Fishes on display at Rothwell Library

Robin Hood Primary School have a display of brightly coloured fish on display at Rothwell Library.

The fish were made by the Year 5/6 pupils as part of their topic on Japan.  They are inspired by Japanese Koinobori flags which are seen across Japan from April to May to celebrate Children's Day on May 5th.

The fish is a carp, chosen by Japanese tradition because it is the most spirited of fish, swimming upstream through strong currents.

By flying the flags to celebrate Children's day they hope to bring good fortune to the children and prepare them for a healthy and good future.

The fish have been painted on to white cotton pillowcases and then the pupils have used fabric paint to create vivid patterns.

The art work is on display for the near future.

Finished Artclub Sketchbooks

Here at last are some pictures of what the finished sketchbooks looked like.  Some of the best pages I cannot show unfortunately, as they have photos of the children's faces on, but I am sure you will agree they have created some great original experimental artwork.

The children were asked to bring in some photos or comics or something they felt they wanted to say about themselves in a sketchbook. They then had enormous fun experimenting with different backgrounds on which to mount their photos and then work into them.


We had the added bonus of visiting Rodillian Academy and being taught some new experimental techniques by their Art teacher, Mrs. Roberts (see previous blog) which we have included in our sketchbooks.

Did you notice the owl at Rothwell Library changed colour?

You may have seen the owl made from pom-poms on display at Rothwell Library.  One day it was cream, white, grey and brown - the next day - red, white, green, grey and black.

How is this possible?  This is the second owl, made in school colours.

We swapped the owls, so that the natural coloured one is back in school and the red and green one is on display in Rothwell Library in the Childrens' section of the library.

I visit the library every couple of weeks and staff say both owls have been well and truly stroked, which is fabulous!

Nativity Backdrop for Christmas Productions

In the four weeks leading up to Christmas the Artclub painted a backdrop for four of the Christmas productions. 

It shows a stable in which there are many animals and a manger whilst in the centre your eye is drawn out to the hillside beyond.

It does not have any of the characters featured in the painting as it is to create a setting, and our pupils are the characters on stage.

Often the Nativity scene is pictured looking into the stable.  We liked the idea of looking out to the hillside, beyond.

We were fortunate to have help from Miss Jordan and Miss Campy who helped the children draw and paint their chosen animals or detailed part of the painting.

Once the background was finished we glued our detailed paintings on to it, making a fabulous backdrop, even adding some straw.

In the week before Christmas the two Nursery productions, Reception and Key Stage One productions played out in front of this scene.  It certainly added to the already magical atmosphere.

Nursery Portraits displayed at Children's Centre, Lofthouse

There are a selection of paintings by the children of Robin Hood Primary School Nursery on display at the Children's Centre in Lofthouse.

They were created as part of the "All about me" topic when they first arrived with us in September. The children were encouraged to look in small mirrors and choose colours that matched their hair, eyes, skin and lips.

There was a lot of talking about how many eyes we had, how long our hair was and the shape of our faces.

The portraits had been exhibited in our Nursery and now they are on display in our community.

Our visit to Rodillian Academy on Thursday 21st November

Our Artclub session this week took place at Rodillian Academy. The specialist Art teacher, Mrs. Roberts led a workshop in which we made exciting inserts for our scrapbooks/sketchbooks.

First she explained that an artist, Jennifer Collier had used these techniques in her own work. Miss Thornton, the Art technician had copied some maps and ornate writing which we could use to cut and tear, or change the colour of. 

We could then add our own writing with coloured stamps.

 

 

 

Next, we placed the prepared paper into an empty teabag and a little wax added and placed between paper.  Under strict supervision we held the iron over the paper until the wax melted.  This sealed the teabag and hardened as it cooled.

 

We were helped by one of the Art students who as part of her GCSE explained the project to our pupils.

Another technique we learnt was to place our papers into small plastic bags.  These were ironed until the plastic started to melt.

We showed off our sketchbooks so far.

We had a fantastic time in the art class and would like to say a huge thankyou to the Art staff and student who gave their time to welcome us.  We cannot wait to look at what everyone has made and insert them into our sketchbooks.

Pom-pom Owl on display at Rothwell Library

One of the pom-pom owls is on display at Rothwell Library.

It is in the Children's section of the Library.

It has been on display in the Civic Hall over the summer and is going to be on display for a while at the library.  Why don't you drop by to see it.

The other owl in school colours is on display in school, which we pass everyday.  Both owls were made in school.  We had a pom-pom day on the 1st of March where all the children in school made a pom-pom. The artclub have worked on it's construction.

Pom-pom Sheep exhibited at Rothwell Library

Throughout the school summer holidays, the Robin Hood pom-pom sheep has been on display at Rothwell Library.

It is in the Children's section of the library, so if you are in Rothwell drop in and see it.

You may have been taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge and saw it whilst you were choosing the books...

This was the sheep that was made in school - all of us made a pom-pom - last year, to celebrate British Wool Week in conjunction with Armley Mills.

Leeds in Bloom Competition

After Christmas the Artclub worked on ideas to enter the Leeds in Bloom competition for schools.
The entries were to be in before Easter, but the results were not announced until late on into the Summer term. 

Each of our children received "Highly Commended" certificates, of which we are so proud!

We have kept our designs under wraps until the results were announced.  We are now delighted to share with you the designs.

We were to produce designs which were to be used for six flowerbeds measuring 6x4 metres in Millennium Square. This proved to be a really exciting project and we thought of symbols, buildings, events and all sorts of things associated with Leeds.

We then looked at mosaics and how the picture is made up of small tiles of colour, like the flowerbed would be with the plants. We also looked at Impressionist paintings and how they are made up of large brushstrokes, again like the plants in the flowerbed.

Can Mrs. Mistry and myself, Mrs. Chin say thank you to all the children who took part in this competition, who were so enthusiastic about the project.  Well done for all your splendid efforts.

Artclub visit to Stanhope Community Centre to see paintings

On Thursday July 11th the children who are in the artclub invited their families and friends to come and see their completed paintings.  They are on display at Stanhope Community Centre, where they have been designed for.

The artclub was asked by Claire Hogg, who is a Community Outreach Worker based at the Children's Centre in Lofthouse to make some artwork to brighten up the walls as they were bare.

As the community centre hosts a toddler's breakfast group we thought that large brightly coloured fruits would be simple and effective.  The idea developed into mosaics and mixed media paintings were the outcome.

We used the children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" as inspiration for the paintings and we created our own version of each of the fruits he eats.  The caterpillar makes an appearance in each of the paintings too.



All the children had their picture taken for the Rothwell Record in front of one of the paintings.

They all agreed they looked great in situ and showed their friends and families which part of the paintings they had done.

Everybody enjoyed looking at the artwork and hopefully all those people who visit the community centre will do too.