Excitement is mounting as we start designing and prepping the Change 2016 exhibition - watch this space, and do try to visit over the summer if you're in the Batley vicinity. Some truly gorgeous artwork has emerged from the February-March workshops phase, and each of the individual project stories testify to the really high-quality arts and STEM learning experiences enjoyed by children and young people in the 11 participating schools (ages ranging between 6 and 13).
Most of the credit goes to our trio of artists - Shelley Burgoyne, Tim Curtis and Craig Dyson - who have given huge amounts of skill and enthusiasm to the challenge of bringing a wide array of science and technology topics to life through a variety of Printmaking & Drawing, 2D & 3D Markmaking and 3D Construction activities. The depth of learning and the insights children (and school staff) have gained about the connections between art and science, and between creativity and cross-curricular learning, are in no small measure due to the artists' genuine passion for enabling learning through art. It's been a very rich project as a result.
The active involvement of staff from Cummins Turbo Technologies has been an added bonus and enriched the project further. By volunteering to support the artists with the workshops and rolling their sleeves up, they have brought invaluable extra science, technology and engineering knowledge into the sessions and provided inspiration, fascination and great role models for the children. They have also had endlessly positive things to say about how they themselves have benefited from this novel (for them) experience.
All in all a brilliant example of Corporate Social Responsibility policy translating into actual hands-on practice and of partnership working at its best, not to mention a perfect example of why the case for STEM to STEAM really is a no-brainer*.
All in all a brilliant example of Corporate Social Responsibility policy translating into actual hands-on practice and of partnership working at its best, not to mention a perfect example of why the case for STEM to STEAM really is a no-brainer*.
More about Change 2016 and the background in our February post and here.
www.changeproject.co.uk
www.changeproject.co.uk
* with thanks to the Cultural Learning Alliance
