Spring Term 2015 Issue 17

Art
Drama
Music
Dance
Broadening Horizons
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our Spring Arts newsletter. As always there has been
so much happening across the school. We have various theatre
companies coming into school of late with theatre and drama being
used right across the curriculum. Mrs Coomer has arranged for a
production of ‘ The Light Fantastic’ to be shown in school this
week. Pupils will experience spectacular and immersive
demonstrations creating light in a variety of memorable and exciting
ways. Various classes are arranging outings and our pupils are still
benefitting from the Short Breaks Programme. Many classes have
celebrated the Chinese New Year creating colourful art work and
we are delighted with our newly made goat to celebrate Chinese
New Year 2015. Film making has really taken off and we are all
looking forward to the Into Film premiere on March 10 th.
We are most proud that one of our Post 16 students has been
selected to celebrate his skills at Autism’s Got Talent on May 9th at
the Mermaid Theatre in London. Good luck Thomas!
Penny Hamer
Easter - ‘Parent Arts Workshop’
Working with Colour
Come along for an anti-stress colouring session. You will be
using colours to create something beautiful that you can take
home with you!
March 20th 9.30 – 12.00
Contact [email protected]
or phone school to book a place.
No cost – Maximum 10 places so book your place now!
Lunch is available from Mis-Match café at the bungalow.
Chinese New Year 2015
All of our Secondary Art lessons this week have been based around the Chinese New Year.
In western countries, New Year's Day always falls on January 1st. In China, New Year's Day
is also the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar! Therefore, Chinese New Year
dates vary each year and could fall at the end of January or in February.
This year the Chinese New Year was on February 19 th and is the Year of the Goat.
Our pupils have been learning about the many traditions associated with Chinese New Year
celebrations and creating art work linked to some of these.
On Wednesday artist Darrell Wakelam came into school and worked with various pupils
throughout the day to create our very own amazing Chinese Goat.
All work is on display in school and can be seen until the end of term so do take a look if you
are coming into school.
Gung Hei Fat Choy - (Wishing you Great Happiness and Prosperity!)
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Departure Arts Short Breaks Funding
Our pupils have continued to benefit from this
scheme, with groups visiting the cinema and going
to the local pantomime. Other trips are currently
being planned. Many thanks to Mrs Brewer at
Westfield for organising these trips and a big thank
-you to DepARTure Arts for their support and the funding from ‘Short Breaks’.
Without this funding and support after school trips like this would not be viable.
Soundbeam
We both recently visited Victoria School in Poole to look at their Performing Arts facilities and
join in with some drama lessons. It was a great day and we came away with lots of new
ideas. Probably the thing which most impressed us though was the use of their Soundbeam
equipment by all students in music lessons.
Soundbeam is a device which emits sound waves. When these are interrupted- (by a hand, or a
foot or any part of the body) - then a sound is made. This could be a guitar, bells,
trumpets....even gunfire - the list is endless! The Soundbeam website has some great
examples of work that Victoria School has done: http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/.
After the visit we decided that we would like to see what we could do with the Soundbeam
equipment which Westfield has had for some time.....so after a quick dusting off, our Soundbeam has been resurrected! We have an
almost exhaustive list of new ideas which we would like to try; including using it in drama productions and lessons, students using it to
record music for their own films and by next year we hope to be using the Soundbeam to support the delivery of NCFE Music
Technology Level 1. Certainly it will play a role in this year's Arts Week. Watch this space!
Chris Smith & Mandy Gould
As part of Westfield’s Broadening Horizons curriculum, The
Cove has been learning about Kenya. ‘Experience the music, art,
dance, literature and food of other cultures.’
They have made and painted clay models, used paper plates to
create traditional jewellery, produced some great Kenyan
landscapes, composed music and made animations.
Mrs Amanda Evans and The Cove team
After our recent successful film project funded by an
Into Film grant we are now happy to announce that the
film maker who we worked with has returned the films fully edited and ready to be viewed! The films have
been submitted to Into Film and will be entered into a
variety of national competitions. Students and staff had
a fantastic couple of weeks improving their film making
skills and the resulting two short animations are most
definitely something to be proud of.
As part of the conditions of the funding we will be
holding a 'premiere' of our two films on the 10th
March for all students and staff at Westfield
and parents of our young film makers. If you haven't
received an invite and would like to come along please
contact the school for details.
Well done to all the students involved and many thanks
to our film maker, Peter Snelling, for working with us for
the two weeks.
Mandy Gould
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6th Form Enterprise: Get Crafty!
Students made decorations for the Valentine’s meal at the café on 10 th Feb. This consisted of 2 large cardboard hearts that the students
covered in red tissue on both sides. Archie, Becky, Sophie and Tommy worked on these.
Tommy and Thomas C also worked on small cardboard hearts. Others made cards, paper hearts created out of two strips of paper,
folded and glued to create hearts which were then glued together to make a larger heart.
Others have been making sock monkeys and making jewellery. The girls do floristry with Sarah Fennel.
