Belonging
Summer 2021 - together again, reconnecting with each other and the world
Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing.
Marc Chagall
We Are Stronger When We Love and Learn Together
collageChildren in year 2 and 4 from St Bede's RC Primary School share a beautiful, colourful, simple message. Perfect work to open our Cave Summer Show.
Work from Crowton CE Primary shows how important faith, community, church family and home are to the children in their small village school, a bit like one big family.
Who are you?
Drawing and Collage
Cuddington Primary School thought about what it means to belong somewhere.
To understand where or what we belong to, first, we need to know ourselves.
Children researched this by drawing on aspects of their home, country, world, and future. They explored their own family, interests, dreams and ambitions. Children made drawings and assembled ideas to represent who they are. Cuddington's work shows that our identity is multi-facetted, complex and defined by the people, places and ideas we belong with.
Artwork produced by pupils in Year 2 and Year 4 at Davenham CE Primary.
Children and their teachers have thoroughly enjoyed exploring their understanding of belonging further and developing art skills together.
The photograph of a Year 4 child's hand linked all their discussion on belonging to his own identity through contrasting colours, and he felt really strongly that finger/handprints should be incorporated into our final piece. This photograph really sums up his ideas and the child-led production of the project.
This work shows the need for us to belong through questions. The face is interesting, with its curious mix of anticipation, some anxiety and ultimately, hope.
Year 3 children at Hartford Manor Primary looked at the world around them, how they fit into their environment and how they share it with other humans and creatures. These art pieces show us that no matter how different we are, we all belong in the same world. Butterflies encourage and remind people to be themselves, together. The bees, buzzing over a planet Earth inspired hive, show that everyone belongs somewhere.
Circles of Life
Drawing on BoardKingsmead Primary School children took inspiration from Maja Säfström's book Animals of a Bygone Era.
As an Eco School, Kingsmead children have been thinking this term about how humankind belongs in the natural world, one species among many. The circle represents Earth with one circle for each letter of BELONGING. Children made a black and white line drawing of plants, animals (including our own species, homo sapiens), fungi, bacteria and virus'. Children wrote about their image using the past tense. The past tense connects species alive today to the many more species, now extinct. Using the past tense also reminds us not to take biodiversity or any species for granted.
Humankind, one species who, like it or not, are responsible for the future of all life on Earth.
Leftwich Primary School sits at the heart of the Leftwich area. Its pupils are part of the jigsaw that makes up a diverse and colourful, local community. The school decided to create a bright, rainbow-themed, jigsaw version of the map of Leftwich, with our school as the focus point to represent this.
Their bright jigsaw puzzle reflects the many talents and personalities that contribute to life in school. Although everyone who is part of Leftwich school is different, people complement one another, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle to make one school family. The school's values (learn, challenge, play, succeed) make Leftwich a special place to belong to and, in turn, its students and families are at the centre of a wider Leftwich community.
At Moulton Community Primary, children used the Bee - a symbol for belonging together in a hive and making a contribution to the whole. Children thought of all the different groups we belong in in society and made their own bees - themselves in a beautiful, colourful Moulton hive!
We All Belong
CollageRudheath Primary School Year 2's artwork is about how we all belong on this world no matter who we are. The LGBT flag shows how we include everyone in our community. Collage was used to make the different colours and textures.
Year 4's artwork is inspired by the book 'Here we are' by Oliver Jeffers. We all belong on this Earth and share it with wonderful wildlife which we must work together to protect.
Sandiway Primary School children thought widely about belonging. To our home planet right down to their immediate community with its clubs and families.
Being Free!
collage and mixed mediaAt Victoria Road Primary School, Year 2 discussed what it meant to ‘belong’. They talked about where they belong including their family, school, town and the clubs they enjoy. They explored how it felt to feel like that, belonging somewhere. Children agreed they felt safe, loved and able to be themselves. Hence where the idea of being free came from - ‘You belong somewhere you feel free’. The children used art skills they have been learning about line to collaborate together to create wings to represent how belonging makes us feel we can be free to be ourselves.
