During the INSET afternoon on 7th May, I invited my colleagues in St. Margaret’s Academy to ‘Unlearn Art’. The invitation meant coming to the Art and Design department for the afternoon to spend what was to become real quality time, working together to produce artworks, with no preconceptions of what the outcomes were to be, not to worry about not being able to draw or paint and just simply enjoy being creative again, which for some meant not having lifted a paint brush since S2! What a wonderful afternoon. My creative colleagues were cross curricular, including staff from Science, Maths, English, French, TLC , and of course, Art and Design. I am tirelessly impressed with the variety of work produced by my pupils even when following the same instructions and Learning Intentions and my creative colleagues were no different. The individuality displayed was amazing, I was so impressed by the enthusiasm and total engagement, as each one threw themselves into their art work with total abandon! Fantastic, I couldn’t have wished for more. However all good things must come to an end but staff returned over the next few days to complete their art work which had become a source of pride and enjoyment for them, and rightly so. Thank you for sharing the Health and Well-being INSET with me and ‘Unlearning Art’. Hopefully we will be able to repeat the experience soon, but most definitely next year. I’m looking forward to it already. Take the time to peruse the gallery of artworks and comment as you please. Diane
Staff feedback
“Diane, thanks for organising the art session for the HWB afternoon. It was such a relaxing atmosphere – everyone painting, the music playing plus not forgetting the delicious homemade cakes at the coffeebreak! It was a good chance to have a chat with other staff and find out what they were painting and you were always on hand to give advice about our work. Hopefully such an event can be repeated on a future occasion. Thanks again”.
Maddy Quinn TLC, Maths
“This was a genuinely relaxing and enjoyable afternoon in which I felt I achieved something worthwhile. I painted Blackpool for my 6 year old son and he absolutely loves the painting. Although I lack any actual talent in the world of art, that didn’t affect my experience as the focus was on enjoyment and I received great encouragement and advice from my ‘teacher’ who also provided gorgeous cake and coffee. Thanks so much, Diane, for all the effort you put into the day”.
Lauren McMahon – English Department
“I really enjoyed the afternoon painting. It was very relaxing and enjoyable to do something different within the school. It was well organised and I would not change anything. Would do it again! Thanks”.
Claire McDougall – Modern Languages
“I really enjoyed to the day as you know. It was so refreshing to do something completely different and quite exciting to see my painting taking shape. Having never painted before, I really surprised my self! The technique you taught us where you chalked the back of the paper then traced over the original picture meant that even someone like me who canny draw for peanuts (kids laugh at my stick men!) had the confidence to give painting a go. My masterpiece is now waiting to be framed!
The whole experience gave me a real boost and certainly met the aims of the ‘Health and Well Being’ afternoon. I found painting on the canvas very calming and relaxing and I hope you can offer this session again next year Diane”.
Ann McLean – Science Department
