After School Clubs & HAF
For the last decade or so I have run after school art clubs in schools throughout South Yorkshire, both independently and for the Learners Trust. At present the majority of these clubs involve schools in Rotherham. More recently we have started running after school STEM clubs, by 'we' I mean myself and partner Marie, she is an outstanding teacher with a Maths background, I actually have a science background so together it made sense that we include STEM clubs as part of our offer. In the last few years we have also provided an Art and STEM programme for Rotherham Schools HAF, a government funded initiative which provides activities and food for children during school holidays. We also organise and provide enrichment activity days during the school term.
We cover all year groups from foundation to year 6 and beyond. We often see the same children coming back year after year and it’s wonderful to see their skills and confidence improve. Creativity is an essential tool for everyone, especially children, yet it is becoming increasingly difficult (in all aspects of education) to keep children engaged and inspired outside of the digital world. Motor skills are declining and confidence in their own creative abilities is low. Schools often don’t have the capacity to focus on such skills due to increasing pressures in other areas.
We need to allow children the space and opportunity: to create, to find pleasure in using their hands and to figure out, through mistakes and candid gusto, how to make ‘stuff’, unique and wholesome stuff. To realise that the creative subjects are at the heart of everything we derive pleasure and happiness from, inventions, the theatre, animation, scientific breakthroughs etc, without the freedom to imagine and the skills to create then all this becomes unattainable. After school clubs, HAF activities and enrichment provision are all brilliant platforms that can spark just a tiny bit of this and thus an integral part of a child’s (and adults) education.
We have spent many years encouraging parents and grandparents to take part too!
Here is a glimpse into the many projects we have undertaken from illustration to ceramics and everything in between.
STEM
Our venture into the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) has been a success and a joy. Although we are a little restricted, at primary level, in terms of creating the most ferocious explosive chemical reactions, we have explored a range of experiments such as bouncing bubbles, lava lamps, magnetic forces, monster hands, and the parents favourite, slime. There's a whole lot more we plan to explore, including a little bit of magic!
CPD - Staff Training
Sometimes the staff in school need help in bringing out their creative side or even a little bit of reassurance in their own artistic abilities, however this crucial branch of education is part of an ever growing tree and it isn’t always easy to find the time or the space.
CPD training sessions are a fantastic platform, allowing freedom to explore, an opportunity to get messy, and to access the support needed to transfer new skills and ideas to the children they teach and nurture. We can provide sessions at any time during the school year whether it be part of a training day, a twilight session or a one off session such as those we offer to our current schools in South Yorkshire or for the Rotherham’s ‘Picture This’ launch event.