The students have been looking at the work of Lea Nahon and Sharon Cummings with a focus on shells, and this was the theme of the lesson. The lesson was guided by our art teacher Miss Welch, who demonstrated the activity and allowed time for the students and parents to develop their piece. All were encouraged to be creative with the marks and techniques, for example by including crosshatch, pointillism and patterns. Every piece was different and everyone created a wonderful, colourful, detailed body of work.

As part of this day, parents were asked to provide some feedback and the results were very positive, with all parents saying they would attend again, many mentioning that they would be keen to attend open lessons in other subjects. One parent stated that the day’s experience in art was very different from when they were at school stating, ‘The subject was really taught today; the students were challenged but had confidence in the teacher‘. Another Parent said, ‘It was wonderful to work alongside my child and have the opportunity to see what they get up to. I also felt very proud of myself and my child and we both celebrated our achievement together’. The work from the day will be included in the year 8 exhibition which will be at The Ebenezer Gallery in Polperro from 21 April to 4 May 2025.

This initiative has received positive support from the SMART Trust and hopefully will be bigger and better next year with art open lessons already being put in the calendar, with the possibility of it including GCSE groups as well. Miss Welch has expressed that she is keen to expand on this and work with other departments to offer a broader opportunity to parents.