Prep Art

MS KERRIE ANDERSON MRS WENDY RIX MS SHELAGH ROGERS prep art department

IBSC: 2018 INTERNATIONAL BOYS’ SCHOOL COALITION CONFERENCE

Prep 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.

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.

YEAR 5 EXCURSION TO TWEED RIVER REGIONAL GALLERY AT MURWILLUMBAH 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 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.

Boys also engaged in landscape drawing in graphite, on the deck of the gallery overlooking the picturesque Numinbah valley, featuring the spectacular Mt Warning.

MT WARNING - TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LINKED TO THE CURRICULUM. Art teachers were fortunate to attend professional development and art teacher networking opportunities to engage critically with contemporary art and design practices. PD opportunities included seminars at the International Boys’ School Coalition, and Primary Arts Network seminars relating to upskilling printmaking programs for the classroom.

ART GARDENS 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.

YEARS 3 AND 6 COMMONWEALTH GAMES ARTWORKS: COMMONWEALTH GAMES VILLAGE ARTWORK PROGRAM This was an exciting opportunity for our school and students to be involved in GC2018 as part of the Gold Coast Schools Connect Program. Our Years 3 and 6 students painted 170 canvases displayed in athletes’ cabins in the Village and then taken home to their respective countries as gifts. Year 6 canvases were based on a study of our local marine species, and Year 3 have focussed on our beautiful local beaches.

ART SHOW The Stevenson Art block housed our 2018 Reception to Year 6 Art show in Semester Two. Hundreds of parents, grandparents, carers and their boys attended over a period of two weeks in an all-day every day open house format.

ART AWARDS Congratulations to Iskander Wan, who won the Prep School Art Award for Creativity. This award is presented to the Year 6 student who consistently demonstrates a creative approach to Art. He will need to show a high level of lateral thinking, and an ability to solve design problems. He will be a boy who enjoys using his initiative to explore unique ways of expression in the Visual Arts.

Congratulations to Dominic Stansbie who won the Prep School Art Award for Excellence in Art. It is the top Year 6 Art prize awarded to the student who consistently achieves outstanding academic results in all areas of art. His work must show individuality and a dedication to complete all projects consistently, and to an exemplary standard.

This award is a bronze and marble replica of the ‘Transient Spirit’ sculpture which was made by nationally renowned sculptor Graham Radcliffe, and purchased for the TSS St Alban’s Art collection by the 2015 Friends of Prep.

ROUND SQUARE ART AND LEADERSHIP TOUR TO CLARENCE VALLEY ANGLICAN SCHOOL IN GRAFTON Eight Year 6 boys, accompanied by Mr Trevethan and Ms Anderson, embarked on a trip to Clarence Valley Anglican School in Grafton NSW during the mid-year break. Boys were responsible for teaching and mentoring Year 2 students for a full school day. They each tutored a small group of Year 2 boys and girls, in the art of canvas painting. They were responsible for preparation of art materials and equipment, setting up the workshop and cleaning up at completion of the day. In the spirit of Round Square, our boys took responsibility for domestic chores around camp, making the morning porridge, bacon and eggs, sweeping out cabins and making tea and toast for everyone.

ART STAFF We farewelled key Art staff members this year, Mrs Wendy Rix and Mrs Shelagh Rogers. Both teachers have contributed significantly to the quality education of TSS Prep boys. Both had a commitment well beyond the classroom, and they have value added to the pastoral and emotional wellbeing of students and staff. Ms Amanda Mutch covered Mrs Rix’s classes throughout Semester Two, in a seamless, professional and enthusiastic manner. We thank these three staff members for their dedication to the arts, and their collegiality. Notably too, we thank Mrs Quade and the Junior Resident Masters for their assistance and hard work as teacher aides throughout the year. A very special warm welcome to Mrs Pemberton who in 2019 will join us in the art rooms.

NATIONAL CURRICULUM The Australian curriculum is designed to meet the needs of students by delivering a relevant, contemporary and engaging curriculum, and it identifies priorities, which are integral to the art program, and are explored expansively from Reception to Year 6. The art program prioritises inclusivity for all students, and is underpinned by a key requirement of the National curriculum; that “all young people in Australia should be supported to become… creative individuals”.