Secondary Arts Summer School

Summary

This piece of work describes an art and design summer school that was run on behalf of the LEA for gifted and talented pupils at the KS2/ KS3 transitional stage. Our school, which is a specialist visual arts college, is situated in a large village in rural Gloucestershire and serves a rural and professional population. Seven local primary schools are collectively in partnership with the school.

Identification

Numbers were divided equally between primary and secondary pupils who had to be considered ‘creatively talented’ in the visual arts. The LEA also stipulated that they should be identified as underachieving in other subjects. The primary pupils were identified by the primary arts coordinators in each school, and in discussion with the arts college manager who is in regular contact with seven primary schools. The secondary school specialist subject staff selected the secondary cohort (Y7-9) using several criteria. These were:
- Pupils’ quality of work
- The Key Stage Level they had achieved
- The school tracking system
- Their teacher’s professional knowledge of pupils
- Pupils were identified in the context of the visual arts as a whole rather than any specific aspect of visual art activity

Description

The summer school involved a total of 60 pupils, 30 each ‘week’, working with two teachers alongside three artists. One was a textile and mixed media artist, another a local sculptor and the third a Chinese environmental sculptor from Beijing. The textiles activity involved batik and print while the sculpture involved both carving and construction. Teaching methods involved a variety of styles, but essentially, commenced with an explanation and demonstration that eventually moved toward individual instruction.

Evaluation

Both primary and secondary pupils have gained noticeably in maturity, in their art work, as well as in more general terms. Monitoring is a continuing feature of work in the summer school as it is regularly seen by all participants. The outcomes were consistent with those one would expect from the exceptionally able.