Performance skills

Today in drama we were working on our performance skills. Based on some of our improvised drama work, pupils wrote a diary entry in role as a German citizen just before WWII. They then rehearsed and performed these as short monologues. After some peer evaluation and discussion they revised their work and performed again - as expected, it was much better the 2nd time round!

Here are Deborah and Megan looking very dramatic with their diary entries!

S3 Art work again

Here are some more fine examples of S3 work:

A gnome peering over the garden gate in pencil and pastel by Lamorna:

A monochrome snowman out in the rain / snow in oil pastels by Beth:

Another psychedelic cat in oil pastels by Lara:

Well done to everyone in that class - you are all making super progress!

The latest S3 & S4/5 art work

Here are the latest masterpieces from the art room...

S3 have all been working in oil pastels with super results -

An excellent psychedelic cat in the grass by Lara:

An "ipod boot" by Rebecca Clark:

A colourful, sporting still life by Ailie:

"The car in the rear view mirror" by Jonathan:

And from S4/5 - here is Gabriella's finished flag

The Swiss Alps by Massimo

An acrylic paint lipstick by Hannah:

Evelyn Glennie

Today in S3 drama we were doing some cross curricular work with science and were looking at the ear (kindly lent to us by the science department). We were identifying the different parts affected by different types of deafness and discussing possible interventions available. Lara won a brick for having a super knowledge of all the different parts of the ear and their functions.

We then talked about overcoming deafness and looked at the life of Evelyn Glennie who is a very successful deaf percussionist. She is a woman of great determination and skill.

Exhibition trip

S4/5 artists took a trip to St Mungo's museum of Religious Life in Glasgow today to see an exhibition of Peter Howson's work on famine. We are studying the artist as part of the art and design studies unit and the trip was an excellent way to engage with the artist's work. The museum staff were very informative, actively discussing the paintings with the group as well as giving us background information on his style, inspiration and techniques.

We even got to try out some of his unusual techniques... when he was the official war artist during the Bosnian war all of his art materials were stolen. He had to be creative and ended up 'painting' with candles and boot polish! We had a go and found it was definitely harder than you might think!

After a little practice...

Here is what they had to say about it:

"It was very interesting and educational and I learnt that he isn't so depressing after all! When I first looked at his work I thought it was just miserable but when I watched the video I realised he had a very good point to communicate." Jessica

"I have gained a lot of knowledge about the art field and about Peter Howson's work" Gabriella

"His work is very depressing and sad but he is very good at drawing" Hannah

"Peter Howson's work is very distorted but it tells an important story" Rebecca

"The boot polish and candle wax technique was 'interesting' to try!" Megan

Or in Massimo's words: "The boot polish was stinking!!"

S2 Art

Last week S2 did some still life drawing to create designs on oriental fans that they are making. Today they worked with watercolour paints to create a pale wash over the fans. When they have dried they will paint in the details of their designs.

S3 Art work

Here is the latest from S3:

An oil pastel portrait by Beth, all wrapped up for the winter weather:

A pastel scene outside the garden shed by Lamorna:

S4/5 art in progress

Here are some of things S4/5 are in the process of working on - keep checking to see the finished pieces!

"Stage make-up" in acrylic paint by Megan:

A pencil drawing of headphones by Rebecca:

The "Stars and Stripes" in acrylic paint by Gabriella:

S3 Art work

Here are the latest pieces of work from S3:

A super pastel dog by Rebecca:


Jonathan worked very well to create the different textures of the sails and the wooden poles in his oil pastel drawing of the top of a model boat:


A monochrome still life study in acrylic paint by Lara. This was very tricky - well done!

S4/5 Painters

Everyone was painting in S4/5 art today with acrylic paints (except for Massimo who was drawing). They are all making good progress in working with paint and enjoyed the class.

S3 Deaf awareness

As part of our disability topic we were looking at different types of deafness such as sensorineural, conductive or a loss at a specific frequency range. We also looked at different levels of deafness from mild to profound. We used this website, http://facstaff.uww.edu/bradleys/radio/hlsimulation/, to listen to all the different types of loss as well as look at the audiograms that go with them.

P6/7 Art

P6/7 have a secondary timetable for parts of the week so I have the job of teaching them art on a Thursday afternoon. They are all very enthusiastic and lots of fun to work with. We have just started making a frieze based on the "Yellow Submarine" as part of their 60's topic. Today they were all drawing underwater creatures and using oil pastels to colour them.

It's all in the mind!

We have now moved on to begin looking at the power of your own attitudes, opinions and thoughts. In these photos the pupils are acting out job interview scenarios - both candidates are qualified, the questions they are asked are the same and the answers they give are the same words... but only one will be successful. We will go on to explore why this is.

In the photo below Jessica is giving a superb performance of "Wanda Wonder", a formidable American who runs the "Reach for the Stars" acting agency. Her performance was worthy of an Oscar and highly amusing - it may have to be repeated just so I can video it! Well done Jessica!

Butterfly garden!

Here is Lamorna's finished piece - a very happy landscape!

Out and about...

As part of our disability topic in S3 drama, the students went out and about around the school... the only difference was that they were both blind and hearing impaired! We used ear plugs and eye masks to create as realistic an experience as possible. It was a real eye opener for pupils in terms of understanding some of the practical issues surrounding disability.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any photos of the actual trip out and about as I was too busy stopping them from wandering off into imminent danger...!!!

"I found it scary because I kept on nearly walking into things and I had to trust someone - this was hard as I didn't know what was going to happen." Lara

"It was very exciting to go out and experience what its like to be blind and deaf. I feel I would be much more understanding and compassionate and try to help more." Chloe

"Doing this has made me realise how hard it would be to be blind. I don't know what I would do." Beth

"It is sad to think of people who have sight and then become blind. I would not like to be blind - it was very scary." Alexander

Power of propaganda

In S4/5 drama we looked at the power of propaganda, charisma and personality. In particular we focussed in on the events surrounding WWII. Here you can see some of the pupils in the middle of a role play (complete with excellent German accents!!) and on the laptops searching for SFX to add to the drama.

S3 Happy Artists!

S3 artists are all working well and making good progress. Here are some more examples of what they are up to:

A surrealist rooftop view in pastel by Beth -

An 'in progress' pastel landscape by Lamorna (keep checking for the finished piece!) -

S4/5 Art again

Some more masterpieces from the studio!

An American taxi in oil pastel by Gabriella:

And an old style mic in acrylic paint by Rebecca:

Ongoing artwork in S4/5

Here are the latest works of art from S4/5:

Comedy and Tragedy masks by Megan:

And on the theme of romance, a rose by Jessica: