Diary Entry - September

Things got underway in July with a visit from the artist Philip Garrett - During enrichment week he ran a workshop on facial reconstruction of the human skull.  The students experienced an approach that links both science and art, and has roots in the teachings of Italian renaissance masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci.  It was fabulous, as the photographs show, the science, art and enjoyment was first class.  It also gave us an opportunity to discuss the reconstruction of our primate fossil skulls, for the Rolls Royce project.  Applying what we know of contemporary anatomy to what we know about  our model skulls, will really be a challenge for our students and will allow them to apply knowledge in a creative scientific way.

During the summer break  Kay McNee and myself Christine Murtagh attended a 3 day summer school at FACT (Foundation for Art & Creative Technology).  Working with moving image artist Emily Voelker, and using the artist Pipilotti Rist as inspiration, we filmed and edited our own short films.  It allowed us to experiment with styles that we would not otherwise have been aware of and made us think how powerful - creative,  visual and musical  input can be in stimulating debate.

Returning to school after the summer break, we find the new impact studio up and running (the capital project for the Science/Visual Arts specialism). This will allow the students to produce and edit their own films.  It looks stylish and exciting, and will be a fantastic room to enable independent learning to take place.  The students love it.

Finally interest in the project is growing across the school.  We decided another team member was needed to ensure the successful expansion of the project.  Patsy Lofthouse Head of Science joins the team and already has plans for a whole school Darwin day on the 12th February, and sees it as a great opportunity to work with our primary neighbors bringing out the "How Science Works" element of Darwin's observations and recording of natural history.

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