Bow Arts facilitates artist educator residencies in schools providing opportunities for long-term collaboration with a professional artist. Since September 2025, artist educator Reza Ben Gajra has been in residence at Grafton Primary School in Islington, delivering an ambitious, whole-school programme that has reached all 480 pupils.
Working across EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, Reza has brought a creative, joined-up approach to learning, using art to explore topics such as feelings, robots, the environment, Canaletto’s paintings, traditional tales, Anglo Saxon armoury and Japanese culture. Pupils have experimented with a wide range of techniques, from stop-motion and silhouette animation to sculpture, drawing and painting.
Following collaborative planning with class teachers, Reza has led weekly sessions from Nursery through to Year 6, building strong relationships with students and becoming a familiar, inspiring presence in classrooms across the school.
Each year group has worked towards a final outcome, developing skills, confidence and creativity along the way.
What have Reza and the students been creating?
Nursery
After reading ‘The Gingerbread Man’, the nursery class explored colours, patterns and textures from the story, creating their own characters using simple shapes. Over the weeks, they brought their artwork to life with paint and collage, building confidence in cutting, tearing, sticking and fine motor skills. The vibrant final display, of the students’ original drawings, celebrates their creativity, teamwork and growing skills.
Reception
The class had great fun exploring wolves in fairy tales like The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood, noticing features such as pointy ears, bushy tails and sharp claws. After drawing their own wolves, they teamed up to create a large 3D piece, experimenting with collage and paint. Together, they made thoughtful choices about how to bring the story to life, resulting in a bold and imaginative display full of teamwork and creativity.
Year 1
Throughout the autumn term, Year 1 classes explored their emotions, bringing their self-portraits to life through animation and expressive voiceovers.
Watch Colour Monster Cut-Out animation below, created by White Class.
In the summer term, the students unleashed their creativity by transforming everyday materials into imaginative 3D robots with moving parts. Along the way, they worked independently, confidently refining and improving their creations – celebrating both their growing skills and brilliant ideas.
Year 2 & Year 3
The students from both year groups brought Canaletto’s ‘A Regatta on the Grand Canal’ painting to life – building spectacular 3D models and creating their very own stop-motion animated film as part of The National Gallery’s Take One Picture programme – click here to find more information about the exhibition.
After researching Canaletto’s world, exploring Venetian fashion, Baroque patterns and the bustling Grand Canal, Year 2 crafted large-scale gondolas from wire and papier-mâché, while Year 3 created gondolas, buildings and characters from clay and cardboard – each piece bursting with imagination. Through fantastic teamwork, Year 3 pupils transformed their stunning models into a brilliant, fully animated film that showcases both their artistry and their enthusiasm – watch below.
Year 2 classes revisited stop-frame animation in their heartfelt and environmentally conscious film, The Journey Home. With a shared passion for caring for our planet, students collaborated both as a team and individually, bringing their ideas to life through creative animation and clay modelling. Their enthusiasm, imagination and developing skills shine through in what is truly a delightful and impressive final short film. Here’s the end result…
“I can see clearly how rich and valuable this experience will have been for the children.”
Lead Practitioner & Consultant for the Arts
Year 4
The students and Reza embarked on an inspiring journey through history, drawing on the rich stories of the Bayeux Tapestry, the striking Sutton Hoo helmet and the craftsmanship of Anglo-Saxon armoury as the foundation for their project.
With curiosity and creativity, the class experimented with a wide range of materials, confidently developing their skills and embracing new techniques. Using plaster, wire, mesh and embossed metal, they brought their ideas to life by designing and crafting their own remarkable helmets.
The outcome was a collection of bold, imaginative pieces that feel as though they have stepped straight out of the Middle Ages, showcasing both the students’ dedication and their growing artistic confidence.
Year 5
Two Year 5 classes drew inspiration from the richness of Japanese culture – from the graceful elegance of traditional sensu fan dancing and the serene beauty of the 8th Century Asura Buddhist sculpture to the bold energy of contemporary Manga animation.
Their final artwork was a truly resplendent celebration of creativity, seamlessly bringing together each student’s ideas. The piece beautifully showcases an exciting range of materials and techniques, including wire sculpting, collage enhanced with shimmering foils and brilliantly reflective colours. The results radiate imagination, skill and a joyful fusion of tradition and modern influence.
Year 6
Year 6 students got creative with cut-outs to produce stop-motion films inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem ‘Sympathy’ and Maya Angelou’s ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’. Linking their creativity to their learning about the Civil Rights Movement, students explored themes of freedom, resilience and equality. The powerful words were brought to life through animation and thoughtful, imaginative storytelling. See one of the fantastic films below.
All Grafton students have truly shone, demonstrating remarkable resilience, creativity, and determination throughout their journey. Working both collaboratively and independently, they have grown in confidence, strengthened their decision-making and taken great pride in their achievements. Guided by a professional artist, they have not only developed their skills but also created and celebrated work of which they can be incredibly proud, sharing it with the wider school community.
Well done everyone!