Secondary Schools

Our work with secondary schools relates to a variety of curriculum and issue based actitivities including:

  • The arts
  • The wider curriculum
  • Gifted and talented
  • The transition from primary school
  • Issue based work with students who have disengaged with school

Projects in this section

The Oasis School, Hengrove, Bristol

Arts Manager comment

Due to their experience and expertise of working with young people from varying and often challenging backgrounds, we are able to put complete confidence in the artists’ ability to work with our students. They have worked with groups of mixed ability students, some with extremely challenging behaviour that had become disengaged with learning and the school environment. The artists not only managed to produce high quality artwork with the students but also contributed to the student’s social and academic development.

Their projects exceed our expectations, with participants contributing in ways we never anticipated. No Added Sugar’s ability to encourage the students to be passionately involved with, and gain ownership of, the project led to its great success. Rebecca Fitzgerald

A word from the artists

We have enjoyed a 4 year partnership with Rebecca Fitzgerald and The Oasis School, Bristol. Their busy arts department run an exceptional gallery space showing work from both students and professional artists. Rebecca also regularly works with their primary feeder schools and employs a number of professional artists annually to work with their young people. No Added Sugar’s partnerships have included projects with scientists from ALSPAC Children of the 90s, and the highly successful “Knowing Me Knowing You” project with the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society.

Greendown CE Primary School

Head of Art comment

We work annually with No Added Sugar artists to give our students the opportunity to make large scale individual and collaborative work which is finished and hung by the end of the project, giving young people a great sense of pride and achievement. The artists work in partnership with the art department staff to provide new creative experiences for all pupils. On several occasions No Added Sugar have worked with specifically identified groups which has not only resulted in amazing art works but helped to build confidence, self esteem and reduce disaffection. Our students look forward to the artists’ visits and often have to be reminded it is time to leave at the end of the day.

The projects we do with No Added Sugar have a huge impact on the whole school as well as the individuals that directly take part. Participating pupils cannot wait to show their friends and teachers what they have created. The young people at Greendown really enjoy and benefit from the relationship that develops between artist and student. They feel confident and able to offer their thoughts and ideas in a relaxed, open and fun environment. The students experience a whole new way of working creatively. Working with No Added Sugar has become a very valued part of the Greendown art experience.Sam Gee, Head of Art

A word from the artists

Greendown School is a pleasant and welcoming school. We have a 5 year partnership with their art department, who are always looking for innovative ways to bring artists into their school.

We have delivered several projects including:

  • Discussions on art history and the responsibility of the artist to record
  • Projects to ease the transmission from primary to secondary
  • Recycling art
  • Sculptural projects
  • Collaborative projects

Greendown School is a pleasure to work in partnership with, where our artists are greeted with enthusiasm by the art department tutors and their students. The young people have great social skills and show enjoyment and appreciation of our activities, both academic and creative. We have a good working relationship with the art department and have delivered a number of projects over the last 5 years including:

  • Helping the transition from primary to secondary school for year 6 pupils from feeder schools
  • Working with gifted and talented
  • Sculpture workshops
  • Collaborative workshops
  • Talks on 20th Century artists

“No Added Sugar’s work with us is always of an exceptional and highly impressive standard, producing outstanding results from the young people involved. They are extremely competent when addressing problematic situations, and the young people respond to the artists with a respect and understanding not always seen in the classroom! Our young people genuinely enjoy and gain from their project, with individuals displaying a sense of pride and achievement, some for the first time. I am personally overwhelmed at the impact of their project with the students and feel inspired by the way that they passionately carry out their work with young people.” Rebecca Fitzgerald, Oasis School