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Arts Committee

Arts Committee 2018-2019

The Arts Committee supports all the many exciting Arts events held at Oatlands Junior School throughout the year including the Christmas music concert at St Marks, Summer Music Concert, Arts Week and OJS Arts Exhibition. Members also have the opportunity to work with arts organisations including The Mercer Gallery in Harrogate and have a voice to develop and enrich further arts opportunities at OJS.

Arts Committee Members will be busy in the Autumn term working on ideas for the Christmas concert held annually at St Marks and our stunning, themed Christmas displays throughout the school. Children will be developing their leadership skills throughout the year to run clubs inspired by dance, drama, art, creative writing, performance poetry and music.

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development with British Values

Children at Oatlands develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute to life in modern Britain.

The Mercer Art Gallery visits Arts Committee

Arts Committee were visited by Ann Francis from the Mercer Gallery this week. Arts Committee confidently presented their ideas for workshops and projects for other schools inspired by the William Frith exhibition at the Mercer Gallery. Ideas ranged from Frith Bingo, model making to create a 3D Frith painting set, Victorian paper dolls and imagining and writing about some of the people in the pictures. Ann was impressed by all the ideas the children presented and thought they will make excellent resources for teachers and fun art lessons for other children. Arts Committee have been asked to exhibit their ideas for the Mercer Gallery soon. Well done Arts Committee, we are very proud of you!

Ann Francis from the Mercer Art Gallery visited with Arts Committee this week to ask for their help. The Mercer gallery have a new exhibition coming up on the artist William Frith, a Victorian artist who painted large scenes of Victorian events. Ann talked to the children about the paintings and the history that they represent of Victorian Britain. Arts Committee have been asked to prepare resources for The Mercer Gallery for other schools and workshops that the gallery will be holding throughout the exhibition. We look forward to seeing what Arts Committee will create.

The Choir

The Choir have had a very busy December.

They have been to St Michael's Hospice as well as Larchfield Manor Residential Home to put on a short carol service which was thoroughly enjoyed by all who watched it.

They also took part in the Harrogate Family Christmas Concert at the International Centre in town where they performed alongside lots of different schools. It was a fantastic event which the children have worked really hard on preparing for.

Super commitment shown by everybody - well done!

Choir

St Mark's Christmas Concert

A big thank you to the choir, orchestra and Arts Committee members for their fabulous performances and thoughtful reflections during the St Mark's Christmas Concert. Both performances ran smoothly and were enjoyed by all!

St Mark's Christmas Concert

Arts Committee 2017-2018

Welcome to our newly elected members of Arts Committee.

Our ambitious Arts project this year is to create a visually stunning sculpture garden for the entrance of the school which we are all very excited about. Updates of the development of the garden will be on our website in the coming months with reports from our members.

Watch this space!

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development with British Values

Children at Oatlands develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute to life in modern Britain.

Arts Committee presentation to Diane Saxon from The Mercer Art Gallery

26th March 2018

Diane Saxon came to visit our Arts Committee today for a presentation of ideas for workshops that would be enjoyable for all children visiting the gallery. After many weeks of preparation and looking at artists that feature in the current exhibition, members of the Arts Committee were interested in the female artists and the exhibition celebrating the centenary of women being allowed to vote in England. Children discussed and thought about issues raised, including equality, diversity and freedom. Resources created by Arts Committee members ranged from looking at techniques inspired by the artists they looked at, to highlighting issues such as equal human rights for all through imaginative narrative drawing. Some members focused on the exhibition Banwyns War and thinking about words such as Peace, War and Love and how each word has an individual meaning but is connected through conflict. Diane Saxon was impressed by our Arts Committee members presentation and the resources designed for the gallery’s workshops for other schools. Resources will be used to inspire other schools and vulnerable groups visiting the exhibition. Anastasia,s idea of a template looking at the artist Victoria Brookland will be used in the gallery as a visitor art activity. Well done to all our members and to 5M and 5Twho took part in trialing Arts Committee workshop ideas and feeding back their thoughts. See the Art Page in Curriculum for 5M and 5T workshop lesson.

Spring 2018

The Mercer Gallery Visits Arts Committee

19 January 2018
Arts Committee met with Diane Saxon from the Mercer Art Gallery this week who has asked them to design resources for primary schools visiting the Mercer Gallery. The resources will be inspired by two new exhibitions. The End of the War: Brangwyn’s War Posters ( to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War) and Picturing Women (marking 100 years since women first got the vote, an exhibition celebrating the work of inspirational women artists past and present). Arts Committee will be working on their ideas for workshops before presenting to Diane mid February.

Arts Committee and Christmas Displays 2017

Themed boards including, crackers, food, advent calendars, the nativity, Christmas cards, wreaths, Christmas trees, stockings, presents and Santa were filled with messages of hopes and wishes for the future. To see more look on our class pages.

Thank you Arts Committee for your contribution in designing the theme and for supporting your teachers in this years Christmas displays.

Arts Committee and The Mercer Gallery

Arts Committee in the Summer Term collaborated with The Mercer Gallery to create resources for groups, schools and children’s art days for two exhibitions in Autumn. Sheila Bownas: A Yorkshire Life in Pattern and Katherine Holmes: Grandmother’s footsteps. Arts Committee members confidently presented their ideas and resources for workshops to Diane Saxon from the Gallery who was very impressed by their professionalism and their creativity.

This November, Arts Committee’s printing ideas were used for a dementia group session and KS1 school visit’s at the Gallery as part of the Sheila Bownas exhibition. The Mercer Gallery will also be using the resources for self-led activities in the gallery over the Christmas holidays, crediting Arts Committee at Oatlands. Diane Saxon sent this message to last years Arts Committee members, ‘Do let them know for me, as I want them to know their hard work and creative ideas paid off and we’re very grateful.’

Well done Arts Committee we are very proud of you and your contribution to the community in Harrogate.