In 2004, I was contracted by the Children and Young People’s Service department of Trafford MBC to work with Y10 pupils with moderate learning difficulties and slight behavioural problems for the ‘Create It’ project.
This project involved working with mixed groups of 10-12 pupils from Manor High School, Lostock College and Jeff Joseph Sale Moor Technology College. I spent a 12-13 week term with each of the groups, based at a different school or college each time.
For all three terms of the project, we developed ideas and produced a body of artwork as part of a structured programme leading to the design and creation of a permanent final work of art for each venue. The activity for each weekly session had its own clearly identified learning objectives and there was a strong emphasis placed on the individual outcomes for each student within each group.
At Jeff Joseph College, the final work we produced was a painted mural, at Lostock College we produced cast concrete sculpture for an outdoor space and at Manor High we made mosaic paving for the main entrance.