Trainee teachers from UWE visit Sidcot's Art Department

Trainee teachers from UWE visit Sidcot's Art Department

Trainee teachers from the University of the West of England (UWE) have been working with Sixth Form students in the Art Department since the half term break. They have been creating a stained glass panel to be installed in the reception area of the university. Some of our students have learnt how to paint the glass using traditional techniques and equipment.

The piece, which measures approximately 2.5m x 0.8m, is based on the work by Ivor Gurney, WWI poet and composer, and a trip to Crickley Hill where he lived and overcame the impact of his experiences in the war. Included in the stained glass window is a line from one of his poems named after the area: 

Of gardens summer blessed, of early spring
In tiny orchards, the uncounted gold
Strewn in green meadows

This excerpt was chosen by the PGCE students as a reflection of their experience of the beautiful area of the Cotswolds which must also have impacted heavily on men returning from war.