MS KERRIE ANDERSON MRS WENDY RIX MS SHELAGH ROGERS
prep art departm ent
IBSC: 2018 INTERNATIONAL BOYS’ SCHOOL COALITION CONFERENCE
P
rep Art teachers presented key aspects of the Visual Arts program at the 2018 International Boys’ School Coalition Conference held at TSS. Three presentations were designed to reinforce our commitment to engagement in the national curriculum through visual arts. In a combination of PowerPoint presentations, art videos, practical demonstrations and discussions, the workshops linked art to the core curriculum, including science, literature and the social sciences. The subject matter included environmental themes, including recycling, sustainability, and flora and fauna protection and regeneration. Each boy has explored such themes artistically from Reception to Year 6 throughout 2018. Sydney terrace house and its original contents belonging to one of Australia’s most renowned artists. Art education officers at the centre carefully set up a still life, comprising valuable objects from the Olley collection, for boys to draw in the style influenced by her colourful still life paintings that line the gallery walls. This was a highly authentic and special experience. ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM
Prep Art boys once again welcomed creative practitioners from the art and design world into their classrooms. As part of a marine science and art unit, nationally acclaimed artist and author Kim Michelle Toft spent time with Mrs Rix and the Year 2 cohort. The Great Barrier Reef was the topic for discussion accompanied by painting demonstrations and slide shows. Each boy engaged in the practice of batik painting, storytelling, and educational discussions about endangered species.
Boys also engaged in landscape drawing in graphite, on the deck of the gallery overlooking the picturesque Numinbah valley, featuring the spectacular Mt Warning. ART GARDENS
YEAR 5 EXCURSION TO TWEED RIVER REGIONAL GALLERY AT MURWILLUMBAH
MT WARNING - TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LINKED TO THE CURRICULUM.
In Term Four, the Year 5 cohort, accompanied by their classroom teachers and Art staff, visited this nationally acclaimed regional gallery and home to the Margaret Olley centre. It features a faithful re-creation of the
Art teachers were fortunate to attend professional development and art teacher networking opportunities to engage critically with contemporary art and design practices. PD opportunities
70
SOUTHPORTONIAN
included seminars at the International Boys’ School Coalition, and Primary Arts Network seminars relating to upskilling printmaking programs for the classroom.
During IDEALS week, a small and hardworking group of Atkinson House boys again cleaned out, constructed, and refurbished the gardens on the southern side of the Art block. These gardens feature rotating exhibitions by past, current and future students. The current work on show is a series of totem poles featuring Year 5 clay cylinders embellished with indigenous desert designs from the Papunya School of Painting.