Working with Children

Children are amazed by glass and letting them be creative with glass is a great experience.

Making a unique piece of fused glass art gives each child a great sense of achievement as well
as astonishment at how their work has magically fused together during the kiln firing process.

A topic/item and duration are agreed in advance for each workshop. Previous workshops have included hanging Christmas Tree, hanging postcard with picture of Titanic, Charles Rennie Mackintosh style postcard, large standing panels made from collections of children's work, panels incorporated in a stained glass window.
I can work with groups of up to approx 30 children in school or the club venue.
The workshop comprises of an initial safety talk about the glass and then the children will create their own design on paper and then create this in the glass medium for fusing
Some schools have enhance the workshops by showing a video of the glass making process and then when the work is returned, have a Q&A session with all the children about the making and attributes of the fused glass.
The glass that is decorated by the children is taken away for firing in the kiln and returned as finished pieces approx 2 weeks after the workshop.
A Q & A session can be conducted wtih the children when the work is returned as they usually have lots of questions once they have seen the completed pieces.
I have DBS and First Aid Certificates

Please contact me if you want some more details about what I can do for a workshop. Tel 07929 724349 or email me at [email protected]

Schools and groups I have worked with:

Warley Road Primary School - year 4 children study The Titanic each year and as part of this they make a postcard in fused glass relating to what they are studying.
The Gleddings Preparatory School - year 6 children made their own leaving medal which went into their leavers memory box as a momento of their time at the school.
Elmley Rainbows - a group of approx 20 young children all made their own individual fused glass Christmas Tree.
Halifax Academy Primary School - new entrants, reception and year 1 children created panels of fused glass that were incorporated into a large stained glass window which was built into the new school buildings.
Netherhall Learning Campus - 40 children of mainly secondary school age all made their own individual medals as part of a 2 week summer camp.
Salterhebble Junior and Infants School, Halifax - 90 children in three classes from years 1, 2 and 5 were introduced to glass fusing as part of their Arts Festival. Each child picked a country and decorated their piece of glass with frit, confetti and stringers in the colours of the flag of their selected country. The year 1 and 2 pieces were hung inside one of the windows of the staff-room and the year 5 pieces were fused into a single piece to stand in the window of the staff-room.
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Halifax - 90 children in three classes from years 1 and 2 were introduced to glass fusing. Their theme was the Golden Jubilee so they were given red, white and blue stringers, confetti and frit to decorate clear strips of glass which once fused were used as bunting to decorate the class rooms.
Holy Trinity Brownies, Halifax - 30 children each made an Olympic medal using frit and stringers in the Olympic colours red, blue, green, yellow and black.

Health and Safety Handling Glass

Primary Schoool aged children will only work with glass that has been prepared in advance. The edges of the base glass that the chldren work with are filed so that they are not sharp. The coloured glass is all prepared in advance so that they are no sharp edges. The children will also work with large chunks (frits) of glass that are not sharp. The children will not work with any powders. At the end of the session, the children will need to wash their hands.
Children above Primary School age will be expected to follow health and safety guidance. They will wear gloves, face masks and safety glasses as appropriate and will be expected to handle the glass safely as there will be sharp edges.