Art

ART PRIMARY

The Art Department has had an excellent year with many exciting opportunities to create unique works of art both in school and at home. This year, we have also expanded in terms of art studios and art teachers and now boast a dedicated Primary Art Studio and a state of the art Secondary Art Studio which are both breath taking and inspiring spaces to create Art. There are now two art teachers, Mrs. Emma Bowden (Years 1, 2 and 3) and myself, Mrs Lucy Payn (Year 4 through to Year 10).

In Art & Design this year, students have been taught a broad spectrum of new techniques, art forms, materials. As a visual medium, art elicits a positive emotional response and it’s a joy to see these responses in the students we see on a daily basis. Because art is an investigative process it promotes creative thinking to the benefit of many other subjects in the curriculum.

All students in Key stage 1 & 2 have been working in a sketchbook where they explore ideas and art mediums before completing an art work. This fully enables them to engage with the creative process of ideas giving them time to review, modify and refine their work as it progresses.

In years 1, 2 and 3 ideas and techniques have been recorded in sketchbooks to create a timeline to look back on and refer to as part of the creative journey. Some of the project highlights include the Year 1 papier mache camels inspired by the history and landscape of the UAE. The camels are waiting patiently to have their final coat of paint and join the caravan trail when students return to school. Year 2 created amazing dreamtime stories influenced by ancient dot painting techniques, this was coincidentally at the time of the Australian bushfires so had significant meaning.

Year 3 worked on layering techniques with collage, using complementary colours with tissue to give more impact to their final piece. Year 4 had an amazing time diving into the Amazon Rainforest to create their mixed media pieces with hidden animals and beautiful plants inspired by artist Henri Rouseau. Year 5 created some wonderful Greek inspired pots with images of their lives inscribed on the side, which are waiting for their first firing in the kiln. Year 6 created ‘Moving People’ sculptures, from wire and mod roc after studying the work of artist Alberto Giacometti anatomy and drawing figures in movement. Online learning has been an incredible experience in art which has highlighted the confidence, skills and amazing progress students have made from limited materials and resources. From creating intricate Zentangle patterns, Pop Art aliens, cartoon selfies, loo roll art and shadow art using coffee, the results have been nothing but inspiring.

In year 1-3 many line and drawing techniques have been improved during online learning, the students have shown increased ability and understanding through studying the video lessons that have covered the different elements of art.

As you can see from the pictures, students have enjoyed working on their projects and have produced some excellent work. There are still some unfinished pieces of art due to our quick change to online learning. I am sure the children are looking forward to coming back to school to complete them as they are ready and waiting. There are also photos of the incredible art pieces and drawings created at home, including some fabulous Junk Art sculptures.

They should all be very proud of what they have achieved during this year of surreal changes in our world as they have all coped remarkably well. Mrs Bowden and myself, cannot wait until we see all the students again at Hartland working diligently in the art studios.

ART SECONDARY

In Secondary this year, art lessons moved from floor 1 to the new Secondary Art Studio on floor 2 which has amazing space and light and is a truly inspiring space to work in. We now have dedicated areas for the specialisms of textiles, fine art, graphic communication and ceramics with the addition of a potter’s wheel and kiln. The kiln, however is still waiting for its first firing on my return to school with shelves full of brilliant artworks ready.

In KS3 Art and Design students have had the opportunity to take part in a broad range of workshops and challenge themselves with the more advanced technical elements of art. I have had the pleasure to witness students developing into independent artists as they research and analyse different artists and designers to influence their own development and ideas.

Throughout the year, the students have explored a number of topics, recording their ideas for each project in a sketchbook. This has allowed them to investigate and experience the creative journey that would take place at GCSE level. The students have been developing their skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, printing, mixed media, three-dimensional design and illustration. Each project has allowed them to delve into the different areas of art and design, so they can start to assess their own particular strengths and key interests.