Nature
collageYear 4 chose to build a collage to show their love of nature. Being outside in the natural environment has been so important to us over the last few months. Using novels, poems and films about wild things, children have really connected with the outdoors and wanted to reflect this in their art. Children used painted watercolour paper, copper embossing sheets and a selection of textured papers and cards to make their picture.
Bad Hair Day
CollageAt Whitegate Church of England Primary School, children learn that Christians ‘belong’ to the Kingdom of God. The Gospel of Luke, says:
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:7)
Christians believe that God loves them so much that He knows how many hairs each of us has on our head! With inspiration from the Bible, children made self-portraits which were then collaged, in a range of materials, to represent individuals’ hair. The differences in materials reflect the differences between us. Although we are all unique, in our own special way, we ‘belong’ in God's family; even when we are having a ‘bad-hair day’!
School offers salvation from the storms of life and, as the title says – we are all in the same storm but we are not in the same boat. The school community hope that through ‘belonging’ to Whitegate, the boat is strong and stable and helps them to navigate the choppy waters together.
Whitegate CE Primary School’s existence is due to the events of a stormy night, when Edward I was spared when caught up in the most terrible tempest. In 1277, as a thanks giving for being saved from shipwreck, Edward I laid the foundation stone for what was to be the last & largest monastic church to be built by the Cistercian Order in England. The site, adjacent to the River Weaver, was named Vallis Regalis (Vale Royal), 'the finest Vale in England'. Built in the Domesday manor & vill of Conersley, the Abbey subsequently exerted considerable influence over the local area. At the gates of the Abbey, the monks established a church for the common people. The estate village, which developed nearby, became known as 'Whitegate', probably named after the white gate which was situated at the entrance to the Abbey. Following the creation of Vale Royal Abbey and St. Mary’s church, in time there was a school.
Whitegate is very much a ‘family’ school with some families having attended for several generations. The school has a strong sense of ‘belonging’ and being united in faith. The children thought about what it means to ‘belong’ to Whitegate and their immediate thought was the story of Edward I, which is represented by a ship being tossed on the sea, and reflects that we ‘belong’ in one faith. This is so central to our ‘belonging’ that it features in the school logo which the children wear with pride, on their sweatshirts. Children represented Edward by a crown which also alludes to God’s sovereignty. As many people know, Whitegate is awash with daffodils in the Spring, so these too feature in our work. The children considered the qualities that embody ‘belonging’ to their school family and these are recorded on the images of children at the bottom of the canvas. As a rural school, pupils are fortunate to benefit from a glorious setting so, along with beautiful St. Mary’s church, the children represented trees, after which classes are named, and a range of plants and animals that surround the school.
Children at St Wilfrid's RC Primary produced a hand design incorporating things that make them unique … once collated and put together the work will say better than words that, although each of us is unique, together we can make a masterpiece!
We are all woven together in the great web of humanity and whatever we can do to benefit and uplift others will reflect in blessing upon ourselves.
Ellen G White
Year 4 at Wincham Primary School might all be different fish but they can all swim in the same sea.
Year 2 spent time thinking and reflecting on the different groups and communities people belong to. This work demonstrates the notion of belonging as a woven web. Children made weaving frames from twigs and gold ribbon to represent the United Nations' Global Goals as a golden thread underpinning the learning and values at Wincham as well as connecting together all countries and people living on our home planet.
The world and the universe is an extremely beautiful place, and the more we understand it, the more beautiful does it appear.
Professor Richard Dawkins
BELONGING POSTER.pdfCAVE Slideshow.pdfSome children took up the challenge to make Mnemonics for digital art.
Local visitors to the Cave this summer could also visit the works in situ. They were on display at Barons Quay in Northwich, during May and June 2021.