Cultural Providers:  PoMoNo Visual Arts (Paul Nicholson), Charlotte Designs (Sarah Hodgkins), Smallbeans (Jane Charles)

Teacher: Stephen Miles

Three of our talented creative providers were given the chance to go into Daubeney Academy in Kempston, to help 39 Year 9 students take part in a Street Art workshop that would help them transform their art department.

The Street Art Workshop was part of a curriculum enhancement day, and saw Paul Nicholson, Sarah Hodgkins, and Jane Charles all get stuck in with this group of young people to create some permanent displays of artwork.

Teacher, Stephen Miles, wrote in his application form that Daubeney Academy wanted to,

“Work with three artists to undertake a street art Curriculum Enhancement Day… This project would expose Year 9 students to professional artists and create a welcoming art space for them to work within, whilst increasing their confidence and skill set in art… to provide insights into the career of a practicing artist. Also, to provide contextual knowledge and creative inspiration… Above all, they will gain insights into a creative practitioner’s career path.”

The workshop took place on a Friday in November 2017, and Mr Miles was impressed with the whole experience. He gave 5/5 for the workshop’s ‘overall quality’, ‘suitability for the group’, and ‘supporting materials provided’ and said that the activity met his aims, and that the children enjoyed the workshop. He added,

“The Curriculum Enhancement Day was successful in meeting its aims of enthusing our Year 9 students with a love of art and to offer them access to expertise that we are currently unable to provide. The attitude of all three visitors was superb and their ability to form immediately purposeful relationships with our students was very impressive indeed. We are incredibly grateful for what we have received and we hope that we are able to repeat this again!”

Mr Miles felt that the students engaged with the activity from the outset, and put a great deal of effort into the workshop. He did acknowledge that some students’ attention did wane, however, but he was also mindful that it did take place on a Friday afternoon. When asked if there were any ‘lightbulb moments’ for any of the students he replied,

“Yes, many. On one occasion it was clear that students understood the importance of reflecting upon learning and not giving up immediately. During the afternoon, one particularly keen student learned how to give her art the impression of shimmering.”

Mr Miles said that he wasn’t aware of The Culture Challenge website before he was introduced to us through The Culture Voucher Scheme, but said that in the future,

“We will always need more artistic input from elsewhere!”

He ended by giving us a rather wonderful comment that we were very pleased to receive –

“This scheme is so incredibly important and also superbly delivered. At the heart of its success is a love of young people being given chances to improve.”

If you’d like to transform a space in your school, our creative providers can help you. Take a look at The Culture Challenge Directory and discover a whole host of artists and creatives who you can work with…