Project Highlights Completed in School

Students in Year 7 developed their skills by combining traditional materials and processes and mixed media to create a final piece based on a stringed instrument, inspired by Picasso and Cubism. Year 8 students designed and created sculptures inspired by Antoni Gaudi’s neo gothic architecture and Barbara Hepworth’s modernist abstract sculpture. Year 9 students designed and created a mask which directly resembled them, using the skill of face casting, completing the mask with added structural detailing, inspired by the traditional and tribal arts of Africa.

Our first GCSE art class at Hartland has embraced the course with energy and enthusiasm and have developed an appreciation of the creative process through a practical response, using a variety of twodimensional and three-dimensional media, materials, techniques and processes. They have explored critically how artists, craftspeople and designers from diverse cultures, times and societies arrived at solutions and communicated meaning using formal elements. Students are in the process of using this knowledge to develop new ideas, recording observations and creating outcomes which fully realise their personal ideas and intentions. They have completed 2 projects this year with final outcomes, one at school from the Unit ‘Apple in Hand’ and one completed at home based on ‘Natural Forms’ during their 5-hour end of year art exam. Each student has developed their own personal path in this project and have worked independently to create their investigations putting their own personal ideas and interests into their work with great results. Online learning has not stopped their creativity and they have had each other’s support during live meetings.

All secondary students have embraced on line learning with gusto, making exceptional progress in drawing, design and imaginative use of different materials they had at home. The concentration and progress has been significant seeing students excel in selfportraiture, Picasso style combined portraits, Anime characters and studying the intricate details of insects. Many secondary students also joined the ceramics enrichment in the first 2 terms, building many creative pieces which are waiting to be glazed and fired upon our return to school.

This year has been a challenging, yet rewarding year due to the online learning but I am proud of all the students’ ability to persevere and use their creativity in inspiring ways. I look forward to be able to display all their work at school in an exhibition to celebrate their achievements once school is back to normal at Hartland.

Mrs L Payn

Head of Art

Year 1 - Camels

Year 3

Cartoon Faces - Year 4

Habiba Habib - Year 5 Year 2

Amazing Amazon - Year 4

Pop Art Alien - Year 5

Aisha Ibrahim - Year 6R

Cristina Salgado - Year 6R Gabriella Blumberg - Year 6R Year 7

Insect drawing and designs - Year 7 Structure to sculpture - Year 8 Clay Leaf - Year 8

African face mask - Year 9 Saif Al Wasiti - Year 10 Landscape drawing - Year 10

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

PRIMARY Reflecting on the past year of primary design and technology I could not be more proud of our students and their achievements. There have been big curriculum changes this year to make the most of the ‘through school’ structure we have at Hartland which gives us the opportunity to really challenge our primary school in Design and Technology. Many projects I have been running with secondary in past schools have now been moved down to the primary phase allowing them to have a unique design and technology experience and give them the opportunity to do things many other children their age never get the chance to do. Of course our students rose to the challenge and created model cranes and trebuchets in year 2 (and yes they did use saws and drills), packaging and structures in year 3, amazing clocks in year 4, 3D CAD models in year 5 and games controllers integrated with programmable components in year 6. Having done many of these projects only in a secondary setting in previous school, I am blown away by what our primary students are able to achieve when given the opportunity.

During distance learning our students continued to impress and with more time on their hands, were able to really delve deep into the design and technology learning activities. I could not possibly mention them all here however the STEM challenges from year 2, theatre set designs in year 3, bionic hands in year 4, moon camps in year 5 and 3D drawing in year 6 were all highlights for me.

We held our second masterchef event and technology tournament this year which brought schools from across Dubai together at Hartland for a day to compete in cooking and design and technology challenges. It was another huge success and our students performed particularly well this year in the areas of team work and creativity.

Cooking and nutrition has also been a part of the year for year 5 and 6 students who have learnt and used herbs and spices in their cooking as well as understanding cuisines from around the world. They have cooked dishes such as daal, vegetable chilli and stir fry this year which are all very impressive for children of their age.

