Thank you to all those parents and guests that attended our KS3 Art + Design Exhibition on Monday evening in the brand-new Wollstonecraft Room.

Visitors were initially welcomed and enticed into the main gallery space by an installation of ‘Shoe Sculptures’ created by students in 7B and 7S. Once inside, guests were able to see the entire set of our Year 8 plate designs entitled ‘A Design for Living’ composed in response to the work of Nigel Peake and Kyle Henderson and digitally rendered using Photoshop. Many of the complex preparatory drawings that the students had produced in their Art lessons were also exhibited, along with a selection of sketchbooks from each year group.

Our Year 7 artists have also produced a collection of stylised self-portraits in response to the work of the artist Julien Opie (7B + 7S) that were hung alongside some detailed pencil studies of birds (7H). Year 9 showcased their ‘Food, Glorious Food’ large-scale soft sculptures which included a giant hamburger, pretzel, Jaffa Cake and even a pair of ‘Swedish Fish’.

It was quite an undertaking to create this exhibition within two weeks of moving into our new accommodation, but it is really important to us that we are able to celebrate the achievements of each and every student in Years 7, 8 and 9 by including at least one piece of their work. It’s certainly been noticeable how excited they are at seeing their work in our amazing new exhibition space.

The event was incredibly successful with a fantastic atmosphere throughout and many, positive (and proud) comments from parents.