A day at Roche Court.
On May 20th. we spent an amazing day at Roche Court sculpture park near Salisbury. The day was partly funded by NADFAS Head office through the Patricia Faye Memorial Fund and partly by our own branch – New Forest DFAS. We took 5 pupils from each of three primary schools in our area- Lymington Junior, William Gilpin and Sway St. Lukes. Each school had chosen five pupils who they felt would gain the greatest benefit from the day – and not necessarily the best artists. They were accompanied by staff from their schools. The day was led by excellent staff from their education department who enthused the children from the moment we arrived. 
We began by studying one sculpture and pupils were asked what they thought it represented.
This resulted in much discussion and the thoughts and ideas of each pupil were recognised and valued.
The pupils were then asked to draw the sculpture – quiet concentration at this point.
We then walked to a very different sculpture and the pupils discussed it and drew this too. 
The pupils were encouraged to share their thoughts with someone they didn’t know.
As we walked into the park we looked at the welcoming arch with its logo 
and the children worked with a partner to create a logo of their own.These ranged from – ‘You are what you strive to be’ ‘Keep calm and keep creating ‘ Believe in your dreams and you’ll succeed’, through to ‘Don’t poach rhinos ‘ The latter caused much amusement but was hotly defended by the writers !
The next two sculptures encouraged action from the pupils – the first one they tried to recreate the movement 
and in the second they lay within the sculpture and gazed up wards
– the adults certainly enjoyed this.
After our lunch break it was time to for the pupils to create their own sculptures based on their morning’s experiences. There was a wide variety of materials available but most of the children decided to use clay. The excitement and enthusiasm that this generated was clear to see.Just before we left the pupils were asked to share their work with the rest of the group.
The buzz on the return journey was a real indication of the success of this trip and how much the children gained from it.