The Pot of Unity

One of the many messages to get from SMSC day is how everyone should try to work towards unity. In this way, ceramics, one of the art projects occurring today, the students have attempted to represent unity in the form of a giant vase.

Each individual is making separate ‘patches’ of clay in which they will trace on a sign of unison, which will appear white when heated up. When the vase is put together, this will be the symbols of many important issues and therefore allow us to represent the unity of everyone.

The Process

1. First, the clay is to be flattened and shaped. Each individual will have a square, a triangle and a rectangle of clay to move onto the next step.

2. The clay is then painted either grey or black so that the white of the trace becomes much more apparent.

3. With the drawings that the students have already made, they trace onto the patches in order to represent the symbol of unity, e.g. the Unity Hand symbol.

4. The patches will then be put together in the form of a patchwork vase, which will then be heated and the traces will appear white.

The Students

All year 9s seem to be enjoying themselves while doing this task, ensuring that it is a message that will stay with them for a long time. As we approach the end of another academic year, it is vital that we do tasks such as this in order to build upon our own moral knowledge as expressed by Susie, Year 9 as ‘something that should happen more often.’

Furthermore, the mixture of moral righteousness and entertainment is allowing our students to be able to express their feelings and beliefs in their work in a way that they were unable to do beforehand - ‘it’s fun and represents unity,’ Talia, Year 9.