Charlotte Jones, teacher and Arts Award adviser at Newminster Middle School tells us about how they transformed the school hall and corridors into an exhibition space to celebrate their pupils’ Arts Award Discover and Bronze Arts Award achievements, as well as involving and engaging the local community.
Newminster Middle School has enjoyed a fantastic year celebrating creativity through the successful delivery of both Arts Award Discover and Bronze Arts Award. As a proud Trinity Champion Centre, the school received a grant from Trinity College London to expand opportunities for young people to engage with the arts and celebrate their achievements.
The Trinity Champion Centre grant supported the school's ambitious Northumberland Wildlife Art Exhibition, a whole-school celebration inspired by the intricate biro pen artwork of contemporary artist Jane Lee McCracken. As part of their Arts Award journey, pupils developed their artistic skills by creating detailed biro pen animal artwork, which contributed towards the creative activities for Part A of Discover (Discover) and Bronze (Explore the arts as a participant). Many pupils also explored Jane Lee McCracken’s work as part of their artist research, supporting their learning about the work of a practising artist for Discover Part B (Find out) and Bronze Part C (Arts inspiration).
Every pupil in the school contributed to the exhibition, creating detailed studies of Northumberland's wildlife alongside original poetry, song lyrics and animated films celebrating local creatures. The exhibition provided pupils with an opportunity to share their creativity with a wider audience and formed part of the evidence for Part C of Discover (Share).
A community celebration
The school hall and corridors were transformed into a professional gallery, creating a vibrant showcase of pupils' talents. Visitors were also able to purchase tea towels and gift cards featuring pupils' artwork, giving children the exciting experience of seeing their work turned into professionally produced merchandise.
The exhibition was a true community celebration; welcoming families, local residents, coffee clubs, councillors, civic representatives and pupils from local first schools. The event was extremely well attended and also provided a wonderful transition opportunity, allowing prospective Year 5 pupils to experience Newminster’s welcoming and creative environment.
Contributing to a shared exhibition
A particular highlight was the attendance of artist Jane Lee McCracken, who met pupils, discussed her creative process and inspired them by sharing her experiences as a professional artist. Visitors also enjoyed an interactive art table where they could create their own Northumbrian creature illustrations using biro pens and add them to the growing display. It was wonderful to see families sitting side by side, creating artwork together and becoming part of the exhibition themselves.
Alongside the exhibition, pupils have engaged in a wide range of arts experiences throughout the year. For Part B of Bronze (Explore the arts as an audience member), all pupils experienced a concert and workshop delivered by players from the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Pupils who play musical instruments also shared their talents by performing at a local nursing home, providing a valuable opportunity to use their skills in the wider community.
Passing on arts skills
For Bronze Part D (Arts skills share), our pupils developed and shared their creative skills by choreographing a dance and creating an instructional video for the school’s Rockstars for Comic Relief event. This event brought together 1,500 pupils to dance, celebrate creativity and raise money for charity. In addition, pupils designed and created the backdrop for the school musical Shrek, combining art and design skills with performance.
Further opportunities for pupils to share their skills included delivering Manga and graffiti workshops to younger pupils during Health and Wellbeing Days, as well as supporting school open days through art and music workshops.
Final thoughts
The Northumberland Wildlife Art Exhibition was a fitting celebration of the creativity, confidence and enthusiasm of Newminster pupils. Bringing together art, writing, music, animation and community participation, the exhibition demonstrated the power of the arts to inspire young people, build connections and create memorable experiences for everyone involved.
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