Teacher & Staff Development

Best Street Studios offer hands-on workshops designed to assist teachers in developing their teaching skills in the visual arts.

We can design a workshop to suit your needs, or you can choose from the following art media areas:

clay, textiles, artists books, screen-printing, wire, garden art, paper making, mask making, mosaics or sculpture from found objects.

Teachers will gain confidence in working with clay – how to present to children, projects that work, clean up and recycling of clay, plus much more.

Teachers experience how clay can be used in ‘non traditional’ methods as well as good construction techniques.

“I am always looking for ways to engage my students in reading and writing. I loved the way we could combine art skills (the making of illustrations) with the writing of a story. The activity is intrinsically motivating – everyone wanted to participate!”  Jo Brown, Special Ed Teacher Wagga High School (yrs 7&8)

Try some of these successful clay workshops:

1. Kids & Clay

from a lump to a llama and things you learn along the way

You will learn, then kids will learn:

• How to work with clay
• Preparation, clean up and storage of clay
• Construction of an animal (llama)
• What is a llama, where does it come from, characteristics, uses...

2. Geology – from granite to gargoyle

clay, where does it come from and what is it used for

Kids will learn:

• How clay is ‘made’
• How to work with clay
• What clay is used for around the world – historically and now
• They will then construct a Gargoyle and learn what it is and where you find them

3. The clay Commonwealth Games

Discover clay through a mini clay games; using one lump of clay only which team can...

• make the thinnest piece of clay
• make the longest snake of clay
• make the tallest clay construction

Test your throwing skills, throwing small balls of clay at a clay ‘Bullseye’ dart-board

And finally, make your favourite athlete in clay

4. Clay & Literacy Program

This is a full day workshop (6 hours)

This program is an excellent staff development opportunity and is most suitable for use with K-6 students. Teachers will learn how to incorporate clay with literacy, and any other subject area of your choice!

Tried and true. Kathryn has run this clay and literacy program with a class of children ranging in age from 3 to 13, and all successfully publishing their own picture stories.

Teachers will gain skills and confidence with clay and story writing to take back and use all year with their students.

In this workshop teachers will:

• Make a children’s picture story using clay, found objects, a digital camera, and a laptop computer
•  Write a story
• Experience hands-on work with clay to construct the set and characters of the story
• Make a story book
• Photograph each page of the story
• Download and edit images and add text on a laptop
• Print and bind picture story book ready for use with their class of children in 2010

‘This project appealed to the kids who struggled with reading (yrs 5 & 6). At the start of the project they were struggling with writing one sentence and reading it aloud. At the end they had written their own 16 page story and were confident enough to read it aloud to the kindergarten classes! A win-win from every side’ Jim Rees, Ashmont Primary School

For details on how to enrol and booking forms visit the How to Enrol page

“The students learnt so much about writing with this activity. Firstly, they had to imagine a story, and then they tested them with a small audience with the use of a storyboard. They had to tie the illustrations to the text and really get to use their editing skills – understanding that constructive feedback is very helpful. Vocabulary extension occurred with all the children” Adelle Nye, Wagga Public School