An In-service Art and Design training course for primary teachers in Essex - December 2000.

Harlowbury PS

Radwinter CE (V/A) PS

White Court PS

Epping JS

Southview School

The Endeavour School

Friars IS

Mike Cundy. Essex Advisory and Inspection Service, Curriculum Development Adviser, Art and Design.

To explore how the QCA scheme of work 4B "Take a seat" could be interpreted using paper and card construction techniques

About the unit (from the QCA document)

In this unit children explore the design of chairs. They discuss what chairs tell us about everyday life and the way people rest, eat and relate to each other. They look at examples of designs in the past and in other cultures as inspiration for developing their own imaginative designs for a particular character or occasion.

We discussed the task, to design and make a chair/throne for an imaginary character to represent the spirit of one of the seasons.

We looked at examples of extravagantly designed chairs by artists and designers. We also explored the work of modern sculptors, especially the American artist Alexander Calder.

Having chosen a season we explored how to make simple chair or settee shapes from found materials (shoe boxes, card rolls, empty food cartons etc.). We tried to think in terms of exciting sculptural shapes and not to focus entirely on function.

Next we constructed simple figure shapes from garden wire and newspaper. These were bent into the shape required to sit or "recline" on the chair.

Finally the figure and the chair were decorated using torn and cut sections of cartridge paper. These had been coloured, patterned and textured with tissue paper and watered down PVA glue. We made these before the figures were constructed to allow time to dry.

The focus of the project was clearly on finding the best way to encourage an imaginative response. This was achieved by working within clearly defined objectives, which allowed for an individual response. Although the initial making process for the chair appeared simple it allowed everybody to make a structurally sound form, which could be easily developed in an imaginative way.