Festival of the Arts

"I learned that art is not just painting and drawing" - Year 6 student

“Art doesn’t have to be neat; just enjoy and get messy!” - Year 2 student

Guildhall Feoffment have held an Arts Week annually around summer time for a few years. This year, 2019, that week extended into a whole festival thanks to the funds raised from the Sponsored Sing in December 2018. There were so many opportunities for fun and creativity that we couldn't pass up on! Here's what our students got up to...

'BURY IN BLOOM' ART WORKSHOP

Year 5 took part in Bury in Bloom's Bee Project, and created a fantastic piece of artwork which will be displayed in the Cathedral!

THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES

The students were introduced to the 'Cabinet of Curiosities' by Rojo Art. Full of interesting items to find, touch and talk about, each class used the cabinet as inspiration for story writing. The cabinet was then included as part of the art installation.

"During arts week, we visited the cabinet of curiosities. There were various objects in the cabinet such as a dress, a trumpet, shells, a painting of a flower, wellington boots and a sandwich. We were particularly interested in the grey tangled material that looked like hair covering the orange light. Some of us imagined it to be human hair, but others imagined it to be a creepy spider’s web. We were also intrigued as to why a sandwich was in the suitcase and who it belonged to. In our writing we described the beehive and the shells, imaging that they were homes for smaller creatures or they possessed magical powers. Something that surprised us about the cabinet was its size; we imagined it to be enormous with multiple doors before we saw it. We also would have liked the cabinet to be more colourful and filled with more mysterious objects.

 The cabinet inspired our imaginations and it was really enjoyable to have the freedom to let our writing follow our own adventures. It was also good as a challenge; a challenge to include lots of the writing techniques we have learnt about this year. We tried especially hard to include fronted adverbials, multiclause sentences and expanded noun phrases, and feel our work is of a really good quality and all completely independent. Overall, we are very proud that our work will be placed inside the cabinet to inspire others to continue the adventure our story takes them on."

Penguin Class, Year 4

ART INSTALLATION

All the students at Guildhall Feoffment worked with Rojo Art to make a large artwork installation for the school hall by creating beautiful butterflies using printing techniques. Donated picture frames were then used to frame and display the children's individual pieces, and the cabinet was integrated into the final piece to create an abstract and dreamlike tableau. 

"Leopards all really enjoyed the Rojo Art workshop that we attended during the Arts Fest. They all thought that the activities were very well explained to them and therefore they could easily follow the steps they had to take to complete the activity. They loved using the big printer outside in the corridor and they all thought that it helped to make their finished work look much more effective. Many stated that they would like to be able to use something similar in the future. They were engaged by the topic of the moths and seem happy with the final display in the hall."

Leopard Class, Year 5

EMMANUEL ART - PENTECOST CELEBRATIONS

As part of the Pentecost Party Celebration,Year 1 took part in reflective story telling, music activities and art activities at St. Edmundsbury Cathedral. They had fun finding symbols around the Cathedral and there was a party atmosphere as the children dressed in bright clothes to celebrate the birthday of the church.

"On Tuesday 11th June Year 1 went to St Edmundsbury Cathedral to learn about Pentecost. When we arrived the ladies from the education team sang a song to welcome us. Aspen enjoyed singing along because it was fun! It was a lovely, short song for the children to join in with. We were then put into small groups ready to complete different activities throughout the morning. Wesley enjoyed making a headband with a Pentecostal flame on it to represent the holy spirit coming to Earth. Caitlyn drew one of the willow structures that represented the clouds. In the afternoon we had a Birthday party because Pentecost is the Birthday of the church. We had cake, music and made lots of different crafts. Beau loved making the flame streamer out of crepe paper. Freddie liked making a paper chain of disciples with the flames above their heads. We had a wonderful day and were so grateful to the ladies for the hard work that had gone into the day."

