Early Years Teaching Assistant Course

Recently I have been becoming more and more interested in working with children and my dissertation was written on Creativity in the Classroom Environment.  Today, I went to an information session at the Leeds City College which gave information about Level 1, 2 & 3 Teaching Assistant Qualifications they offer and Early Childcare Courses.  I am interested in enrolling on one of these programs however not yet as the course requires you to dedicate one day to going to college and one day to volunteer in a school.  They are running another course in September, so it is my task before then to try and gain some voluntary experience in a school setting before then.

Below is a scan of print out of the presentation the tutor gave.

Art Installation // Shambala Festival

Shambala Festival is a weekend which celebrates art and music, and are currently calling for submissions for Art Installation Idea's for the weekend of 21-24 August.

A group of myself and friends from my foundation art course are considering applying for this.  Successful applicants get free admission to the festival :D

Here is an example of the crazy and creative installations which all add to the magical  experience of shambala festival:

Caseroom Press // Professional Talk

Ralph Steadman Talk

The Ralph Steadman Skype talk was so much better than I expected.  Afterwards I felt so inspired and less worried about silly little things.  He seems to have a good philosophy in life.  I really enjoyed seeing some of his artworks which probably aren't on the internet and would not have got to seen otherwise.

I didn't take too many notes but came away from the talk feeling really uplifted and inspired.

The Jokes Over Collection

Vintage savage journey screenprint

LCA // Graphic Design Level 06 Exhibition

The graphic design exhibition was a success, the opening/ closing night was filled with people.  Unfortunatlely I did not have time to design anything specific for the exhibition as I was really busy with the COP3 module.  I did however layout two different ranges of greetings cards which I have made for Responsive module last year and extended practice this year.  

It was good to see people interacting with my cards, and I got a few compliments from peers in the class which really boosted my confidence a bit, as I tend to often over worry or think that people dislike the kind of work that I produce, so overall it was a good experience and I look forward to exhibiting more work in the future!

These images were taken by Kate on her phone during the exhibition.

Manifesto Presentation

Hello Everybody, this is my manifesto :)

I consider and call myself an illustrator, graphic designer and craft maker.

I have many different influences and my main interests lie in many area's ranging from food to music to nature and animals and working with children.

As I progress through the course I can feel myself becoming more environmentally aware and concerned, this concern has came mostly from sources outside of college, for example seeing fracking and things like this on the news is hard for me to ignore.

My environmental awareness is evident in one of the briefs I am just starting out with now - the Save the Bee's one.  I would like to raise awareness of the situation while also making people aware of how they can do their part to contribute to the cause.  I am also planning on contacting green peace for any further information.  I'm really excited about this brief as it is something which can involve the community while also letting me research into something important to me and it should give me a chance to do some good illustration and design.

So what are my main aims and focuses?

Crafts, outside of college I spend a lot of my free time making crafts and am slowly building up a stock of goods to start off my own table at a Craft Fair, the first place I intend to go is the Hand-picked Hall in Leeds, which is a great centre for makers of hand-made goods to sell their work.

Another aim of mine is to gain more experience working with childrens art classes.  One place which I intend to contact is the Artbug Studio in Pudsey which is a creative place for children to make and do art from the ages of 2-11.

Working with children is something I'd like to pursue when I graduate, and am considering doing a Teaching Assistant Course - but not sure yet.

My last main aim I have at the minute is to go traveling to Indonesia and then on to Nepal where my boyfriend and I plan on signing up with the WOOFING organisation, which stands for World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming which would give us opportunity to work with the native people there helping in schools and on farms doing a range of things.  

I have also put up there freelance design work, it is something I'd love to do but my main focuses currently are on the three other things and hopefully it is something I could keep ticking over on the side.

Manifesto Presentation

What I like?

• Illustration
• Arts & Crafts
• Deco - Home & Festival
• Environmentally Concerned
• Working with children and art

What are my aims? 

• Get work experience in childrens art classes
• Decor for a festival which friends are setting up for the first year this year
• Freelance Design Work
• Craft Fairs
• Travelling to Indonesia then to Nepal - WOOFING (World Wide Opportunities in organic farming organisation)

Teaching Assistant Course

The Brudenell Centre in Hyde Park (Leeds City College) is putting on a free information session about Teaching Assistant and the Early Years on 27/02/2014 and thereafter there is a 4 week introduction on thursdays from 9:30 til 14:30 which is free and then a 12 week block beginning on the 03/04/2014 which may cost.

I am interested in going to the first information session and seeing how I feel from there.  I am worried that it may coincide with things timetabled in at college. 

Working with Children

As well as crafts I would also like to get some experience working with art classes for children.  Creativity in children was my main topic throughout my dissertation and after doing some primary research and getting some experience in a Primary School, working with art and children is something I can see myself pursuing.  I need to speak to a tutor about whether this could be an appropriate placement idea, I feel that it is appropriate for myself, but I am unsure whether it will meet the course criteria.  

A place I'd like to gain some experience is the Artbugs Studio in Pudsey, just outside of Leeds.  'ArtBugs is an independent, artist-led provider of high quality art and craft activity for children and young people based in Yorkshire. We work in in schools and other child based settings delivering art activity throughout Yorkshire as well as at The ArtBug Studio; a dedicated space for the provision of art activity for children and young people. We are also a registered Arts Award Centre supporting children and young people in gaining a unique qualification, endorsed by the Arts Council of England.'

http://www.artbugs.co.uk/ 

I intend to speak to a tutor about how to contact these people in regards to work experience or even just a visit there.  If I was to do any work there I would have to pay for a CRB check.

Other places similar to this which I have found which I am interested in contacting:

Kaleidoscope Creative Classes for Children - Headingley

http://www.netmums.com/leeds/local/view/after-school-activities/art-and-craft/kaleidoscope-creative-classes-for-children-headingley 

Saturday Art Stars - Otley

http://www.netmums.com/leeds/local/view/after-school-activities/art-and-craft/saturday-art-stars