Set within beautiful parkland and woodland near Salisbury, Roche Court is home to the New Art Centre, a specialist gallery for 20th- and 21st-century art. Its combination of contemporary gallery spaces and extensive outdoor sculpture park provided the perfect setting for pupils to encounter art beyond the classroom and experience sculpture within the landscape.

During the visit, pupils followed the outdoor sculpture trail, examining an impressive variety of works and considering their different forms, materials, scale and relationship with their surroundings.

Armed with their sketchbooks, Year 7 had time to look more closely at the pieces that particularly captured their imagination, recording details and ideas to take back to the Art classroom. They also explored three-dimensional art for themselves, using coloured card to experiment with creating their own sculptural forms inspired by what they had seen around the park.

The trip marks the beginning of further creative work for Year 7 this term, with their observations and sketches from Roche Court providing inspiration for their upcoming Art projects. In particular, pupils will soon be working with clay to create sculptures in response to the work of renowned British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, whose work they were able to see first-hand during their visit.

As their first trip since joining the Senior School, the day was a wonderful opportunity for Year 7 to spend time together while exploring, observing and creating in a completely different environment.

We look forward to seeing how the ideas and inspiration gathered at Roche Court take shape in their own artwork over the coming weeks.