Jermaine - 3rd place
Lydia - 4th place
Amari
Nikhil
Khalid
Did you know?
Peter Pan first entered
London sailing in a bird’s nest
along the Sepentine.
Sara - 2nd place
Abdul
24
Abed
25
Regent’s Park
South Camden Community School
Saif
Our day
Anna Woodfield, the school art
co-ordinator, said that it was a
pleasure working with Wild in the
Parks and the artist. She said; “I am
really pleased for Saif, whose design
was picked as the winner.”
The School
Just off the busy Euston Road, South Camden Community School is a
mixed comprehensive serving Somers Town, Camden. South Camden
is an Arts College specialising in Music, Art and Drama, offering the
learning community of almost 1000 pupils the opportunity to work with
state-of-the-art facilities and resources, creative practitioners and industry
specialists across the whole school.
Anna Woodfield, the art co-ordinator, took a group of 14-15 year olds
selected from Year 10, to work with Gayna in nearby Regent’s Park. Such
was their enthusiasm for the project that, despite the freezing rain, Gayna
found it difficult to get the students to stop drawing at the end of their
visit. Their main focus was to concentrate on the wildlife, in particular
the famous heronry – one of the largest city-centre heron colonies in
Europe, being only a mile from Oxford Street – and to contrast this with
the formal ornamental style found elsewhere in the park, for example in
Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens.
Using their bird drawings from the Park and with a music sound track as
inspiration, the students enjoyed a drawing and mark-making workshop
in the Regent’s Park studio. They experimented using watercolour pastels
and produced lots of sketches to develop their deckchair canvas ideas.
Then, they progressed to designs using only black and white, and
discovered techniques of mono-printing with black ink. They learned
quickly and produced some striking monochrome designs.
Year: 10
Age: 14-15 years
Focus: Wildlife - Herons
Medium: Drawing and
mark-making using pen and
inks. Mono-print
27
Nadir - 3rd place
Habib - 4th place
James
JP
Sarah
Did you know?
Regent’s Park was originally
part of the vast Forest of
Middlesex.
Dean - 2nd place
Ashley
28
Izmir
29
Greenwich Park
Charlton Extended Schools Cluster
Brunilda
Our day
Greenwich
winner
Teacher Charlotte Powell, of Cardwell
Primary, found the experience
an excellent way for children to
learn about transferring ideas into
pictures. She felt that they had really
increased their knowledge of the
local environment. She also found
it very interesting working with
other teachers and pupils from local
schools within their cluster group.
Pupil comments
• “It was really good fun”
• “My favourite part was visiting
the park”
• “It was an excellent experience”
The School
Charlton Extended Schools Cluster comprises a number of schools in the
Charlton and Woolwich areas, which work together and engage with other
organisations and community partners. The eight primary schools in this
project included: Charlton Manor, Cherry Orchard, Cardwell, Fossdene,
Thorntree, St Mary Magdalene, Christchurch CE and Our Lady of Grace.
After storms cancelled the first visit to Greenwich Park, the group tried
another day a week later with better weather.
Up to 30 children from Year 4, across all eight schools, took part in the
project and met with Gayna to explore the wonderful views of London
from Greenwich Park. They were also able to take advantage of the
newly-opened deer hide and wildlife trail to track the deer, before
admiring the ancient sweet chestnut trees planted over 400 years
ago by Charles II.
The pupils took a landscape format as the starting point for their
deckchair canvas design. They made lots of pencil and oil pastel
drawings from viewpoints throughout the Park, adding deer whenever
they appeared. Back at Cardwell Primary, one of the eight cluster schools,
Gayna helped the teachers and pupils develop their work using coloured
tissue paper to make a collage backdrop, on which they painted the views
they had captured on their Park visit.
Year: 4
Age: 8-9 years
Focus: Wildlife trail, ancient
sweet chestnut trees
Medium: Pencil, oil pastels,
coloured tissue paper
31
Abbie - 3rd place
Emma - 4th place
Katie
Andy
Joshua
Crystal
Tommy
Adrian
Dominic
Habon
Mizuki
Hannah - 2nd place
32
33
Robert
Yussuf
Indigo
Tumi
Elizabeth
Lisa
Ben
Trang
Did you know?
There are six different species
of grasshoppers and crickets
recorded in Greenwich Park including the Oak Bush Cricket,
which lives in Oak trees.
Anh
34
Zaynib
Sam
Thad
35
St James’s Park
Household Cavalry
Trooper Tim Pugh
Our day
Comments from recruits
•“The Deckchair Dreams experience was a welcome activity, being involved in a charity event is always a special occasion. By raising funds for the Royal Parks, we ensure their future. A memory to cherish for years to come.”
• “The group has learnt, I think, to treat our parks with a bit more respect.
It was an eye-opener to be taught a
bit more information and history about the Parks. A thoroughly enjoyable task.”
• “ When we first heard of the task we
weren’t sure what to expect, but our
group leader guided us through what
was expected and we were confident
in what was required of us. It was
enjoyable being around the park atmosphere and taking in the sights and sounds.”
The Recruits
Hyde Park Barracks is home to some 300 soldiers and almost as many
horses of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, who provide
Sovereign’s Escort and Queen’s Life Guard, as well as men and their
mounts for numerous state and civic functions.
Twelve new recruits to this illustrious regiment were chosen to join Gayna
on a tour of St James’s Park, armed with digital cameras and watercolour
oil pastels. Their focus and discussions included the wealth of military
statues and what they commemorated, plus the lake, which is home to
many species of waterfowl, including the Park’s famous residents, the
pelicans. They also examined the views of London from one of the city’s
oldest Royal Parks and learned how it has changed over the centuries.
The recruits used photography of distant views in the Park to give them
a sense of perspective and took close-up photos of textures. They used
watercolour oil pastels to draw a long view of the Park, which they then
turned into watercolour paintings.
Back at the Barracks, the soldiers learned techniques of mono printing
and how to use coloured inks to draw and paint, before creating their
final deckchair designs.
Focus: Military statues,
the lake, waterfowl, pelicans
and the views of London
Medium: Photography, oil
pastels, mono printing,
pen and ink
37
Jono - 3rd place
Rob - 4th place
Godlove
Terry
Kessie
Noel
working Paintin
g!
Chris - 2nd place
Bale
Michael
Ogunnusi
Dav
Did you know?
33 different species of
waterfowl breed on the lake
in St James’s Park, including
Scandinavian Smews and
Carolina Wood Ducks.
38
39
The Royal Parks are Hyde Park,
Kensington Gardens, The Regent’s Park
(with Primrose Hill), Richmond Park,
St James’s Park, The Green Park,
Bushy Park and Greenwich Park.
The Royal Parks Foundation
The Old Police House
Hyde Park
London W2 2UH
tel +44 (0) 20 7298 2139
www.royalparksfoundation.org
www.deckchairdreams.org
Registered Charity Number: 1097545