Literacy
"After the Fall - How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again"
I was invited to return to work with St Patrick's Primary School in Dingle, Liverpool. The whole school select one book and build all their teaching round the theme of that book. In the past we've worked with books like "The Tin Forest", "The Street beneath my feet" and "Lucy's Blue Day" scroll down for detail.
We based this project on a great book "After the Fall - How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again" by Dan Santat. Over 3 days I worked with children from each year group to co-create Humpty Dumpty. Starting with the oldest - Year 6 children built the basic egg shape with willow and wire then added the arms and legs. We used maths to measure the framework and make sure it was even.
The pupils range of knowledge about eggs was fascinating - from one horrified child not knowing that birds come from eggs (she announced that she won't be eating them again!), or that eggs come in many colours not just brown, to a child knowing that reptiles also lay eggs.
Year 5 pupils worked with me in small groups for a lesson at a time. Most of the children also made up stories about Humpty while we working. The reception group mostly wanted to look, touch and play inside the sculpture. The egg has a space inside big enough for one or two kids to sit in. This was a highlght for most pupils - some got in and declared I'm a baby bird!
The Street Beneath My Feet
In spring Faith was artist in residence for a whole school project at St Patrick Catholic Primary in Liverpool, based on 'The Street beneath my feet' book by Charlotte Guillam & Yuval Zommer which illustrates and describes a journey through the layers of the earth down to the planets core. Faith worked with pupils from reception to Year 6 to create an artwork for the school grounds, exploring the varying layers underground and types of things you find there. Year 6 pupils worked on planning the piece and selected a set of key words describing the different layers. The other year groups made moulds ready to cast individual letters in papercrete (concrete & paper mix). During the summer term pupils and parent volunteers moved to working outdoors to begin installing the letters to make groups of words. Faith put the finishing touches to the piece during the summer holidays. The piece will be used for cross curricula learning opportunities outside in the playground.
Lucy’s Blue Day
Every year St Patricks Catholic primary School do a cross curricula project based on a book. For 2019 they chose ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’ written by Chris Duke and illustrated by Federica Bartolini. ⠀ ⠀
‘Lucy’s Blue Day’ is book about a very special little girl with magical hair. It changes colour with her emotions. If she is feeling happy, it is purple. If she is jealous, it will turn green. This charming story is the tale of when Lucy wakes up and her hair is blue, and she doesn’t understand why. Lucy soon learns that it is #OKNotToBeOK ⠀ ⠀
I spent four days working with Year 1 – 6 students creating the main character Lucy as a sculpture. In the book her magical hair changes colour with her mood, so we gave her rainbow hair to reflect the range of moods we all have. ⠀
Leon And The Place Between
Rudston Primary School invited Faith to lead two days workshops with Year 5 and 6 students based on the book 'Leon and the place between' written and illustrated by Graham Baker Smith & Angela McAllister. Leon the main character gets caught up in a magic show and enters another world through a magic box. The sculptures depict Leon and his various adventures from the book including going into the magic box, riding on a magic carpet and bringing back a white rabbit. The sculptures formed part of a display in the school hall with the students own stories, drawings which parents were invited to view at a special celebration event.
