Creative Arts

Staines Prep offers a wide variety of creative arts for pupils to explore, fostering creativity and encouraging expression.

Art, Design and Technology | Music | Drama

Art, Design and Technology

ADT is a highly practical and creative subject at Staines Prep. Your child develops skills, knowledge and understanding through active participation in the design process. We aim to engage, inspire, and challenge our pupils, providing opportunities to generate ideas, explore their imagination and emotional wellbeing. We celebrate environmental and cultural diversity, and help them to appreciate the relevance of design to the economy and creative industries.

In the Upper Prep, we have a state-of-the-art room specifically designed and equipped for the enhancement of creative and practical work. Each pupil has an identified large work area that enables them to operate tools and materials effectively. Our design technology lab is equipped with a scroll saw, band facer and pillar drill. We also have a designated kiln room, built within the classroom, allowing pupils to experience the delights of working with clay; glazing, and firing their creations.

Our varied projects may be specific skills-based or embrace cross-curricular links. They include printmaking inspired by the Japanese artist Hokusai, landscape painting and the use of visual perspective devices, three-dimensional sculpture modelling and clay work. Pupils enjoy manipulating materials using textiles and pattern making. Food technology lessons involve awareness of seasonal produce and food preparation, and construction activities include shaping wood or found materials and making illuminated light boxes.

Music

Music at Staines Prep nurtures and develops children’s creativity, self-expression and confidence, whilst instilling a sense of achievement and collaboration. As part of the music curriculum, all children are introduced to performance using keyboards, percussion and singing, whilst exploring a variety of music through listening and response, improvisation and composition.

Our inspiring team of visiting music teachers offer individual music lessons on a range of orchestral instruments as well as piano, percussion and acoustic or electric guitar. These take place in our dedicated music rooms. Every child has a weekly singing lesson with their year group, developing their musicianship and learning a variety of new repertoire, supported by the Kodaly method.

The extracurricular music clubs provide valuable opportunities for the children to enjoy playing in vocal and instrumental ensembles including the school orchestra, choir and the Staines Prep Singers. Staines Prep hosts an annual Orchestra Day, where children have the exciting opportunity to make music creatively and collaboratively with local primary schools. From our large-scale events such as the Christmas Production, Spring Festival, Year 6 Production and Music Evening to our more intimate lunchtime recitals and assembly performances, all children have the opportunity to perform. The upper school also have the chance to perform to a wider audience at Voice in a Million at the Wembley Arena, as well as to the local community.

Drama

Drama is an art, a practical activity and an intellectual discipline. It is an outlet for your child’s creativity and involves the creation of imagined characters and situations, which are enacted within a designated space. It forms an essential part of the school’s ethos by providing pupils with the opportunity and encouragement to explore and understand more of the world in which they live. This engenders understanding, confidence and maturity – essential tools for learning and development. In the dramatic environment, students can explore different emotions, feelings and their own viewpoints as well as hearing those of others.

In Year 4, your child will be taught Drama as a standalone subject, but Drama will also take place as part of English lessons throughout the school. From Nursery to Year 5, your child will participate in preparing and performing a Christmas production, with Year 6 also performing their own production at the end of the year.