Badger Class, Year 1

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Wed 12th June

Local artists flocked to the school hall where they displayed and demonstrated their craft for the children to explore and learn about. This included painting, spinning wool, cross stitch, weaving, woodwork, felting, flower arranging, wicker work & pottery! 

"A particular favourite was the Artists in Residence. Talk continued for days after about the variety of crafts they had seen that morning and what they were going to do when they grew up! We seem to have lots of budding artists in the making"

Early Years

We received a lovely thank you from one of the artists, Diane Knights, who demonstrated sewing, patchwork & quilting...

"I was very happy to take part and was really impressed with the interest the children showed in all the activities. It was interesting having them arrive in chronological order as I could see the ability level alter through the morning. I would say the 8-10 year olds were the most interested in what I was doing. I was particularly interested to see the boys showing such interest in stitching. My father and grandfather both stitched a great deal. Mindfulness is a trendy word but it has been practised for generations. I feel it is really important to show children, particularly in this technical age, that there are simple ways of relaxing and bringing peace to a busy mind. Sadly these skills are often overlooked even though they are really simple to learn and practically cost free to teach. Absolutely vital for stable mental health with all its benefits to the individual and the larger community. Please pass onto all staff that you should be very proud of your young people in the school. They were all and without exception delightful to engage with, showing interest, politeness and gratitude. I can honestly say I had a lovely morning although it was a bit of a marathon!! The cups of tea were much appreciated! As a grandparent of one of your pupils I feel privileged that my grandchild attends Guildhall Feoffment and am confident that she is in safe hands."

TAKE ONE PICTURE

Mon 17th June - Fri 21st June

Each class chose one famous picture to reproduce in their own ways as well as finding out about the artist.

"The art in the classroom was enthusiastically received and children were motivated to bring in things from home to support the activities and to produce their own art work at home. Following our work on Matisse’s Snail a small group of boys declared that they were going to ask their mums to go to the Tate gallery."

"The work on Andy Warhol’s Pop art showed great creativity as the children combined technology and art. Much discussion ensued between the pairs about the best angle from which to take their photographs. The children enjoyed recreating his ‘Flowers’ picture, finding printing with combs and nail brushes, and especially food very funny."

Early Years

DANCING WITH DAWN

The whole school got movin' & groovin' with dance routines and exercises led by Year 2 teacher Dawn Vickerage. The art of dancing is great for health, happiness & well-being and the children had a wonderful day!

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"As part of the exciting arts festival that was taking place at school, everyone took part in a special dance session with the wonderful Mrs Vickerage. Year 4 learnt the dance routine to ‘This is Me’ from The Greatest Showman. This was an energetic and quick routine which required us to listen to instructions and to watch carefully as Mrs Vickerage demonstrated the different dance moves. Before the session, some children felt a little bit nervous about dancing and performing. However, as the session went on, these children overcame their fears and thoroughly enjoyed taking part. This was because everyone supported each other and Mrs Vickerage made everything fun. As a class, we thought carefully about the different parts of the session and decided that our most favourite elements were: creating our own movements to use in the routine; learning new dance moves and techniques and also being an audience and watching the other class perform their routine. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the session and spoke about how proud they were of themselves and their peers."

Polar Bear Class, Year 4

SHAKESPEARE TAKEOVER FESTIVAL

As part of the Shakespeare Takeover Festival, Year 5 & 6 students brought their version of Much Ado About Nothing to the Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds. Working alongside Northern Broadsides Theatre Company and led by experienced drama workshop leader Annie Eddington, the students studied Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, watched a professional production and took part in workshops in order to create their response. On 25th June, they performed in front of hundreds of people at the iconic theatre and showcased their collaboration, imagination & brilliant performance skills! 

"I definitely enjoyed the experience; I also think that other children would treasure the opportunity to perform.  I gained a lot of confidence out of this project and now I am not scared to perform on stage and it will give me confidence as I go up to high school."

"Arts week was definitely a good week.  I learned that art is not just painting and drawing as we did the takeover programme with dancing and drama and we got to perform on the stage which I didn’t think I would be able to do."

"I think I will be much more confident when I go up to high school as I got to perform on the stage.  Learning all of the lines was hard but it will be good practice for exams when I am older.  Arts week was a great experience."

Students of Panther Class, Year 6

DOORSTEP THEATRE PROGRAMME

18th - 26th June

The school took part in the Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds 's Doorstep Theatre Programme, where Half Moon theatre company bring their shows into schools, making theatre for young people more accessible.

Early Years, Y1 & Y2 watched The Goose Who Flew, followed by workshops where the children explored the use of puppets and other topics covered in the performance.

Years 3 & 4 watched Young Herbert's Horrors, and then followed this up with workshops at the theatre where they devised a performance inspired by story. They made puppets, had a go at the lighting of the stage and then performed their piece in front of other schools! 

"The visit from the Doorstep theatre group was a real highlight and tackled a potentially tricky subject in a very clever way. The children watching were mesmerised and so caught up with the story line that an audible gasp of trepidation could be heard during one particularly tense moment of the storyline. The children loved the puppets and talked about Bolty in particular, once back in the classroom.  One child remarked as we left the hall, “I just loved that lady and don’t want to leave her!” The show inspired lots of writing as they were desperate to convey their love for the main character, Goose, and so put endless notes in her nest which was left behind. The children also spontaneously made puppets in the style of that seen in the show, attached them to their feet and in groups made up dances for their puppets!"

Early Years

STEEL DRUMMING

Thu 13th June

The amazing Solid Steel Band UK visited the school on 13th June to perform some wonderful music for the whole school. Then KS1 had a go at it themselves! The early years even created their own steel drumming band they loved it so much!

"Year 2 had so much fun at The Drumming Workshop. They were given a glimpse of what was in store when they were able to listen to the steel drums in our morning assembly. The children were mesmerised and could not believe they were going to have a chance at playing too. Paul the band leader gave the children an insight into how the steel drums or ‘pans’ as he called them were originally made from oil cans. Paul played the song ‘Brown Girl in the Ring’ accompanied by his father Max. The session started with learning how to hold the drums sticks, making sure they were the right way up and we had the correct grip.  The drums had coloured stars so we were able to create the same notes as a class.  All the children were able to create a beautiful sound; they listened to Paul’s instructions of which colours to follow and Mrs Vickerage had a go too!  The smiles on the children’s faces said it all and Vanessa summed it up by saying, ‘Can we do it again tomorrow'"

Caterpillar Class, Year 2

"The children were extremely inspired by the steel pan band and loved having the opportunity to take part and have a go. The leader was very good at responding to the children and keeping them engaged. One quiet child was heard to say to his mum as he went home “There were drums in the hall and we got a go!” “Can I have a drum?”"

Early Years

BIG SING

St. Edmundsbury Cathedral

Wed 19th June

 The Big Sing was a singing event with a celebration theme. It involved the use of film clips, movement and dance as an inspiration to sing songs from around the world. Workshops included songs from different genres and the day finished with a performance from all the children singing together.

BEST OF THE BEST EXHIBITION

Classes visited King Edward VI School to view the GCSE & A Level students' artwork.

"Year 2 loved their visit to the Best of the Best exhibition at King Edward’s.  The long walk across town was made so worthwhile by the lifelike sculptures, beautiful textile work, amazing drawings and often surrealist paintings.  Angelo commented that “My favourite one was an eye because it was half red, half blue.” whilst Baran stated “I loved the Dairy Milk sculpture because it was so realistic.”.  Maggie thought that the exhibition showed her that “Art doesn’t have to be neat; just enjoy and get messy!” and Gracie appreciated that “Everything is unique and different.”.  Molly felt “Inspired to have a go at drawing.” and Ellie realised that “Even though someone might not like it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t good.”.  We all returned to school feeling inspired to get creative and enjoy producing our own unique pieces of art."

Bumblebee Class, Year 2