THE BEACON ART GALLERY - THE ART PROGRAM

Welcome!

We know you'll enjoy walking through the rooms of our Art Gallery featuring the art work of children in Years 1-7.

About the teacher - Mrs. Pauline O'Brien

Without my having had any formal art training, the art work undertaken at Beaconsfield Primary has a somewhat different flavour and approach to the artwork taken within other schools in our Fremantle District. If you have ever been to Artblast at the Fremantle Town Hall during Education Week, you may already have noticed this!! I commenced working as the art teacher at Beaconsfield PS in 1992 for 2 days a week taking art with 7 mainstream classes. In 2003, I worked 4 days a week taking art with 9 mainstream and 4 ILC classes as well as leading the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Project. In 2006, apart from still creating and running the school website, I passed on my role as the ICT Coordinator to a Deputy Principal and am back to my 3 days of Art working with 11 mainstream classes. Over the last 5 years I have become very involved also in running Professional Learning sessions for teachers out of school hours in both Arts Workshops and S&E based sessions for the Access Asia Program.

The themes covered by the students within the Beacon Art Gallery also reflects the learning journey I have travelled over the last 16 years. The most significant of these being my exposure to the Studies of Asia through the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) Access Asia program. Following a web based project to celebrate the Indian Ocean Rim Region (IORR), the school has focussed on our near neighbours sharing the Indian Ocean as our front yard. In turn this led to a Fellowship in India and an inspiration for some wonderful art works produced by Beaconsfield students.

My philosophy of education

I see my role as being one of equipping children with the skills, interest, enthusiasm and confidence to say, "I can do that!", when faced with a creative challenge - whether it be a challenge of their own making or copying an idea from a "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine or T.V. show.

 I believe that educating children to be effective users of leisure time and to be able to have the chance to creatively express their thoughts and emotions is crucial to developing a fully rounded person. To have a child bring something to me and say, "Look Miss! Look what I made on the weekend.", gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction, whether their work be sewing, sculpting with wire, constructing with wood or whatever. To have them follow up with, "I had trouble with..........., but I/Mum/Dad/Gran/..... thought we could try doing........... So we did and see, it worked!", is confirmation that the problem solving approach to Art and Craft is working.

I like to work with the children as a co-learner, a collaborative problem solver, as only one of a source of facilitators of learning. As a group we continually explore together and teach one another.

Student Centred Learning

Where ever possible the children are allowed a choice in either the use of materials, technique or subject matter. For example, a Year 7 class was given the theme of 'Entrapment Versus Freedom' while looking at a topic on birds. They were then encouraged to express their responses in a 3D format using any medium or found materials. Likewise this approach has proved very successful with themes such as Cats and Fans.
At other times, I may wish to introduce a new skill or medium or to further develop a specific skill, whereby, while a technique such as lino cutting is being covered, the children may choose the subject of their work. Even with the youngest classes, the children are encouraged to become familiar with all the colouring medium such as crayons, pastels, aquarelles, textas and paints, so that given the opportunity, they can make a choice as to which medium they would like to use to gain a particular effect. This is very obvious in the Lighthouses work.

Providing opportunities for families to have fun working together

The various Family Challenges over the last years have given family members the opportunity to work together to create artworks that reflect a shared interest and fantastic creativity in ideas and use of media.