Red Kite Learning Trust Art Exhibition Featuring Oatlands Junior School

On Monday 10th June at a special open evening event, Red Kite Learning Trust launched its first Art Exhibition. The exhibition features artwork created by pupils from Oatlands Junior School and will remain in the Trust Gallery until January 2025, when another school in our Trust will have to opportunity to showcase their work.

The exhibition was curated by Oatlands Junior School's Art Lead, Mrs Hannah Alderson. Mrs Alderson is dedicated to teaching children about art, allowing them the freedom to express themselves and to help promote good mental health and wellbeing.

Talking about the exhibition, Mrs Alderson said, "The children were excited to have been asked to submit pieces to be considered for the exhibition and the response was overwhelming. They were given an open brief which has resulted in so much creativity and a fantastic variety of styles. We received so many amazing entries and I am immensely proud of each and every one who entered. Sadly, we couldn't include all the work, the standard was exceptionally high and selecting the final pieces was not easy."

The open event was a huge success as we welcomed children, famililes, staff and trustees from the Oatlands Junior School and Trust community to our central office, in Harrogate. Circa 130 visitors packed into the Gallery on the night to view the artwork, meet the artists and enjoy the buzzing atmosphere. The children were very excited and proud to talk about their work, their inspiration and process.

The artwork will continued to be enjoyed by the many visitors who come to our office on a daily basis, be it for collaboration meetings or for training. Our office provides a great central meeting hub for our schools and Red Kite Education partners, and we are sure they will really enjoy the artwork.

Headteacher at Oatlands Junior School, Mrs Estelle Scarth, commented, "Thank you to all who came along to support our art exhibition. The children felt very important meeting and talking with our visitors and it is something that I am sure will be a lasting memory of their time at Oatlands Junior. A number of our pupils had additional needs and it was wonderful to see them achieving just as well as their peers and showing equal confidence when speaking about the inspiration for their artwork. Our Trust offices look super and it is great to see our Trust Goal 'We Champion Learning' so creatively exemplified by these inspirational pieces of artwork. I would also like to thank the Trust team for organising such a brilliant event, our PTA and the Rossett School catering team for providing refreshments and to the wonderful Rossett students, Chloe, Diana, Elliot and Anna, for helping on the night."

Trustee for Red Kite Learning Trust, Dr Mick Walker, added, "the stars of the show were the articulate and confident children who spoke so eloquently about their work."