BNIS Art Week

This week was BNIS Art Week. Inspired by the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, children have been challenging themselves to think creatively and to develop their Growth Mindset.

The story takes on a journey of perseverance, inspiration and self belief, as Vashti, a young girl who hates art classes, is motivated by her teacher to keep trying and not to give up in the face of adversity.

On Monday, each year group came in dressed in a different colour of the rainbow. Children spent the day trying out different media in order to produce an array of dots in their given colour. At the end of the day, these dots were bought together to create a beautiful piece of art composed of work from every child in Primary. The whole school convened outside the Podo Theatre for a rainbow inspired photo-shoot.

On Tuesday, Art Week took on a Geographical focus. Children created their own dots, inspired by the continents and oceans of the World. There were some beautiful examples of Aboriginal artwork from Oceania, and some Mandala inspired designs from Asia. Year 6 created climate change dots inspired by the science of climate predictions from Antarctic ice-cores.

Wednesday was famous artists day: children developed their cultural capital through analysis of a wide range of different artists and art styles - Kandinsky, Pollock and Hirst to name but a few. This was a great opportunity to develop research skills as well as providing opportunities for heated debates on the ethics behind art.

On Thursday, children focused on textured dots. For some, this meant making and topping their own pizzas or icing cookies; for others, it was a chance to get hands-on with sculpture, creating embossed mud and clay dots and designing their own soap dice. There was a phenomenal range of art created on this day and teachers definitely deserve a pat on the back for all of their creative project ideas!

Friday brought the end of Art Week; it was a chance to celebrate everyone’s hard work, as well as to reflect on what had been learnt and what the meaning was of The Dot, and indeed Art Week. The whole school came dressed in polka dots and parents were treated to an art exhibition which had been beautifully curated the night before by Mrs Bebbington, Mrs Gould, Mrs Walby and Ms Githiri. As they perused the stunning artworks of the school, parents were treated to a musical performance from Mr Sam, as well as being offered the opportunity to buy from a dot-themed bake sale hosted by FANS. All money raised from the bake sale and from the school’s non uniform days this week, will be used by the Year 8 Charity team to buy art equipment to be donated to local children in need.