Enchanting
minds
March 3, 2006
Creativity
lies at the heart of this year's show - both in the
inspiring workshops and the huge range of products on
offer. Victoria Neumark reports
With the whole show geared around the theme of creativity,
key art workshops in the revamped Creativity in Practice
area will be a focal point. GCSE Year 10 students will
share their experiences using ICT technology in the
teaching of art, while primary pupils experiment with art
software.
Sally Roundell from Alderbrook - a practising artist who
has been teaching at the Solihull School for 10 years -
will use state-of-the-art kits from Matrix, with a camera
to record the teacher's tuition, later played back as
rolling footage to the class on a wide screen. As well as
PowerPoint presentations, she weaves live and DVD
recordings from the camera with Sympodium software's
interactive pen capabilities, annotating over a recorded or
live image.
She says: "The task will be an extension of Year 10's
project - an introduction to Lucian Freud - and there will
be live demonstrations on technique, with pupils carrying
out tasks while I address the audience."
A small group of children from Robin Hood Primary School in
Birmingham, recently awarded a Futures Vision award for its
innovation in the use of ICT, will try Paint Shop Pro,
Adobe Photoshop and Flash. "The workshop will provide a
chance for teachers to watch a step-by-step lesson with the
software and even to have a go," says Ann Aston,
headteacher at Robin Hood.
Talented artists from Years 4-6 at the Birmingham school
are encouraged to join an in-house art academy, with
extra-curricular modules in a mixture of traditional and
computer art. "It has been a huge success in developing
pupils' artistic talents, as well as piloting new ideas and
activities into the general curriculum," adds Ann.
For those who come to shop, there are many new products
offering tempting possibilities. From Art2Go there is an
ingenious bottle that only releases glue when the
spring-action valve is activated, minimising leaks and
spillage; also a new range of pearlescent paint, imported
from America, in six assorted colours, which feature a
leakproof applicator. The paint is only released when the
applicator is pushed down on paper, resulting in much less
mess and wastage.
Other paint suppliers are Brian Clegg Educational Products,
which stock Crafty Kit & Cut to assist teaching younger
children about shape, colour and size recognition, saving
hours of cutting time for staff. From Edding, joining
hundreds of pen permutations for virtually every marking
solution imaginable, is the UK's first retractable
boardmarker, in red, black, blue or green. Its push-button
mechanism ensures that there is no cap to lose so the
marker shouldn't dry out.
Pentel, known for every kind of pen, launches its EnerGel
liquid gel range to offer an even smoother-flowing,
quick-drying writing experience (something that left-handed
writers will also appreciate).
Bic is offering the chance to win great prizes, including a
Bic Sport Kayak worth £500. Other prizes include colouring
class packs, which retail for £35 and whiteboard kits worth
£25. The company is running promotional offers throughout
the show, including a product pack, which costs £5 and is
full of ball pens, graphite pencils, colouring pencils,
correction products and a mini whiteboard. Don't miss the
Bic Evolution Triangle Graphite Pencil and the improved Bic
Cristal Gel Pen, with increased smoothness and bright vivid
colours, as well as old favourites, the Bic Cristal Stick
Ballpoint Pen and Tipp-Ex.
Another writing-implement specialist, Staedtler will be
judging 24 finalists in the Classroom Challenge. Now in its
fifth year, this national competition invites children to
design the packaging for Staedtler classpacks. The winner
will take away £1,000 worth of computer equipment for their
school and their entry will adorn the packs for the
following year. So far more than 5,000 schools have risen
to the challenge.
Students can use these pens when they try Drawing is a
Class Act, from Brilliant Publications. The book covers all
the national curriculum programmes of study related to
drawing for primary children. It contains carefully
planned, clearly laid-out lesson plans, with examples of
pupils' artwork and photocopiable work by famous artists.
Storage is key in art rooms, so it's worth checking out
Certwood Ltd for its StorSystem of trays, with wooden or
colourful metal storage units to house them. Alternatively,
try Creative Units 3 & 4 from Community Playthings.
These craft organisers feature woven baskets or plastic
totes which sit in bulk storage containers. Upgrade your
displays with the likes of Fadeless display papers,
Bordette border rolls and Bulletin Border - new products
from Creativity International.
Use Velcro to mount wipe boards, pictures and heavier
items. New are Clear Glue Spots, Sticky Foam Pads (for
sticking and fixing) and, unique to the market, Picture
Paper, with an integrated "hook" backing, which is ideal
for securing woven surfaces, such as clothing, carpet
tiles, exhibition panels, cubicle partitions and bulletin
boards.
On the web, Culture Online, part of the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport, aims to improve access to the
arts and culture through the innovative use of technology.
Culture Online works with an array of partner
organisations, such as the National Theatre, the Victoria
and Albert Museum and Channel 4. My Art Space
(www.myartspace.org.uk) is an interactive service that
enables key stage 2 and 3 visitors to museums and galleries
to "collect" cultural artefacts with their mobile phones,
create their own online collections and share their
interest, knowledge and enthusiasm about the objects and
artworks they find. The service, specifically designed
around museum education, illustrates how the digital world
of websites and mobile phone technologies can add value to
the world of museums, galleries and exhibitions.
Resource Education offers the program Albert's Paintbox, in
which big clear buttons and no words (even in the menus)
introduce very young children to pop-up picture menus and
computer-based work. Features include a large collection of
stamps, three simple methods of editing colours and
patterns, two and four-way symmetry and two tiling styles.
Spark of Inspiration launches Deltasand, a high-tech sand
with a special additive which keeps it constantly moist,
and able to stick together, almost like a clay. However,
when needed, it can also crumble away like normal sand.
If children make their own cards with The Vanilla Card
Company, it won't cost the school a penny. Children draw
their own designs, which the company will turn into
prototypes for free. If parents then order packs of 12,
they can buy them direct from the company. The school earns
commission for all the orders.
* Art2Go Stand EY-W22 www.art2go-uk.com
* Brian Clegg Educational Products Stand AZ-R50
www.brianclegg.co.uk
* Edding (UK) Ltd Stand AZ-T41 www.edding.co.uk
* Pentel Stand Q10 www.pentel.co.uk
* Bic Stand AZ-S47 www.bicworld.com
* Staedtler Stand D4 www.staedtler.co.uk
* Brilliant Publications Stand PZ-K61
www.brilliantpublications.co.uk
* Certwood Ltd Stand X6 www.certwood.com
* Community Playthings Stand R21
www.communityplaythings.co.uk
* Creativity International Stand AZ-S40
www.cilimited.co.uk
* Velcro Stand EY-U31 www.velcro.co.uk
* Culture Online Stand Q23
www.cultureonline.gov.uk
* Resource Education Stand IT-M90
www.resourcekt.co.uk
* Spark of Inspiration Stand T61
www.sparkofinspiration.co.uk
* The Vanilla Card Company Stand EY-X28
www.vanillacards.com
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