This year’s Summer Art Exhibition was a brilliant representation of free-thinking visual communication. It showcased our pupils’ growth as individuals through studying Art. Personal themes investigated were striking and thought-provoking: ‘The Male Gaze’; ‘Loss of Childhood’; reverie in landscape; autobiography and mental health to name a few. Art helps us in our understanding of the world and our place within it, and it is powerfully showcased in the work.

I am impressed beyond measure by the standards of this year’s pupils and their endeavour and determination to exceed their own goals. Parents and staff visiting the exhibition were staggered by the depth and bravery of our pupils’ art.

In January we hosted Fine Artist Ian Murphy for a day to work with select pupils from College and All Saints’ Academy, Cheltenham, to explore his process and technique and create a portfolio of work in one day!

We took Fifth Form to Bristol City Museum for the first time, and we took Lower Sixth to Tate Britain where we experienced the acclaimed ‘Women in Revolt’ exhibition and immersed ourselves in the aristocratic world of the John Singer Sargent exhibition. Fourth Form visited the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Ashmolean in Oxford. Upper Sixth visited Tate Modern for the extended ‘Capturing the Moment’ exhibition and free collection.

As always, these experiences are infinitely informative to our pupils’ outlook and progress. It is always our aim to offer a wide range of visual experience to stimulate and develop individual progress.

Ms Jo Millar