Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for many artists (and budding artists to be). This lovely weather should hopefully encourage schools to creatively engage with the nature in their school grounds, or even further afield at one of our living classroom sites.
Ofsted have recently stressed the importance of drawing, and exposing children to different methods of drawing. Attaching chalk to long sticks, drawing on pencil marked paper with a rubber (or piece of bread) and drawing from memory with your eyes closed are a couple of methods that can be used to teach children that drawing is a process to be explored and isn't something that comes instantly.
To help encourage secondary teachers to re-engage with a love of drawing the Campaign for Drawing, the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), and the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies (NADFAS) have launched the TEA programme: Thinking, Expression and Action – Learning through drawing in art and design. This partnership has been made possible by a grant from the Helen Rachael Mackaness Trust, and aims to get more young people drawing, and taking inspiration from their natural and cultural environment.
All teachers of art, craft and design within the secondary phase are invited to apply to join the free TEA programme (June 2012 - July 2013). Selection is by a letter of application, explaining why you wish to be involved, and how you could contribute to, and benefit from, theTEA programme. Please also confirm that you have your head teacher’s support. Letters of application should be sent online to lesleybutterworth@nsead.org by Thursday 7 June 2012.
If you are interested in being involved please follow this link - More...
An amazing 2600+ schools have been Stepping Up for Nature with us over the past year! To recognise this fantastic effort we'll be sending these schools a special pack in the post this week, containing a certificate and more information about how they've been Stepping Up.
There are a total of 10 official steps that can be taken with us, and they're all really easy to get involved in...
If you know your school has taken part in one of these activities over the past year (and you have said 'yes' you would like to hear news from RSPB Youth and Education), then keep your eyes peeled for your pack this week!
We'd love to hear if you liked your pack and how you intend to Step Up for Nature over the next 12 months. Let us know below (you'll need to join this group first), or tweet us @RSPB_Learning!
We've been looking forward to the Olympics this summer and have recently produced a new activity for schools, or for children to complete at home. All you need to do is compare the sporting abilities of humans to those of the animal kingdom!
The resource can be used as a one off activity or extended into a larger homework project.
Included in this resource you will find;
The materials are generally designed for KS2, but can be easily adapted for different ages. Once you have completed the activity, email us the names of the top three animals in your class (or if you'd like to scan in your work we'd love to see it) along with your name and school address, to animalympics@rspb.org.uk and we'll send you a copy of this fantastic poster.
You can find the activity and a little more information here.