With my 5 year old son attending the same primary school as I did, I wanted to create a piece of artwork for the school which may inspire the young pupils.

I emailed the head teacher to introduce myself and to let her know my ideas. I also put a link to my website for her to get more of a feel of my background and achievements.

I rang a couple of days later to see if I could speak with the head teacher and if she had had chance to look through my email and website. I was put through to the head and we had a great conversation, and she asked if I had ever thought of teaching art before?

I explained that i had already been in talks with a new school in Ashton and I was processing how I could go about it without it making me ill and how I will manage.

We agreed I should come in to the school and we could speak about it in more depth.

I met with the head teacher and the learning mentor the same day as the call – no messing around! They explained that since the Covid lockdowns, a lot of the pupils mental health had been affected. 

They had both looked through my website and understood through my blogs how much art therapy has impacted on my life and wanted to implement it into the school.

We made another appointment for me to come in and sit with the learning mentor so I could show her my creating methods and if she thought it would be suitable. 

At the meeting we both thought that certain pupils would really benefit from learning my techniques – plus it would be something they could continue to use at home. 

Art therapy encourages children and young people to better understand thoughts, feelings and behaviours. By creating images and objects, children and young people can begin to see the thoughts and feelings they have inside and then be supported by the art therapist to better understand themselves and find solutions.

In the meeting I also explained in more detail my neurodiverse condition, how it affects me and how and what will help me – as clear communication to me is key. 

There was a bit of correspondence back and fourth after that, as I was also creating a piece of art for the school reception area and i was sending ideas for that project via email.

The communication then fell off abit which had a big affect on me and caused a couple of meltdowns. This put a cloud over the project for me as it’s something I had explained in the meeting and how important the impact of communication (or lack of) can affect me.

Months passed and I re-contacted the head teacher to see if she was free for me to come in and refresh what we had spoken about.

We arranged another meeting which again went really well. We have planned that I will be doing a short course (to start off with) in the new term in September. 

I feel that my unique style of creating art can really help others as it does for me. To be in this position is such a privilege, and I really hope I can inspire and help some of our next generation.

More to follow on this story…