SCAS News

This year we welcome Mrs Pip Catlin to the Primary School as our Visual Arts teacher.

Since training as a Primary School teacher in London with a major in Visual Arts, Pip has taught for 21 years throughout the UK, New Zealand and Australia. For the last 10 years, she has been the Junior Visual Arts specialist teacher at Ravenswood School for Girls in Sydney where she taught Art from Kindergarten to Year 8. Pip has also run workshops through the Association of Independent Schools designed to help teachers implement Visual Arts programmes in other schools.

This year the Primary Visual Arts program will provide an exciting and positive learning environment for budding artists to develop their confidence, curiosity, imagination and artistic abilities. In these classes our students will make and respond to artworks, drawing on the world as a source of ideas. With the philosophy established of freedom and uninhibited creativity, students are encouraged to explore, express themselves and make mistakes.

Pip says she is excited about the opportunity to take students on a new learning journey where they can feel confident in their knowledge and be proud of their work. Like learning a musical instrument, specific skills need to be taught in Art lessons to ensure quality outcomes and for creativity to flow effectively, and she will be encouraging students to persevere when things get difficult, to take risks when necessary and to enjoy the artmaking process.

Despite being halfway through the first term, the Primary Art Room still has that “new room” smell. New tables, new stools, new equipment and many different art materials to work with now fill the newly-designed space, and our students are eager to enter the studio and begin their creations.

This term each grade is focusing on a different children’s book illustrator. Through reading stories, looking closely at the illustrations and exploring art techniques, the students are learning a variety of skills. They are given time in class to draft ideas and explore processes in their Visual Arts diaries before commencing an artwork.

Every student from Kindergarten to Year 6 has been issued with a Visual Arts diary which allows students to document, experiment and practise their Art ideas. In time, these books will become a record of their drawing development and hopefully something to keep for years to come.

Pip is excited about the opportunity to be at the helm of this new initiative introduced by the Primary School leadership team and looks forward to seeing the growth of this valuable program at SCAS. She is also excited about her move to Port Macquarie and all that the region has to offer with the best of country and beach life, and is looking forward to the year ahead.