During the 2023/24 school year we welcomed 800 primary school pupils from Reception – Year 6, school staff and volunteer parents to Kettle’s Yard to engage with art and ideas with our supported Look / Make / Talk programme.
Look / Make / Talk takes the Kettle’s Yard house and collection as a stimulus. Through this, students learn and apply critical and creative thinking skills to make connections, observations and explore ideas before making their own artworks to take home with them.
The pilot programme was generously supported by the Clore Duffield Foundation and enabled us to provide free return transport and free participation in the programme for eligible primary schools within Cambridgeshire. For many, it was their first visit to Kettle’s Yard or a gallery setting and we were so pleased to see the pupils and staff leaving feeling inspired, excited and energised!
The support from Clore was a pilot developed in response to the cost-of-living crisis and significant impacts felt in schools and communities following the Covid-19 pandemic. This resulted in additional pressures on school budgets, which in turn meant less students were able to visit cultural organisations such as Kettle’s Yard.
Upon arriving at the gallery pupils and staff were greeted by our Learning team and then led through our Look / Make / Talk programme. As one of our core learning programmes, Look / Make / Talk is inspired by our collection and exhibitions. Through guided open discussion, drawing activities and exploration of the house and/or galleries, it encouraged pupils to use their own critical and creative thinking skills to observe, make connections and explore ideas. They then participated in a making workshop in the Clore Learning Studio, transferring drawings and ideas gathered from the house through mono-printing processes. The session concluded with a guided reflection, before the pupils hopped back onto the bus to return to school.
Feedback gathered from teachers and school leaders attending clearly demonstrates the significant value and unique opportunity this supported programme provided their pupils and the wider school community.
Teachers’ feedback:
PLEASE keep programmes like this running, it is VITAL to schools providing children with experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have. They need these moments of wonder to build on their cultural capital and close the gap. Schools and parents no longer have the ability to fund this themselves.
The children were able to view artwork they’d never been aware of as well as the history behind some of the works. Most children hadn’t been to Cambridge or knew anything about Kettle’s Yard prior to today. The children had a vast amount of questions that they thought of when in the house and gallery. The children had a new experience that is so valuable to their development.
The practical session was FANTASTIC! All the children were so engaged. The atmosphere was buzzing!
Meanwhile, students shared that they felt welcomed by the “kindness of staff” and loved being able to “sit down in the chairs” within the Kettle’s Yard house, being surprised by “how ordinary things can become pieces of art“.
We loved forging new relationships with pupils, staff and school communities as part of this supported programme and hope to see these new connections flourish over future years with repeat school visits.
Thank you so much to the schools, staff, pupils and parents who participated in this pilot programme and placed trust in our team at Kettle’s Yard to develop, coordinate and deliver an inspiring and successful visit. We are greatly inspired by your careful observations, deep questions, enthusiasm to explore new things and energy to create!
What's On for Families
Visiting with Families
