Visual Arts

The year began with the key aim of maintaining the smooth delivery of the Visual Arts programme to all year groups in the Preparatory School. After the disruptions caused by start of the global pandemic in 2020, the hope was that there would be few disruptions to the school year.

The revised timetabling of Years 7–8 Art lessons continued to prove its worth with each class scheduled to receive eight double period lessons over two semesters. The three and a half week-long Level 4 lockdown in August 2021 did interfere with this timetabling as there was a class swap during that time. Once again, all learning was conducted remotely to all year groups. However, in reviewing the procedure involving individual emailing during the 2020 lockdown, the method of teacher feedback was refined. Instead of emailing correspondence between the students and their Art teacher, the students who completed the online Art lessons received feedback on return to the classroom. All completed artworks were then glued into their Art workbooks as a record of the student’s engagement in the online Art lessons.

Teaching and learning Visual Art online required creativity and adaptation of the usual programme to suit the situations families found themselves in during Level 4 and subsequently, in Level 3. All Art classes from Year 1 to Year 8 were designed to accommodate the resources students had at home. The Art teacher now has a considerable bank of online lessons for all levels.

In 2021 the StAC-UP programme for all Preparatory School students was introduced. With the visual resources and many useful discussions, the first year of this programme was easily applied into the Art room. Specific ways to Be Ready, Be Safe, and Be Respectful were readily identified and accepted by the students.

Fewer new resources were purchased in 2021 as the effects of the pandemic slowed the creation, production, and even the delivery of new publications and resources. Another impact of the pandemic was disruption to the supply chain of key materials such as pottery clay. Also, the cancellation of annual events within the College and the community reduced interaction for the students with local arts and artists. Only one Year 8 class managed to enjoy the usual trip to the city to visit galleries and observe street art.

Luckily, resources available online such as virtual gallery tours and minidocumentaries still brought the world of art and its creators to our students. A wide offering of media and materials allowed students to experience many different means of expressing themselves visually. Their completed artworks were displayed throughout the Preparatory School. Preparatory School students’ artworks inspired by te ao Māori were incorporated into a display of art held in The Green Centre during Te Wiki o te reo Māori.

The Art teacher completed Level 1 Te Reo Māori with Te Wānanga o Aoteoroa in 2021, which consolidated the daily use of Te Reo Māori within the Art room.

It was most rewarding to see Preparatory School art feature in the November 2021 issue of the Regulus magazine. The one-page image covered different media and age groups. Titled A Colourful World, it reflected the diversity and creativity of the Visual Arts programme.