Oaklands Secondary School, Bethnal Green
10th birthday multi-cultural mural
This mural was commissioned to celebrate the school's 10th birthday. It celebrates more than 60 different nationalities within the 600+ pupils and staff that make up the school community.

Maud Milton took assemblies for year 7, 8 and 9, showing them murals by Artyface and discussing the project. All pupils then had a lesson where they either researched symbols and traditions that represented their family's cultural heritage or a culture that specially interested them. Pupils self-selected to attend workshops in their Easter holidays and at half-term to continue with their designs. Below are photographs of the processes we went through to produce the pupils mural.

The finished mural with a plaque signed by all 25 pupils who worked on the project in holidays and at weekends, as well as the caretakers and the teacher who co-ordinated the project, Janice Fuller. The top circular green plaque contains an oakleaf motif designed by a pupil and mentions the schools 10th birthday. The symbols that surround the large central oakleaf in the mural represent many of the different cultures that attend and work at the school.
before the mural pupils from year 7-9 studied their family's cultural roots and researched symbols and images for their design pupils copied their designs onto lino
pupils created designs pupils cutting lino carefully lino cutting the British weathere
Maud drew out the design Catherine working out where the linos would go stamping their work into the mural
pupils making their marks in clay the wet clay mural pupils visited the Guildhall University to glaze their tiles
British/Indian symbols the cross-cultural teapot muslim images