Sketching - Gearing up for the Arts Celebration

 

We are gearing up for our Arts Celebration. As part of our Inquiry rotations, we are learning to sketch. In this session, we sketched people in lots of different ways. Some examples are that we used '1000 lines,' sketched with our non-dominant hand, sketched people upside down, we used different mediums and looked closely at people's faces. Ask us about this at home... 

The Arts Celebration 2021 - Whetukairangi Gallery

On Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, we opened up the school as an Art Gallery. It was wonderful to share our Art with our whānau. 

Maggie: I liked how Autahi used a toy that was special to them. They also did a thing where you could make a face out of some of their play stuff. I liked how Tautoru used music. 

Fabian: I really liked the art from Matariki because it had a really good carving of the north island of New Zealand and I liked that they had little clay characters and they are gonna make a little stop motion movie. I liked the art from the little kids because they did photos of they themselves and made a background.

Sabine: My favourite piece of art in autahi was the ones where they took photos of themselves with their favourite toys and then made them into collages. They made it look a whole lot more abstract with what they put on their art. My favourite piece in tautoru was their music and beats I thought it was really cool the way they made the beat and rhythm and different sounds and their method of keeping the beat and time and when to actually play their instruments. My favourite piece of art in Matariki was the floating inspiration books they were really interesting and abstract the way they put them up. I also liked the spinning tops I thought the illusion was really cool.

Sophie: I liked the way Autahi did lots of different ideas of one style of art and my favourite style of art was the one were you could touch it and play around with it. I liked it so much because it was different to the normal idea of art which is to hang it up or do something like that and then you can’t touch it. I liked the way Tautoru also did one style of art in different ways, I also liked how they learnt about music and how to read their own little sheet of it. My favourite part about Tautoru’s art was watching them put all that work into learning about music because it was really cool watching them making music.

Luca S: When I walked into Matariki, I was overwhelmed with amazing art, it was so cool to see the finished product of all their art, i had seen a tiny bit of their art in the process but it was still so cool seeing the finished products. I am very proud of my art that I did this year and I have put in a lot of work, same as lots of other people, my stop-motion is one of the things I am most proud of because it started off as and idea, now it is a meaningful short clip.

This is our Matariki Māhutonga movie with some of our poems and some of our stop motion.

Mae S: In tautoru, I liked the greeting art. It was very tidy and colourful, and I liked the way they included Maori things in their art celebration. The tree that was next to them I thought was cool- with all the fairy lights and such. Overall their art celebration was very nice. I think Tautoru did an amazing job and worked VERY hard on it! I think that they did lots of hard mahi!

Addison: I loved how Autahi put play and art together and I thought that their art was pretty abstract. I loved how Tautoru made art of their own faces and the things that they loved and I think that was pretty creative.

Will: Visiting the Autahi and Tautoru art was actually really cool. It was very different to our art, and it was quite interesting too. Autahi’s art was about self portraits and faces. They made faces out of toys and lego, took pictures of themselves with their special toys, and sketched the photos. They all drew self portraits, and got their friends to do them as well. There was also a half and half game, where they would fold the paper over and do one side of the face each. They also did pop art collages in the corridor as well. The art in Tautoru was about the students introducing themselves. They took selfies (not like you would take a selfie though) and printed them out in a black and white filter. That way they could colour it in and it would be realistic and colourful. They also made art about what they enjoyed doing, what they liked, and some things about themselves. There was also a section with pop art including the words “Ko ***student’s name*** Au”, in messed around and jumbled up letters. They also made a lot of music and beat, to perform together in a group.

Nicolas: I enjoyed it, Autahi blew my mind! And Tautoru too! How are they doing this?! I really enjoyed going to look at the senior art too!

Sam M: This term I enjoyed the Art Celebration. It was fun to learn about the process and meaning of art. It was fun learning how to control paint. Before I didn't really know how to paint and I would rush and complete it in a day. I believe I have improved my skill of painting. I liked doing the Marc Chagall painting the most. I was really happy with the shading and look of my painting but I still can improve. During the Art Celebration I really liked working with my friends. I enjoyed making wire characters and objects and finding funny ways to arrange them then we made a stop motion movie with them. It was great seeing it projected in Māhutonga.

The Arts Celebration- The Inspiration Book!

