“TRULY MAGICAL” PROJECT POWERS AHEAD

Feedback from students has been unanimous. They have all worked enthusiastically, thoroughly engaged with heritage objects which unlock fascinating stories, collaborating with each other and creating wonderful art work with Jane Churchill to show their knowledge and understanding of the role played by trades and industries in the First World War. A SKY FULL OF PLANES Hampstead School students set out to create a whole fleet of planes based on the designs of aircraft built during WW1. This stage of the “Echoes” project was supported by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers. Students were inspired by Jane’s work, the stories they heard, and their visit to the RAF Museum in Hendon to discover their heritage object. In workshops, students created artwork to show the role played by those who designed and built the aircraft and by those who flew them. Meeting liverymen always helps the students to understand the role of Livery Companies today and to discover the role of the trades and industries they represent. Curators of museums also bring their collections to life. Vernon Creek of the RAF Museum in Hendon, gave students a fascinating insight into the early designs of aircraft. Jane Churchill skilfully led the students through their own design process to create a sky full of planes, sketches of aircraft, diary entries of airmen taking part in daring missions and insignia. BARBED WIRE AND TIN CANS The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers, Alias Wire Workers, represents a huge industry in the UK which makes 18 billion items of metal packaging every year. Students at Archbishop Tenison School in Croydon were treated to a fascinating talk by Bill Boyd, Director of the Metal Packaging Manufacturers’ Association where they learnt how early tin cans were made and how this highly mechanised process was still proudly rooted in the UK today. This was the starting point for their project. Their goal was to understand how lives were affected by WW1 by learning about the trades behind the scenes to the war - in this case, the wire and the tin. A visit to the Museum of Brands and Packaging in Notting Hill followed. This gave them an opportunity to handle tins of food and other household items from previous decades giving them a personal connection to the items which would have been familiar to those at the Front in WW1. Heritage Artist Jane Churchill introduced students to her work based on the life and death of Second Lieutenant William Goss Hicks and inspired them to create their own miniature worlds depicting the devastation of war cleverly using tin offcuts generously donated by William Say & Co. Students quickly rose to the challenge of working with a professional artist for 3 solid days to produce artworks which demonstrated their depth of understanding and empathy with those involved. The students created imaginary worlds using artefacts and making things the soldiers would have needed. They each took as inspiration, a name from the list of 58 former pupils at their school who went to fight and did not return. They wrote imaginary letters and diary entries.  WE WILL REMEMBER THEM Visitors from Livery Companies and other London schools joined students, staff and governors from Archbishop Tenison School on Remembrance Day for a moving ceremony. In a packed hall, students presented their project to the audience and Jane explained their engagement in producing art work inspired by her installation.  Not only was the ceremony a commemoration of the end of WW1 but also a celebration of the students’ fantastic achievements in the Tin Plate Workers’ stage of “Echoes Across the Century”.