On 1 December, we were overwhelmed with the news that our Primary students had won quite a few prizes in the 2nd Creative Arts 3D Modelling Competition. (Organised by China’s Association for Children’s Art and supported by the Shanghai Youth Centre and M&G Chenguang Stationery Co. Ltd.)
At SSIS, students are expected to involve themselves in art projects with great interest and fervour, and our students have been preparing for the competition since term began. Our Art curriculum focuses on a broad view of education and the role that art can play. They indicate how art can contribute to essential aspects of children’s personal development such as creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. The art curriculum includes opportunities to learn and explore other cultures: celebrating different cultural traditions.
The primary students’ curriculum is designed to focus on developing students’ EQ and IQ, discovering and enhancing their imagination and creativity, artistic ability and aesthetic appeal. The curriculum includes basic art concepts, skills and various forms of artistic expressions such as theme painting, collage, paper cutting, clay modelling and posters designing.
Because 3D modelling is a combination of some of these aspects of art, our teachers were particularly keen to encourage the students to take part in the competition. Through 3D modelling, teachers can help students tap on and improve their artistic vision and creativity. Its practical aspects also help students to develop a more well-rounded idea of art and the space around them. Besides, the application of 3D modelling can also improve independent thinking, as it has to go through a large number of concepts and preparation processes. These processes need to be completed by the students themselves, which is beneficial to the cultivation of initiative and communication.
This independence and creativity were on display by the 11 SSIS competitors; they came out tops, securing the first, second and third prizes in various categories. In this prestigious competition, the students had only 80 minutes to create a 3D model, with no help from parents and teachers—who were watching excitedly from other rooms. Our students handled the pressure well and did everyone proud with their beautiful works of art. We are happy that the students were able to process what they had learnt in Art classes, and use their talents in an unfamiliar and tense environment—definitely out of their comfort zone—to thrive and win.
We’re so proud of the students and all the hard work they put in for this. It’s not easy to be in competition against so many schools in Shanghai, and it’s good to see them win! We can teach them and help them learn, but in the end, they had to use their imagination and initiative to succeed, and we’re happy to see their creativity recognised.
WANG Zhiyi
Primary School Art Teacher
Congratulations to the prize winners!
