Josh recreates Leonardo, Ahalya watches Vincent’s paintings come alive and Calvin creates a striking poster…

Some students are not content with simply opening a book or scanning one or two articles from Wikipedia. Instead, they exert their supple brains and nimble fingers to apply what they have learned. They get out into their back gardens and recreate the great inventions of the person they are studying. Others find something during their research that inspires the whole class.

Josh is one such student. He has chosen Leonardo da Vinci as his notable person for our annual Year 7 event, the Night of Notables. Along with his partner, Dean, Josh has already planned his display, found a number of quotations and gathered a great deal of information. Keen to apply some of Leonardo’s design ideas, Josh has also created a giant cross-bow, sometimes referred to as a ballista, a weapon used by the Romans and sketched in various ways by Leonardo. Josh has applied ideas from both sources to create his own working model, shown below.

Josh’s neighbours are very afraid.

Not really. I imagine they are just as impressed by Josh’s inventive abilities and determination as I am.

The video link below shows how Josh has begun to interpret the complicated and fascinating legacy of Leonardo da Vinci.
A Video of Josh’s Giant Cross-Bow

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A view of Josh’s giant cross-bow, as influenced by the designs of Leonardo da Vinci
Josh's invention - with thanks to Leonardo
Josh’s invention – with thanks to Leonardo

Meanwhile, Ahalya has found a beautiful adaptation of Vincent Van Gogh’s glowing, unforgettable paintings, in which the people in those textured, shining landscapes come to life. The whole class (7C) watched this magical depiction of Van Gogh’s works. You can watch what she found in the video below:

Calvin's clever and eye-catching poster
Calvin’s clever and eye-catching poster
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