Blog

“A Breakfast Club is far more than tea and toast” was Tricia Murphy’s advice during the recent Pupil Premium conference at the Education Leaders Forum.

By Artis Specialist Andrea Beed (Twizzle) On Sunday 18 September we held a very special day to pay tribute to our much missed friend and gifted Artis Specialist Deborah Barber-Jones (Woohoo). Deborah passed away in April 2015 from an inoperable brain tumour that followed a courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer. She was immensely […]

I have always believed that using dance, drama or music in teaching is one of the best ways to bring things alive for children. Rather than being taught a book, idea or concept, they get to experience it. This opens up a whole new world for them, something that is true for both those performing as well as those watching.

Being an Artis Specialist is very different to your average day job. On Monday I was an African dance specialist, a chicken farmer, a polar bear, a ‘horrid child’ from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and a water cycle rap god…and all before lunch.

I had mixed feelings the day my contractions began. It was 31 August and I was expecting my second baby. Whilst thrilled that I was soon to set eyes on our new addition to the family, I was also thinking about her future wellbeing given the restrictions of our current education system. If born that day, which was highly likely given the speed with which second babies can arrive, her journey through life might be quite different than if she were to wait a few more hours and be born on 1 September.

Onomatopoeias – words that imitate the sounds they’re describing – pop up in the dictionary more often than you might think. Along with a whole host of creatures named for the snorts, squawks and squeaks they make (the chickadee, chiffchaff and chipmunk, for example), there are many more words that started life as an echo; laugh, sneeze, and even pebble are attempts to describe their respective sounds.

Supporting the delivery of PE through movement and dance based active learning, in primary schools, is increasingly being recognised as a powerful way to develop children’s physical literacy while simultaneously improving their wellbeing, confidence, self-esteem and creativity.

Boing, Chime and myself Toot had a wonderful opportunity this August having been invited to deliver a professional training programme for Korean artists and teachers as part of the ‘Arte Academy’ training programmes offered by the Korean Arts & Culture Education Service.

Guest blog post by Artis Specialist Holly Kent (Clip Clop) The priority in one of my schools is to aid language development of Reception EAL learners. Here I share some activities and explain how they can help language development.

Throughout the Spring term, we invited primary schools across the country to submit a 10 word response to the question ‘What is art?’ We were blown away by the breadth and depth of the responses. You can read more about the shortlist and the winner.