Last week, pupils at Cavendish Primary School in Chiswick enjoyed a whole week of creative activities, to celebrate the important part played by the arts in all aspects of the school curriculum.

The week was planned around the National Gallery’s highly successful nationwide scheme, ‘Take One Picture’ and took as its focus Degas’ Beach Scene. It was therefore entirely appropriate that the week began with a trip to Littlehampton by the whole school, in order that every child could take part in their very own ‘beach scene’.

As the week progressed every class in the school had the opportunity of producing their own work based around the painting, across all areas of the curriculum. This included the use of different types of media to produce artistic representations of the sea, speaking and listening activities and the use of ICT to investigate and interpret the finer details of the painting.

In order to reflect the school’s wider commitment to the arts, the week’s activities were boosted by musical activities provided by Hounslow Music Service and drama workshops led by a member of the Royal Court Theatre.

The week culminated in a competition for which all pupils were invited to submit entries based on ‘My Trip to the Sea’.

Anne-Marie Inwood, the Head of Cavendish Primary School said "The competition attracted a range of paintings, poems, stories and models based on a seaside theme. The originality of many of the entries showed just how much our pupils had gained from a whole week of arts activities and the important part played by creativity across the school curriculum. I would like to thank everyone who made the week such a great success."

July 3, 2006