We have been busy exploring and creating in our Inquiry, "The Inspiration Book" 

We asked: 

How do artists use Art to share ideas and influence change?

We are looking at the purpose of Art and why we do Art. We are thinking about how we can portray a message and influence change through Art.

Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate: Celebrate The Arts!
Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 September, 6pm to 7.30pm

It’s time for our Arts Celebration, a highlight in our calendar.
It’s a chance to recognise, validate and... celebrate other ways of learning and expressing ourselves.

Tuesday Autahi and Tautoru families
Please arrive at any time from 6pm – 7pm

Wednesday Matariki and Māhutonga families
Please arrive at any time from 6pm – 7pm

Level 2 Protocols:

One way circuit through the school – entry via Seatoun Heights driveway and exit through Awa Road – see map below.

We will keep to a maximum of 100 people indoors.

Face coverings are to be worn.

Please arrive at any time from 6pm – 7pm.

Families with children in both junior and senior are welcome to come on either night but only once please.

The whole school will be open on both nights.

We look forward to celebrating with you !

Inspiration Book: Inspired by Matisse

Our Inquiry is called, "The Inspiration Book." We asked: How do artists use Art to share ideas and influence change? We are looking at the purpose of Art and why we do Art.

On Friday, we were inspired by the work of Henri Matisse. We are dialling up our strength of Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence! We are getting ready for our Arts Celebration. Watch this space...

Please have a look at our Matisse inspired Art:

Teacher Art Exhibition

Teachers have been getting creative for our Teacher Art Exhibition last week. You may have seen some odd look creatures in last weeks newsletter and around the playground. 

On Monday, the students took a tour of these pieces as we explained the inspiration behind them. It was really cool to see this and we also saw some work in the office inspired by stories we know well like Maui and Mahuika and the Māori creation myth. 

In the afternoon on Monday following our tour we returned to the idea of the 'inspiration book'. We started some big brainstorms with big picture thinking, what learning did we want to share about? What is possible? We will be exploring these in our Art Celebration.

Home learning:

• Arts Celebration planning has begun.  On Monday we began with our Inspiration Book.

This includes Who inspires me, (artists, writers, musicians, thinkers, politicians, mums, dads, etc. What inspires me, ideas, issues, concerns, amusements ( Our history, family, gender roles, racism etc.) and How I could use these inspirations to make artworks. (materials, methods, styles etc.)  The next step is to do a series of sketches of the ideas.  Don’t settle on the first idea or on just one idea but let your mind wander and explore a range of options.  This will be a kind of visual brainstorm, building on the Inspiration Book.

Cleo's Art- inspired by Cloe's Art!

Matariki Māhutonga City Gallery + Wellington Museum Trip

 We are so INSPIRED after our trip to the City Gallery and Wellington Museum.

City Gallery

We explored the latest exhibition called 'Every Artist'. We were curious about the messages/meaning behind the artwork and enjoyed trying to figure these out throughout the gallery.

We were particularly drawn to Emily Karaka's work which displayed her inspirations for her work. 

We also created our own books for a place to record our inspiration, which I'm sure will be filled soon! 

Wellington Museum

Learning about the history of Wellington/ NZ has been a focus recently. It is great to understand the formation of New Zealand with greater depth. 

'Understanding the mistakes of the past ensures we don't repeat them'  - Lillian 

At the museum we heard more about characters like the Wakefields as well as the sharing of history through the Te Ao Māori lens. We look forward to continuing this learning in the weeks to come.

Worser Bay Arts Celebration Drama Sketches

Our Arts Celebration sketches movies are ready! 

We focussed on using a big voice, thinking where our feet will be, making big movements and thinking about where the audience's attention should be. 

A big thank you to Anita Rossbach for making this possible!

Arts Celebration Poetry

As part of our Arts Celebration, we wanted to showcase our poetry. Here is our Arts Celebration Poetry movie: 

Character Strengths and the Arts Celebration

At Worser Bay School, we believe in a strengths based approach to learning. Character Strengths are the positive human qualities that serve as pathways for living a good life. Knowing and applying your Character Strengths is the key to you being your best self. 

In some of our reflections last week, we spoke about the Character Strengths that we needed to dial up to perform at the Arts Celebration...

