Art
“Creativity takes courage.”
– Henri Matisse
At Coopers Lane we begin our journey as artists in Nursery, exploring the world around us and expressing ourselves through creating in two and three dimensions on a small and large scale. As we progress through the school, we continue to develop our artistic skills through using new media such as pencils, chalk, pastels, paints, clay, fabric and ceramic mosaics; using them to try out new skills and techniques in drawing, painting, printing, textiles, collage, 3D and sculpture. We are encouraged to use artistic vocabulary and we are proud to share with others what we have learnt.
When you walk into an art lesson at Coopers Lane, you will see passionate artists who want to discover, explore and express themselves and are not afraid to try new things. We love learning about art from other cultures and periods of time, as well as having artists visit us and being able to go and explore art in our community and around London. We show responsibility by having our own sketch books that follow us through the school and allow us space to explore ideas and find out about lots of different artist including Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Monet. We then use our new skills to create wonderful end products.
We are really happy that we get to display and exhibit our amazing art in our classrooms, in our own permanent exhibition space, as well as in temporary exhibitions at school and in the community. With our hands on and practical approach, we have a love of being creative and become learners for life.
& Design
At Coopers Lane, we begin our journey as designers in Early Years, where we are encouraged to show an interest in technological toys and explore different materials, tools and techniques for building things. The only thing that limits us is our imagination as we play in the woodwork, building, mud kitchen and construction areas. As we progress through the school, we continue to develop our creative skills designing and making things ranging from moving buggies to Indian inspired silk cushions, and from air raid shelters to cooking foods from around the world. Some of our food technology lessons are taught alongside science, especially when we are thinking about healthy eating and nutrition. When we have finished a project, we take the time to evaluate it so that we know what we need to do in our next project to make it even better.
When you walk into a DT lesson at Coopers Lane, you will see designers who aren’t afraid to take risks as we think creatively about how to solve any problems that come up. We love to work independently or as part of a team showing our values of respect and responsibility. Importantly, you will also see that we use our growth mindset and value of perseverance to overcome any setbacks or frustrations we might have with our design projects. As a Rights Respecting school, we try to use recycled products as much as possible and limit our use of plastic. We understand that we need to create projects that help care for our planet.
“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”
― Steve Jobs
Extra Curricular Art Opportunities
We have an after school art club where children from years 1-6 are able to come and explore art techniques and express themselves using visual media. These pieces of art are then displayed within the school and at outside events.
