Our first members’ workshop day

On Saturday 22 October we held our first workshop day for the 33 UBATO members.

The membership is made up of primary and secondary teachers from all over Sussex, Kent and Surrey who were joined by some of our Art and Design PGCE students.

There were nine different art workshops on offer with each member choosing three to attend. The workshops on offer were:

• Creative clay projects
• Creating pinhole cameras our of cans
• Working with wood
• Creating art blind
• Watercolour zines, in response to artist Carne Griffiths
• Wood veneer landscapes
• Creative collage
• Introduction to typography
• Phototransfer techniques

Members were divided into three groups for the day. Group one delivered the workshops and group two brought in examples of artwork from their school to share with everyone. Members stay in the same groups for the upcoming workshop days rotating the roles.

Julie Howard, Senior Lecturer, and UBATO coordinator said: “We all felt energised by being shown new techniques and processes we either hadn’t done before or hadn’t used for a long time in school. Project ideas were shared in discussions and conversations flowed easily throughout the day.

“The day felt relaxed, friendly and welcoming for everyone. We all felt comfortable to talk easily to others about our ideas and our concerns being amongst like-minded people in the group.”

The day was well received by members:

“I thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot.”

“A fantastic variety of workshops offered and very well organised for a smooth and enjoyable day.”

“Thank you so much, always so good to share ideas.”

“Well done UBATO – it’s always great to see teachers teaching teachers their areas of expertise.”

The day was completed, and felt like Christmas, as members received the amazing goodie boxes which had been generously donated by our sponsors Dryad Specialist Crafts. The box contained art materials worth over £100 and a discount code for future purchases.

We’re looking forward to the next event in February and more exciting workshops!