Expressive Arts in LPS - Autumn Term Monitoring

During our Autumn term LPS Review Fortnight, members of the Creative Crew Pupil Voice Group and the AoLE leader spoke to learners and undertook a website scrutiny. 

We identified the following strengths:

All classes have completed a variety of expressive arts activities from their LPS Learning Projects. In Play, Learn, Hatch and Grow, children created 3D models of dinosaurs. In LPS Happy Healthy Helpers, children have created colour poems and used a variety of primary and secondary colours to describe feelings and emotions. They have composed mood music and they have created iMovies that show positive behaviour in school. In LPS and the Penllergare Trust, children have created graphic scores and music to accompany time lapse videos of their seeds growing. In Fantasia, children have researched Yanomami artwork and used the unique style and traditions of the Yanomami tribe to create their own artwork. In River Ilston, children have redesigned the G7 logo, worked in the style of Welsh artist Osian Gwent, and created iMovies for natural distasters. In Copperopolis, children have designed and created a new logo for HMCW. They have researched artists Elis Gwyn and Josef Herman from the Industrial Era, and they have replicated the work of these artists. In Wales at War, children have researched Welsh artist Will Evans and they have explored how people captured the emotions, mood and events during WW2 through his work. They have also used Sketch Note to represent the Swansea Blitz. Partaking in expressive arts activities that are linked to these rich themes and topics helps children to make connections with their work and increases their interest in the topic.

From our monitoring, it is evident that creative skills are being developed across many curriculum areas. In Play, Learn, Hatch and Grow, all expressive arts activities have had a humanities link, their 3D models were historical dinosaurs. In LPS Happy Healthy Helpers, children have developed literacy skills by drafting and editing colour poems, and they wrote about how different colours made them feel. They have also developed their bilingualism skills by completing this in English and Welsh. They have developed oracy skills by listening to music and sharing their emotions and they have used ICT to create dramatic performances. In LPS and the Penllergare Trust, children have based their music activity on their scientific seed growth investigation. In Fantasia, children used ICT to complete some important research on the Yanomami Tribe and their artistic influences, before creating their own pieces. In River Ilston, the expressive arts activities have had strong humanities and technology links, focusing on the geography of natural disasters and rivers. In Copperoplis, children have developed numeracy skills looking at shape while designing their logos. They have used their literacy skills, reading in particular, to skim and scan information about about Welsh artists and they have used oracy and writing skills to complete their appraisals. In Wales at War, all expressive arts activities have had a strong humanities link focusing on history. The children have also developed ICT skills through research and by using various apps and websites to enhance their learning. Creativity opens the mind and it allows children to view and solve problems more openly and with innovation. 

The AoLE leader and Creative Crew are focusing on the development of music in LPS this academic year. We will be using the music resource Charanga across the school. Charanga is a music teaching and learning platform complete with curriculum and teaching resources, and music tools and technology. The AoLE leader carried out staff training in an ADDs session for teaching staff. The resource is yet to be used in classrooms but will be a focus after Christmas. All children across the school are currently developing musical skills by responding to music and singing songs as part of the LPS Christmas Productions. 

Our next steps:

• To continue monitoring the coverage of the Expressive Arts skills within the LPS Learning Projects to show progression, coverage and high standards of learners.
• To promote and monitor the use of Charanga across the school.
• To continue monitoring the development of music across the school.