The coffee and cake, soup and bread and other models reflect the church as a place that welcomes all visitors.

Charles Darwin Community Primary

Condate

At Charles Darwin, the salt industry, its importance and impact on the local area is woven into the curriculum. 'Condate' is a celtic work meaning confluence (of two rivers). It is thought the proximity to two rivers and presence of salt made the area a perfect place for a Roman settlement. THe Romans called their town Condate and salt and the rivers Dane and Weaver have continued to shape our home ever since.

Families in Northwich also enjoy the town centre paddling pool just below St Helen's church. Open during the summer it provides welcome relief on warm summer days.

St Bede's RC Primary

Visit Weaverham

Year 2 have been exploring the local area around our school. They found lots of interesting features and landmarks.

Buildings from the Blue Plaque Historical Trail, local woodland areas Owley Wood and Thorn Wood, the Memorial Orchard and St Bede's Church are all represented in our Sense of Place.

Rudheath Primary Academy

Rudheath Primary is opposite the Roberts Bakery. The sense of place not only involves the loaves passing along behing the huge windows but also the smell of baking bread.

Comberbach Primary and Nursery Academy

Flock

Nature reserves, parks, rivers and lakes in and around Northwich are home to many species of birds. The health of bird populations can be used as a barometer to measure the health of nature more generally. The RSPB annual Big Garden Birdwatch in January tracks the health of British birdlife and can be the "canary in the coalmine", warning us of threats to other species including our own.

Little Leigh Primary Academy

Year 4 used tracing paper to create layers and interesting images.

Davenham CE Primary

Davenham

The Blue Bridge, St Wilfrid's and the Bull's Head feature among Davenham's many landmarks.

Antrobus St Mark's CE Primary

Our Village

We are a mixed year 2 and 3 class. To get started we discussed the key features of our town, Antrobus. We made decisions on what was important to us: the school, church and alpaca farm, the phone box, library and may pole. We visited some of these places and made drawings in our sketchbooks. Back in school we used different media: pencil crayons, watercolours and pastels. To make out work we painted the background and redrew our nbest sketchbook work, outlining in black pen.

Lostock Gralam CE Primary

Year 4 reflected on the meaning of community and how this is shown through a special place: our local church. Children visited the church to sketch it and everybody contributed a small part to the painting; by including everybody's contribution we reflect working together in a community.

Year 2 took photographs of places in the local area which meant something to them, places they thought were an important marker of the community.Photos of these places were places with the makers' hands to represent what community and a sense of place means.

Sandiway Primary Academy

The prints of the round tower are in different directions, reflecting the different ways you approach the tower at the crossroads.

The tower which signals turn off for Sandiway inspired Year 2's LS Lowry inspired work with matchstick people to reflect the wonderful local community.

Year 4's tower is made of portraits of the children.

Winnington Park Community Primary

Building Bridges

Year 2 were inspired by the two bridges in the town. The Hayhurst and Town bridges which span the river Weaver were both built in 1899 and have become an iconic part of the Northwich townscape.

Using marker pen to show the strong materials and many patterns on the bridges the children then used blue and green watercolours to reflect the natural world or water and plant life alongside the waterways.

The children called the piece 'Building Bridges' to celebrate the warm welcome they hope everyone will recieve on coming to visit or live in Northwich.

Children in year 4 looked to the unique monument, Anderton Boat lift in their studies of British transport. They used collage and pointillism techniques.

Weaverham Forest Community Primary

George's House

Year 2 's picture of the outside of their classmate George's house opens to reveal the many architectural features within.

Let us tell you a story about a house we knowWho's thatched roof was built many moons ago.This is the house of George and has stood for 100s of yearsWe even got to go inside and look around with cheers.But what was it made us all look and marvel at this place?Well inside were wooden beams galore, some nearly touching our face!So of course when we all got the brief of what the art project needed us to complete.We had to sketch our own St George's house, the beams, the fireplace, how neat!Year 2

Daffs and Thatch

What Year 4 love about their thatched cottages in Weaverham is when the daffodils come up and signs that spring has sprung.

pen and ink

The Weaverham Primary Academy

Plaza

The Plaza is a 1930's iconic building. Once a cinema it is being transformed and restored to be a live music and arts venue for the town.

Dutton Viaduct

The children made a model of the viaduct as part of their study on Rivers this term. Children learned about different types of bridges and the iconic arches. Many children visit the viaduct to walk their dogs and the model was made with reference to the personal photographs they took while out and about.

Mouton Community Primary

Stone the Crows!

The Moulton Crows have become a symbol of the village.

Great Budworth CE Primary

St Mary and All Saints

A big part of the school community and sense of place at Great Budworth is the village church.

Cuddington Primary Academy

Team Cuddington

Year 4 used photographs of themselves to bring to life the tower on the A556, the landmark you see to turn off the main road and into Cuddington.

Year 2 made self portraits to reflect their 'sense of place' together. Studying their own faces and using profile sketches to project onto maps of Sandiway and Cuddington, where most children live. At Cuddington children love making work together so they have merged everyone's work into one beautiful piece of work.

Alone we can all do a little bit but together we can do so much more.

Whitegate CE Primary

Vale Royal Abbey

Vale Royal Abbey is rich in history and has links to the school at Whitegate.

The foundation stone was laid in 1277 and the site called Vallis Regalis (Vale Royal). The village is probably called after the white gate at the entrance to the Abbey.

Year 2 children thought about Community - a sense of place. They thought about people, family and friends, as well as places, church and school. Children reflected on times we come together like Maypole dancing and places like the rolling hills as well as the history of the Abbey and village. They marked their reflections and understanding using bold wax resist with ink washes, and pen drawings.

Hartford Primary Academy

Blue Bridge

St Wilfrid's RC Primary

This abstract interpretation of the River Weaver is by children in year 2 and 4.

The children's work was inspired by looking at photographs of the river. Children painted the background and, once dry, plotted spiralling double lines. Children made small individual pictures associated with the river and banks in coloured pencils.

Year 4 manipulated photographs to create a border and the children wrote between the spirals how the river makes them feel.

Meander

Twenty four primaries and one special school made work for the Northwich Education Partnership summer show at Baron's Quay. This year we were pleased to be working with Mid Cheshire Rail Partnership and there are plans to showcase the children's work in a permanent display at Northwich station.

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