Jack M: I used Bravery because I was very shy. I heard a little stage fright. It was so so so so so so fun! I did a funny script. The light colour was yellow. I was trying my best in the play.

Beatrix: I had to use humor to make my audience laugh more than me. I used creativity for my poem. I used leadership and helped my team practice and get up on stage. I am grateful that Elliot's mum took time out of her day to record us. I had to use bravery when I got on stage & I got a little stage fright.

Billy: 

Leadership: By rounding up my group members for the final practices. 

Bravery: By going up on the big stage and performing our mostly improvised play. 

Gratefulness: By being grateful for the panda costume mum made. 

Teamwork: Me and Nicolas worked together to produce a magic box poem. 

Zest: I used zest in the play by being energetic. 

Perspective: I considered the advice of others and tried to incorporate it into the play.

Kura: I used justise, making sure everyone had the amount of lines that they wanted we worked together to learn the lines off by heart. I used Social intelligence and creativity to make a play.

Yoichi: I used bravery when I was on the recording. I used creativity for the lines in my play with Luca. I used Fairness for having the same amount of lines in the play

Tigerlily: I had to dial up bravery because when we had to get it filmed it was a bit scary. I had to used leadership when I was practising our play when it got a bit confusing. I used teamwork and social intelligence when it got super hard and when my friend got nervous. I used creativity when writing my play and adding extra parts. I was grateful for Scott who set up the stage. Im grateful for everyone who helped with the art celebration. The play went really well it was super fun and quiet funny my play was called "Big Sister."

William: I used bravery, by not getting stage fright when sharing my play and my poem. I also used creativity when making my poem and composing music for numberfrog! I used teamwork when making my play and numberfrog music. I used appreciation of beauty and excellence by appreciating all the excellent plays there were! I was grateful for ethan for volunteering to be part of my play.

Arts Celebration... Watch this Space!

We have used our creativity, bravery and perseverance to create our poems, plays and songs. We have practiced, practiced, practiced! We are looking forward to sharing everything we have done with you all very soon... Watch this space!

Publishing Our Writing

In Māhutonga Matariki, our students have been publishing pieces of writing that they are proud of. This is the final stage of the "writing process." Students have been publishing these pieces to share with you as part of the Arts Celebration. 

It is really important that students have an authentic audience for their writing. This engages writers and gives them a purpose to write. When students have an audience, they learn that their ideas and opinions are interesting and meaningful to others. This is engaging and develops enthusiastic writers who want to edit and improve their work.

We are learning to see ourselves as writers with something interesting to say!

 

Digital Art 2019

Our Semiconductor-inspired digital installations were a hit at our recent Visual Arts Celebration.

Visitors stopped by the Kiva Theatre, gazed up towards the stars and beyond and were engulfed by surreal audiovisuals.

 

Some even dallied with the business of merchandise....

Click here for our Google Site, which features background information on our pieces of art, our inspiration and our process. 

Check out more about our learning journey - ever more relevant before the arrival of the Digital Technologies update to the New Zealand Curriculum in 2020 - on the slides below. 

He mihi nui ki a hoa/a big thank you to everyone who helped us out, appreciated our work on the night or inspired us in any way, big or small. Kia ora!

Art Celebration: Cubism Group

Thank you to everyone who came to the Visual Art Celebration. We had lots of fun creating and preparing. Here is a showcase of the Cubism art...

Matilda: We have been drawing cubism. We have experimented with many different materials and art styles. We did 3 faces, one on brown paper with pastel, one on white paper with pencil, and one on magazine paper with sharpie. We drew our faces with Indian ink, and we decorated the frames with the things we like. We did name art, we wrote our names in block letters, drew lines through them and coloured them in with pencils. We were inspired by Picasso, the famous cubism artist.

Caleb: We have been working on drawing other people from different angles. But my favourite part was my name art. I first drew diagonal straight lines. Then I drew my name, next I coloured in my name with green and blue and the background yellow and orange, redish. I used orangy-red and yellow coloured pencils and normal pencil.

Eva: I am grateful that I finished all my artwork for the art celebration, in the end the art celebration was epic and totally worth all that time and sweat. I am grateful that my art skills have got much better after the art celebration.

This is our art celebration soundtrack. We have created this to entertain you while looking at our art. This piece of music is funky like cubism art. Scan you device on this QR code. By Theo, Liam, Luc and Finley