Me Made May and other stories

I always start out with good intentions. I will photograph my outfits every day and post them to Instagram but then life happens and taking photos is the last thing on my mind.

The last three weeks have been super busy. Busy at work and busy at home. I thought I would share a little of what's going on.

Me Made May so far...
We are on day 12 and so far I have worn at least one me-made every day:-
Flying pigs dress - once
Handbag dress -  once
Red floral Saraste dress - once
Chiffon skull top - twice
Red Sorbetto top - once
Blue Sorbetto top  - twice
Burdastyle overlap top  - once
Ginger Jeans  - 3 times
Burda Spotty sleeveless shirt  - just the once
Refashioned denim jacket  worn 5 times
Zero waste denim culottes  - worn twice
Burdstyle gathered neck top v1 & 2  - twice each
Black Ponte Lucinda skirt  worn once
Draped tartan Vivienne Westwood inspired dress  - worn twice
Elise T shirt  - 1 wear
Refashioned Jacket  - 3 days
Self-drafted undies  - 12 days

London Baby
I had a course booked in London on the 7th of May. This was the Tuesday after the bank holiday, which also happened to be my hubby's birthday, so we planned to spend a couple of days in London visiting my sister. Unfortunately, my hubby was unwell and couldn't go. As I had my course booked I went as planned.

I stayed with my sister and her hubby and we spent Monday at Little Venice, Camden and the Saatchi gallery before going out for Pizza.

On Tuesday I attended my course at the British Association of Art Therapists. I'm not an art therapist, but they run a course for professionals in school, to support vulnerable children. I made this cute little fella as part of the training. I can't wait for day 2 in June.

Before getting my train home I had time to explore the British library and loved some of the work on display. Unfortunately my train was delayed by 45mins and I had time to admire the ceiling at Kings Cross Station.

Work and Home Stuff
It's a crazy time at the moment. The year 6 SATs start tomorrow and there have been lost opf preparations at school. I'm busy with ceramics projects with some of my students and as my pug mill isn't working correctly I'm hand wedging clay for between 3 and 4 classes a day - now that's a workout!
We are also taking part in Whitley bay Carnival on the 25th May and are busy making our giant flying saucer and costumes. it's hard work, but i'm sure it will be worth it in the end.
My own children are just about to head into a month of exams as Bethan sits her GCSEs and Cai sits his A-Levels. John also has his final university assignments to hand in by the end of this week.
Yesterday my daughter performed with Alnick youth theatre at Northern Stage in Newcastle. It was her first experience of performing in a theatre setting. I think she loved it. I've needed a bit of me time this weekend and i've been sewing up this lovely skull print cotton form Minerva crafts. More to come on that one.

Art Schools

Bob & Roberta Smith

It's drawing close to the end of the summer term and with just one week to go, I can safely say this term has been very busy and I'm very tired. The last few weeks have seemed like a treadmill with no time to really relax.

 

In my head the summer term should be a lot more laid back and chilled - in reality, it's probably one of the busiest times of the year. Reports to write, tests and exams to be sat and marked, new students to meet and some to say goodbye to. Last week the year 6 SATs results came out and it brings into focus for me the imbalance in the educational drive of the UK.

We have great Arts education here but is under threat as more and more schools drop the creative subjects at primary level to focus on English and Maths in order for children to "pass" their SATs. At GCSE level, schools are directing students to take Ebacc subjects which have resulted in some high school arts course completely folding. I hate it! I actually get quite angry when I hear of this happening and the arts being sidelined as subjects you do if you 'cant' do other subjects. I know from my experience that those children who engage with the arts generally do well in other subjects and have a different way of processing information and are more able to think outside the box.

As you can tell I'm passionate about arts education and last week I had the opportunity to take some of our students to London for an arts enrichment experience. We had a jam-packed three days and saw lots of stuff. It was hot and tiring - but brilliant.

44 students and 5 staff set out early from school on Thursday morning, we travelled by coach and checked into our accommodation at 4pm before enjoying a meal out and off to the Cambridge Theatre to see the production of Matilda. Our Friday activities included the Tate modern, a tour and drama workshop at the Globe theatre, focusing on Macbeth and a visit to St Paul's Cathedral. The whispering gallery was the highlight for most students here. We finished the evening at the Underbelly festival seeing Circolombia - the most jaw-dropping acrobatics I have ever seen!

Finally, our weekend culminated in the Royal Academy Summer show. I wasn't quite sure what the Children would think of it. But they really enjoyed it. I'm hoping to go back again over the summer to see it again with my husband. I'm also hoping to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V&A.

Our Arts experience didn't end there as on return to school on Monday I was put to good use finishing off the backdrop for the school show. Plenty of our students took part and were amazing in their performances. 

I'm so thankful that the school I work in values the arts and I know the students got so much out of it. I just hope this doesn't become eroded away under pressures from the government.