Painted Hall Project
The painted hall is part of the old royal naval college in Greenwich so is a fantastic local resource for children's learning. The college was built around the time that George the 1st was on the throne to accommodate old naval officers who had entered retirement. It was also used as a training school for young boys looking to join the navy. One of the most impressive rooms in the collage is the painted hall; this was used as dinning hall and entertainment room for the officers.
It is the painting on the west wall that we used as a stimulus for our writing across all classes in the school. The painting was used as a stimulus for a literacy teaching sequence with the whole school having the same writing outcome which will be a letter written by one of the characters linked to the painting.
All children visitied the Painted Hall, took part in a series of drama sessions based on the painting incluing hotseating, recreating the painting and freze framing.
Have a look at some of the pictures in the gallery and what the children and parent thought about the project below.
“I liked seeing the amazing work and I was staggered when I found out it took James Thornhill 19 year to paint.” Anna aged 7
“I found out that the artist painted the queen’s hand under the rug. It helped me imagine how I would feel locked in a tower.” Lola aged 6
“The story and seeing the painting inspired my writing.” Ella aged 9
“It was fantastic to use a local resource as a stimulus for children’s learning. It was free and what was so lovely was that so many children took their families back at the weekend to tell them about the painting and what they had learned.” Teachers
It’s fantastic when the children go out locally and learn things about history that we as parents didn’t know. We’re excited that they can take us back as a family and teach us about what they have learned.” Parent
“It’s brilliant to utilise local resources and tie them in to the learning and curriculum in school. The children really enjoyed the project.” Parent
