Primary Schools

Thank you No Added Sugar for working with all the children in Minety School to develop our spectacular ‘The Cross’. The children enjoyed producing the artwork and giving art the quality of time that it deserves. All of the children were so excited to find their individual contribution to the finished piece, and continually talk about the making of ‘The Cross’. Your energy and creativity throughout the project was exhilarating, and whenever anyone walks into our new hall, they are immediately drawn to the artwork. We look forward to having you back in school again, as a visit from No Added Sugar is always at the top of the children’s list!Dale Burr, Headteacher

Minety is a wonderfully lively school, where staff and pupils engage in everything we do with such enthusiasm and appreciation of the arts. Their involvement in writing the projects ensure they get something unique and personal to their school.

‘The Cross’, is one of our most spectacular collaborative sculptures, on which every pupil and member of staff contributed. The idea came from the headteacher wanting to recycle the leftover wood from the new hall. ‘The Cross’ is hung in the new hall, an incredible space, and has moved visitors to tears of joy. This was a particularly enjoyable project for us, and one which fills us with pride.

We have delivered several projects with Headteacher Dale Burr at Minety. He has now moved to Oakhurst Primary School where we continue to work with him. We hope to extend our partnership with the new head at Minety School.

Project process…

• Meet and plan project in partnership with arts co-ordinator
• Brief headteacher and agree funding
• Agree date for project
• Write up project with full costs, date and all prep required, agree in writing
• Agree timetable for pupils with staff

No Added Sugar worked really well with our school – before, during and after the project – providing us with very good value for money, and we are delighted that we decided to invest to get high quality.

Toni and Gordon were outstanding in the way they worked with both adults and children, and were sensitive to the needs of the school. They were very well prepared, but happy to be flexible to fit in with the school’s requirements. They were a pleasure and an inspiration to have as part of our school team.

We continue to be delighted with the work they inspired the children to produce, as well as the sculpture itself. One year on, both the large murals and the sculpture provoke reaction from visitors and from the school community. We were so impressed with the initial work that we booked them to return again later in the year.

I found their work quite inspirational and an affirmation of why I entered primary education 20 plus years ago.Matthew Ingall, Headteacher

Headteacher Matthew Ingall and his school were a pleasure to work with. They really embraced the whole art experience. We were greeted each morning with such excitement from the pupils, staff and parents that it was easy to feel inspired and creative in Bloxham School and we look forward to extending our partnership.

Project process…

• Initial meeting with Bloxham teachers
• Whole school assembly to introduce artists to staff and pupils
• Show a short film of their work with a question / answer session
• Meet and plan art work in partnership with each teacher, tuned to the curriculum
• The whole school made designs to inspire Gordon’s sculpture
• The children visited the sculpture throughout the process
• Toni worked with each class for 1 or 2 days to make large scale art work
• The residency ended with the unveiling of the sculpture and a celebration of the work

Hi Toni and Gordon,

THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL WEEK - you and your team were superb, you fitted in so well to the school routines and timetables, were so brilliant with the children and produced such marvellous paintings and sculpture! I'm really delighted - thank you so much. The new school, which looked so bare before your input, now looks so good. It’s stimulating the children and really gives the place a ‘lived in’ feel and a warm, homely and visually exciting appearance that staff, children and parents all comment on – you’ve really helped us to create a ‘wow’ factor!

The new merit system we’ve launched has really been given a boost by Gordon’s really excellent ‘machine’ which all the children love. The first merit marbles were dropped into the storage area last week and the children can’t wait for the end of the month when the marbles are released and travel through the machine to the counting area. I’ve only one complaint, and that is that I’ve had to fit a padlock to stop fascinated (and inquisitive) adults from opening the cover and cascading marbles all over the floor – which just goes to show how it appeals to all ages from 0 to 90!!

We definitely want you to come back next year, can you let me have some info on grants so I can get applying?

Once again many thanks for a fantastic week,

Yours sincerely,Dave Ball, Headteacher

We have delivered several projects for this lively school, where staff, pupils and parents take part enthusiastically.

Our projects at Rowde school are inclusive, and we have been commissioned by both staff and pupils.

Project process…

• Creative INSET days for teachers to make Harry Potter style banners in felt, appliqué, weaving and paint
• Life drawing classes from reception to year 6
• Large collaborative and individual sculpture and paintings
• The White Horse Sculpture
• Flying Swan Sculpture

We work annually with No Added Sugar and will continue to extend our exciting partnership.

This workshop focused on working with 60 six and seven years olds and was extremely successful on a number of counts.

Firstly it gave the children an opportunity to work and chat to a real artist. The artist was not only able to support the development of skills relating to painting such as brush skills and blending techniques, but also allowed them to paint alongside professional artists and to learn about their life, e.g., how they display pictures and what type of work they do. (By learning this the children are able to understand that there are many types of jobs available to them when they grow up).

This was an opportunity for children who don’t normally succeed to show what talents they had and increased their self esteem. It was also an opportunity for the children who have English as an Additional Language to communicate freely without the restrictions of language.

The children absolutely loved the sessions and talked about it for weeks after. The resulting art work is exhibited within our new foyer and is a talking point for visitors. This made the children even prouder!

With regards to the artists, we found that they were incredibly flexible and worked around the school’s timetable, thereby minimising disruption. Toni and Gordon have a really good way of relating to the children, making them feel at ease and encouraging them to develop their creativity. Their relationships with both staff and children definitely made the workshop memorable.

Unfortunately, with a packed curriculum and a focus on the basic skills, our children do not have as many opportunities to spend extended time on artistic activities. This workshop enabled to address the balance and I would rate it as an invaluable activity for our children and would wish to repeat it on an annual basis if funds allow.

To have the opportunity to partake in a large art project was a real bonus to our children as they would not have an opportunity to work on a large scale project or experience art within the ‘real’ world. The school would welcome more projects like this as it extends the experiences of the children in school in a way that would not be possible by class teachers.Sue Kershaw, Headteacher

We have a wonderful ongoing partnership with Gorse Hill and have disseminated some really exciting projects together. Headteacher Sue Kershaw has so much energy and her humourous and lively personality is infectious, ensuring everyone does their best and has the best time at school. She is a risk taker and happy to let our let our creative juices go crazy, which has led to some really exciting work including:

Project process…

• Whole school collaborative projects - making permanent art work to hang in the school
• Family portraits day – where children, parents and grandparent spent the day together painting. Their family portraits now hang in the school family centre
• Gallery visit to the ‘Banksy’ exhibition at Bristol gallery
• Parents creative days making hangings, paintings and sculpture
• Explaining death to children after the loss of a favourite young teacher – this was such a wonderful project using the ‘Dragonfly story’ to make art work. Our next project is with ‘Dads’ to paint a mural designed by the children. We always look forward to working with Sue Kershaw and her team at Gorse Hill Infant School