Arts Award Discover inspiring a whole year group

Continuing our ‘Arts Award in Schools’ theme on the blog this month, Daksha Kataria, Year 3 Team Leader at Montem Academy in Slough shares with us how they integrated Arts Award Discover into the Year 3 curriculum so that the whole year group achieved the Award through an exciting African art themed project.

Montem Academy is a vibrant, diverse primary school that embraces the unique backgrounds and experiences of our 900 pupils. Montem serves a community from a wide array of nations, cultures and ethnicities, creating a rich tapestry of diversity that is celebrated as a core strength. Embracing unique perspectives, we turn challenges into assets, preparing our pupils for success. Our curriculum enhances self-expression, creativity, and individual identity, helping our students to thrive intellectually and as confident, respectful individuals committed to personal growth.

The Year 3 team were thrilled to be able to deliver Arts Award Discover with the whole year group and we thought it would be a great opportunity to highlight various artistic disciplines to our 120 pupils. The children themselves were buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm and couldn’t wait to get started.

During the initial adviser training course, we had time to discuss ideas and reflect on how the Arts Award Discover process would work in our school setting. The challenge for us was how we were going to incorporate this into an already busy and full curriculum.

As our next term’s core book was going to be ‘Akimbo’s African Adventures’, we thought this would be a great basis for introducing an exciting art project inspired by the rich cultural heritage of Africa, which would link well with our existing curriculum.

The more the team thought about it, the more ideas we generated. We were on a journey to expand arts provision at Montem, so the children were already learning how to play the ukulele with the help of Slough Music Service. One of the music teachers ran an African Drumming Club and when approached, they were more than happy to give all 120 children an African drumming session – this was a fantastic opportunity for Part A of Arts Award Discover!

Another initiative which was taking place in school was making Montem Academy an ‘Active Movement’ school, which is a lifestyle and behaviour change programme designed to reduce low level activity and sedentary behaviour in all pupil’s daily life.

To encourage our children to move more and to introduce dancing as another art form for Part A, we selected fun and energetic African music videos demonstrating some dances. The videos showed different moves, which they copied. For example, they learnt about a South African dance which was used to warm hunters up when they were cold. There were a lot of leg, hip and arm movements! They also learnt a dance from Uganda and found it fascinating to learn that the steps of the dance are about exciting hunters when they go away. Through one of the videos, they also learnt that different countries and tribes all have different types of hunting dances and moves. The children loved the infectious beats and different rhythms. They were hot, sweaty and exhausted, but ended up happier, fitter and more knowledgeable.

The main highlight of the project was another Part A activity - the crafting of kente - patterned bowls which were inspired by the bold and colourful patterns of kente cloth; blending art with cultural education. The intricate process was the most challenging part of the project.

To start, the children covered ordinary plastic bowls with mud roc, a technique that took time and a lot of space to ensure that 120 bowls were dry before we could move onto the next stage. Once the base was ready, they began to paint vibrant kente patterns inspired by traditional Ghanaian textiles. The final step was glazing the bowls which added a beautiful, glossy finish but again required careful attention and more time.

It was while we were painting the bowls that we came across another challenge – it was becoming harder to find the time and space to decorate all the children’s bowls. That is until we decided to turn our Intervention Room into an art studio in the afternoons - this finally provided a perfect setting for our creative endeavour. Our pupils loved working in this artistic space, finding the process both calming and enjoyable. Their hard work and enthusiasm are evident in the beautiful bowls that they produced, each one a testament to their creativity and perseverance.

For Discover Part B (Find out), the children delved into the creative world of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui as part of their art homework; researching his unique style and techniques. They learned about kente patterns and had ample opportunity to create and experiment with their own kente designs before crafting their bowls.

After finishing their bowls, for Discover Part C (Share), they visited other classes to share their insights about Anatsui and to showcase their own artwork inspired by Anatsui's masterpieces. They also enthusiastically shared what part of their Discover journey they enjoyed the most and why they have made that choice.

This Arts Award Discover project not only introduced the children to new artistic techniques, but also allowed them to experience the joy and tranquillity that comes with creating art. We are incredibly proud of their efforts and the wonderful kente patterned bowls they created.

We will maintain our commitment to delivering Arts Award Discover in Year 3 as an integral part of the curriculum. Additionally, we are incorporating Arts Award Explore into the Year 4 curriculum and expanding the programme to include a wider range of art forms, such as music and dance. Our future aim is to include Arts Award in all relevant afterschool clubs and to embed it into the Year 6 curriculum.

Photos by Montem Academy:

Top: African drumming session

Middle: African music videos

Bottom: Painting kente bowls