‘They loved it’ - Cultural match project sees South Shields pupils create an art exhibition and a new song
A cultural project has proven to be a hit with South Shields school pupils.
A cultural match project has seen a South Shields school pupils compose a song and take part in an art exhibition.
Ashley Academy, on Temple Park Road, has worked on the project with North East Museums and the North East Combined Authority (NECA).
Key Stage 1 pupils created artwork to be displayed as part of the Monet exhibition at the South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, on Ocean Road, earlier this year and Key Stage 2 pupils worked with a local composer to create a brand new school song.
‘It has been amazing’
Zara Mclaughlin, a class teacher at Ashley Academy, has told the Shields Gazette that the project has been a hit with pupils of all ages who have enjoyed taking part in the creative activities.
She commented: “The school applied for a cultural grant so we’ve been working with North East Museums to come up with cultural activities for the children.
“A lot of the time, the children are doing lot of written work so it was nice for them to be creative outside of the classroom.
“The kids loved it, some of the younger children had never been to a museum before so it was really exciting for them and it was lovely to see them thrive in that atmosphere.
“It has been amazing to watch them experience different things.”
‘They did ask for Taylor Swift’
Zara also revealed that the children were hoping to work with Taylor Swift on the new school song, which is now sung by pupils and staff during the school’s assemblies.
She added: “Katie, our local composer, came into school and spent around six hours with the children to come up with ideas and lyrics before she put the song together.
“The older children loved the idea of a composer coming into school - they did ask for Taylor Swift but she wasn’t available.
“The song itself is amazing and the children love to sing it - we’ve even put some British Sign Language (BSL) into it so the children do that during our school assemblies.
“It is something that will remain with the school consistently going forward.”
You can find out more about Ashley Academy by visiting: https://ashley.wiseacademies.co.uk/.