Australia Arts Express Day
Pre-Prep children learn about 'life down under'! Monday 11 May 2009Australia Day was the second Arts Express Day for the Pre-Prep children at St Aubyns this year. These days enable the children to learn throught the arts and to become confident in expressing themselves in music, dance, drama and art.
Monday 11th May brought the wonderful spectacle of children in the Pre-Prep arriving to school dressed as ‘Australians’ for our themed Arts Express day. The imagination and variety of the costumes was impressive. Surfers, kangaroos and crocodiles featured and some arrived authentically dressed as Aborigines.
Painting in the aboriginal style
At 9.30am the children gathered in the Studio and were met by our amazing visitors Francis Firebrace and Phillip Jackson. Francis is an Aboriginal Elder, Artist and Story teller from Yorta Yorta, Victoria, Australia and Philip a master didgeridoo player. They fascinated the children with stories from the Bush. Philip played along as Francis colourfully re-enacted the stories with the children, telling tales of different animals.
The afternoon session involved an Art workshop and didgeridoo display lesson. Francis showed the children his own beautiful artwork of different Australian animals and then encouraged the children to create their own painting of a chosen animal. The correct colours were used and the symbols that Frances showed everyone were incorporated in the paintings. The results from all the children were wonderful and are now on display in the Cottage. Philip held the children’s focused attention in his playing workshop. He showed the children how the correct perpetual breathing is essential to play the didgeridoo and enthralled them with the many different sounds, impersonating animals he was including in the stories.
We were fortunate to have our Grandparents’ Afternoon on this day and everyone joined in the activities with the children, Francis and Phillip. The children’s reaction to the whole day was a joy to see and the memories of this Arts Express day, I am sure, will last a very long time.
Mrs Anne Sams, Head of Pre-Prep