Mr Sherrington speaks on all things Art
How long have you been teaching at the school?
I have been here now for three and a half years after teaching in London and the south east for over two decades.
I am lucky enough to have Mrs Morris working with me from the Prep School. She brings her enthusiasm and natural handling of materials to the sixth form classes. We also have Mr Bonser, our technician, who helps us with constructions, exhibitions, ordering materials and the general smooth running of the Department.
What makes us different from other schools?
Rydal Penrhos is very different from other schools because it has “soul” and an underlying self-deprecating sense of humour that permeates all the pupils. In Art, we are different because the school has a wonderful purpose built department and we are able to be very ambitious in terms of scale and materials.
What sort of courses do we offer?
We offer GCSE Art, A-level Art, photography and textiles, and we also run the IB visual Art course for Sixth Form.
The Art department is open all day every day and on some Sundays during the term so pupils can make the most of the facilities.
What excites you about teaching here?
I am excited about teaching because I am able to put all my knowledge, training and experience back into the school that set me on the way back in the 1980’s!
I feel lucky to be working in a school that is independent and very well equipped in terms of printing presses, photo studio, ceramics Kiln, darkroom and painting studio.
What has been exciting over the last few years is seeing how being ambitious for the Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils has helped raise the grades and standard of the work produced by the examined classes.
We recently achieved 100 per cent A-B at GCSE and last year only had one C grade amongst As an A*s.
Although the department has grown in terms of facilities and numbers taking the subject it is the personal approach and ability to let every pupil work form their own interests that has been the key to our recent success.
Have any of your former pupils gone on to have any success of note?
Over the last few years we have seen a number of students go off to Art school and we are proud of our recent leavers Tor Williams and Cat Abend who have both gained places at University to continue with Art at a higher level.
We run trips most terms to visit major Art galleries and this feeds directly into what we hand in for the examiner to see every summer.
Last summer the whole of Year 9 tried out direct carving into blocks to create heads using chisels and hammers. This year the Sixth Form have all tried out Batik, screen printing and etching to name just a few of the varied and diverse techniques available to students here.
Why would you choose us?
Above all else it is a nurturing and supportive environment run by passionate members of staff (in a fantastic set of studios), keen and ambitious for all pupils to reach their potential.