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

SECONDARY

“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” This quote from the late Steve Jobs encapsulates secondary design and technology very well. Students take a leap forward in not only thinking about the aesthetic of the world around them but also how it works to enable them to improve the way their world works. In secondary design and technology we start to look at influential designers and companies and the iconic products and engineering advancements they are responsible for. But we then look at designing and making real solutions to real world problems.

Year 7 took inspiration from the angle poise lamp and a range of 20th century design movements to design and make their own lamps which included a range of skills that included soldering of circuits, 3D printing, laser cutting and a range of workshop skills to (almost) complete their lamps. During distance learning they were able to develop their 3D CAD skills and 3D drawing techniques.

Year 8 studied the design company Alessi and designed their own Alessi products before moving onto designing inclusive products for people that suffer from arthritis. During distance learning they were able to begin the speaker project they were due to do in school and understand all of the research, development and designing phases of their speakers. Year 9 focused on architecture this year with the theme of design an expo pavilion which represented their nationality. They explored how to represent their nationality through a structure and created some beautiful models. All secondary students also had the opportunity to do cooking and nutrition this year where they had the opportunity to learn about foods from different cultures, understand nutritional guidance and cook a range of dishes.

This was also our first year of offering GCSE design and technology which has been a really exciting adventure. Students have covered a wide range of topics which I could never possibly fit onto one page but some highlights for me were the energy generation project where students tried to make wind energy generation more efficient and the foundation stage play space project where they collaborated with our FS to redesign the play area.

This year we introduced a select group of students in years 7 and 8 to the F1 in Schools programme. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to run their own formula one racing team including designing and racing a small scale car. We started off by visiting Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi where students were introduced to the programme, had a go at racing the cars and then got a tour of Yas Marina Circuit. It was quite an experience being driven around a formula one circuit in a RTA school bus.

Later in the term students had the opportunity to also visit the F1 in Schools world finals which took place in Abu Dhabi this year. This gave our teams a great insight into how to compete with the best teams from around the world. Safely back in school, our teams started developing their F1 teams. Year 7 team chose the team name Neo and our year 8 team went with team Zenith. Both teams initially worked hard to develop their brand and identity as well as developing websites, social media platforms and sponsorship packages. They then took on the challenge of convincing businesses around Dubai to provide funding to their teams through sponsorship. Both teams managed to secure sponsorship with our year 8 team securing over 8000AED.

During the competition, teams are judged on a number of elements which include: a pit stand display, design and engineering of their car, speed of their car, design portfolio and verbal presentation. Things such as uniforms, car manufacturing and pit stand printing are all funded by the teams sponsors. Both teams develop their cars using Fusion 360 CAD software, their design are truly impressive but we will have to wait until next year now to race them and see whose is the fastest.

DIDI PROJECT DESIGN SPACE

Following our success last year with having 2 teams in the finals of the DIDI Project Design Space competition, we were definitely going to enter it again this year with the aim of winning it. This year around 60 students from years 5 – 9 took part in the competition which was run during enrichment time. Students had the opportunity to work with some amazing clients this year: Lego, Nike, Rakbank, Emirates Nature, Dubai Festival City Imagine show. Students had to take the clients brief and come up with a proposal which was to be communicated in a 3-minute video which was then viewed by the judges.

Two of our teams were lucky enough to make it through to the virtual finals and were given feedback from the clients on their ideas to then develop over the following 4 weeks. For the finals (which had become a digital event by this point), the students had to produce a new video with their updated idea which would then be presented to the judges followed by a Q&A session. Both teams did incredibly well and had some tough competition however our team working for Dubai Festival City Mall took the win for their age category. They came up with a fantastic concept for the Imagine Show held at the mall which was based around music throughout the ages also incorporating values of equality and the visual history of fashion and dance.

Well done to everyone that took part, you all did a great job! Mr J Peacock