Oyster Park Junior School

 

 

Home Geography & Creativity Sculpture Park Designs and plans - our ideas Web-links Involving an artist

 

Improving our school grounds

GEOGRAPHY & CREATIVITY

 

This web-site is for all the children at Oyster Park Junior School who worked so hard on this exciting project. 

Over time you learnt about the processes involved in changing your environment, you grew in confidence and were happy to talk about your ideas with adults from your community.  You learnt to use and make maps and plans of the school grounds with assurance, and also developed your design and manipulative skills (cutting, sticking, drawing) which are essential skills for life. 

 We feel that this activity has empowered you to become useful and active citizens and that you will be able to make a valuable contribution to any future economic regeneration of your community.  This website is dedicated to you all.

Wendy North, Wakefield WMDC,  Marie Stevens , Oyster Park Junior School
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In year 4 the children carried out an audit on their school grounds to identify places they wanted to change
In the Summer term of 2005 class teacher Marie Stevens and LEA Advisory Teacher for Humanities, Wendy North worked with the children in Year 4 to develop a new local geography project for the school.  The project aimed to provide a way of involving children in the regeneration of their own community. This theme echoed the changes taking place in the immediate locality that were part of the governments Urban Renaissance strategy. 

It became known as the Geography & Creativity project because we wanted to find ways that creative activity and learning could be developed alongside geographical learning.  

We were supported by a small grant from our local arts development agency, which enabled us to appoint an artist to work on the second part of the project.  We also benefited from a small grant from the Geographical Association/ DfES that supported a local network of primary geography teachers.

 
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In Year 5 the children spent one more week working on the project with artist and Natasha Carsberg
During November 2005 Natasha Carsberg, a sculptor and garden designer, became involved in Phase 2 of the project.  By this time the children were in Year 5.  The aim of the `artist in school' week was for Natasha to work with the children so that she could produce landscape designs that were influenced by the children's ideas.  

If these plans are accepted by the governors the school will be looking to raise additional funds to develop this real life landscape project.

 

Website created by Wendy North, Wakefield Education Advisory Service, February 2006.  Please contact wnorth@wakefield.gov.uk if you have any queries or comments about this site.