Wakeham Art
As part of our Christmas art work the boys in Wakeham
Geof Edge: Chesil Schools Singing Project Workshop
made their own version of one of the panels of "The Wilton
6th Feb 2015
Diptych" which depicts angels with Mary and the baby
Pupils from Sandbanks and from across some of
Jesus. Some of the boys in Wakeham saw the Wilton
our other secondary classes at Westfield spent
Diptych when we went to the National Gallery in London a
the morning of 6th February working with local
couple of years ago and they have never forgotten it - the
composer and musician Geof Edge. They were
blue pigment on the original is made from Lapis Lazuli and so
joined by pupils from Bincombe Valley Primary
is stunningly vibrant and the gold leaf sets it off beautifully.
School and St. Andrew’s Primary School, to learn five new songs
Our version brought festive cheer and New Year joy to the
for a collaborative singing workshop, planned to take place on
lower corridor of the Gould Building!
Tuesday 28th April at Wey Valley School, Weymouth.
Pupils were able to listen and learn songs created by Geof and
will be rehearsing in their schools, prior to the concert in April,
where they will be joined by other schools in the Chesil School
Partnership and singing as part of a massed choir of 300 voices!
‘Lest We Forget’
Musical Programme at BIC
Filming at Mountjoy
As part of the TADSS
partnership we were lucky
enough to be invited to
Mountjoy school to make
some films with their
students and staff.
We, and one of our Year 10
students, spent time with KS2 students who learnt
how to make animations on the Ipad using the stopmotion app and Puppetpals.
They also filmed each other talking about their school.
This, together with a film of a tour of the school made by
KS5 students, became a 'Welcome to Mountjoy' film and
is now being played in reception. Well done to all the
students involved for being part of the film and thanks to
everyone at Mountjoy for making us feel so welcome.
Mandy Gould & Chris Smith
A coach party of our pupils are off to
Bournemouth on Thursday March
19th to the Bournemouth
International Centre where over 500 children and young people
will come together to commemorate the First World War, in a
uniquely creative, collaborative event organised by The Dorset
Music Service and SoundStorm.
Secondary Music lessons
In Music some groups will be learning about Hip
Hop music. They will learn about rap, beatboxing,
sampling and structure. We have begun writing
lyrics based on a powerful message. I have found
students to be very responsive and they have been
able to think of words related to a powerful message and rhyme
them in order to create their own hip hop inspired songs. We
are also working on performance and voice projection and
confidence in order to be able to perform the finished piece.
The introduction of 'Charanga Music World' has been beneficial
in many ways and assists students towards a deeper musical
understanding with a focus on the elements of music.
Jackie Kelly-Mcghee
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ICT
Shibori
This image was edited by a
Year 11 student using Serif
DrawPlus. This is a fantastic
program and can make photos
look really arty.
At Westfield we cannot afford
to provide access to
professional quality software
but the Serif Suite of programs
allows our students to get very
close to the experience and
Art work by David (Southwell)
develop skills in film editing,
key frame animation and
photographic editing. If you would like a demonstration of the
programs please contact our digital experts in Post 16 and Key
Stage 4.
A special purchase price is available to
students in schools with licences to the Serif
programs. Please request details.
Last year three staff went on “An Introduction to
Shibori and Indigo Dyeing” day course with local
textile artist Annabel Wilson. They returned to
school excited, inspired and keen to share their
newly acquired skills. The department decided
that a good way to disseminate these skills
would be by firstly running staff workshops and
then planning a whole school Shibori project.
Aware of the cost involved I wrote a plan and
submitted it for consideration for a bursary. We
are delighted that we have been successful in
sourcing funding.
Shibori is a
Japanese
technique of
creating designs in dyed fabric
and the results can be quite
spectacular. Watch out for our
creations!
Many thanks to the Dorset Arts
& Craft Association. We plan to
exhibit our work at their 101st Annual Exhibition at the Purbeck
School later in the year.
This photo from last year’s motocross was
edited by Elliott and reminds me of a 1940’s
London Transport poster.
Yvonne Aylott
Forthcoming Events
Spring Term 2015
Silk Painting
Pupils have recently been silk painting. They have
been accredited for this work through the AQA unit
Award Scheme. Some pieces have been made into
cushions and others have chosen to have the pieces
mounted to hang on the wall.
Originating from China, silk painting is an art form with
over 2000 years of history that involves applying
coloured pigment to silk. You may see how the
students have used salt to create a textural
background in their work.
Tues 10th March – Into Film Project premiere (pm)
Fri 13th March – Comic relief disco
 Disco 1: 12.15pm - 12.55pm all primary
 Disco 2 : 1.00pm - 1.45pm all secondary & Post 16
Fri 20th March - Easter Parent workshop
April 23rd (am) / April 29th (am) / April 30th (am) - GCSE Art Exam
Tues April 28th – Singing workshop @ Wey Valley School
Sat 20th June - Dorchester carnival
Sat 27th / Sun 28th June - Arts Exhibition @ Upwey Old School
Mon 29th / Tues 30th June - Arts Enrichment days
Contacts
App of the Moment
Adobe Voice - Show Your
Story by Adobe
https://appsto.re/gb/7vp0Y.i
We have used this app a great deal
this past term and it is excellent for
story telling using photos. Another
good use is as a training or teaching
aid as it provides a template for
explaining things in a structured way.
Chris Smith
If you have any questions about the visual and performing
arts at Westfield contact:
Director of Specialism Penny Hamer
[email protected]
Westfield Arts College
Littlemoor Road
Preston
Weymouth
Dorset
DT3 6AA
Phone: 01305 833518
Fax: 01305 835414
Headteacher: Mr A Penman
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