Community arts project carried out for Shoreditch Star children's newspaper.
The main focus of our project
was to research the history of the
Olympic Park site and learn about
how the place we live in has a
community history and ecology
and that we are all part of a
continuing process.
The pupils at Morningside used
Graphic Arts to engage with
creating a board game about
these aspects of the Olympic Park
site. The fact that it was a board
game would naturally lead to a fun
activity at the end of the project
when pupils could play the board
game TIMESPAN 2010! The aim of
the game itself is to progress up
through the ages until the winner
reaches 2012.
This project encouraged pupils to
engage with that history so that
they feel part of that continuity.
All sorts of people and animals
have taken part and will continue
to take part in the history and
ecology of the Lea Valley and
specifically the Olympic Park site.
We had a fascinating visit to
the View Tube where we saw
the Olympic Park site. We met
Stephanie Applegate from the
Olympic Delivery Authority and
learned all about the flora and
fauna of the area, which includes
some quite remarkable creatures
that give the area its distinct
ecology.
The types of illustration we used
had specific names and special
uses. Initial drawings we did of
the Olympic site, the engineers,
diggers, the buildings in progress,
is classed as Reportage illustration.
We were using our drawing skills
to gather information that was
then taken back to the classroom
and incorporated into our
gameboard. We also investigated
Cartooning, Character design,
Historical illustration, Natural
History and Botanical illustration,
useful modes of expression and
representation of the world around
us.
Did those children throw
themselves into playing the game!
Wow. It was so exciting …
A giant Dice was used vigorously,
hurtling along the floor to forward
the game. The suspense was
palpable.It was as much the making of
the game as playing it that was
empowering to the class, there
was a great deal of learning hard
facts about history in addition to
gaining a basic grounding in the
creative process of Graphic Arts.
There are some brilliant individual
artists in the group and it was
great to see everyone engaging
with the task at hand. I can
honestly say that every single pupil
contributed something of key value
to the outcome of the project. Well
done Year 6!
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