Stronger Together: A Creative Journey with Leighton Park Art Scholars

During November and December, Leighton Park Art Scholars, alongside the Art Department, is facilitating a collaborative project bringing together Year 4 students from Redlands and Alfred Sutton primary schools. The initiative marks an important milestone in building connections between the two primary schools ahead of their federation in 2025.

Over the next four weeks, the LP Art Studios will be a hub of creativity and community. Supported by A Level Art Scholars, the children will explore printmaking to design a shared motto and imagery reflecting their schools’ identities and shared values of diversity, identity, and unity.

The project began with introductions and brainstorming in Week 1, where students sketched their ideas for a unified logo, blending elements of their schools’ existing and future branding. In the following weeks they will do hands-on printmaking and the students can trial their designs. By the final week, the refined prints will have been transferred into a collaborative collection and the completion of the project will be marked with photography sessions and the creation of a stunning visitors’ book filled with vibrant prints and messages.

For Leighton Park’s Art Scholars, this project is a meaningful step in their Oakleaf Diploma journey and gain experience in leadership and collaboration. For the Year 4 students, the project will help forge friendships between the two primary schools and offer a taste of the creative possibilities awaiting them in secondary school.

The finished visitors’ book will serve as a beautiful testament to the federation’s ethos: Stronger Together. This collection of prints and messages will warmly welcome guests and symbolise the enduring power of collaboration and community.

Richard Watson (Deputy Headteacher KS2 at Redlands) is delighted his students are benefitting through “Exposure to new school settings, in terms of working with new teachers, older students and new challenges… and we will be collaborating with Alfred Sutton so it will be fantastic with the two schools federating to be able to bring those children together and be working together on a combined project for the first time.”