Works on display in the Roden Centre for Creative Learning

The Courtyard of a School in Pineham

We decided to make our own version of the painting by taking inspiration from our school. Our final piece has a similar structure to de Hooch’s painting, but includes collaged photographs of our school, two of our pupils, and our yellow school wellies!

Traditional Clothing

We thought that the women’s clothes were important because clothing can tell us a lot about who someone is and where they come from. We decided to make female figures dressed in traditional clothing worn by people from our communities.

The Houses of Delft

The children researched historic buildings in Delft and noticed that there were many similarities with our school, such as the brickwork, windows and chimneys. They took photographs of our school and used the images to collage Delft-inspired houses. 

Dutch Canal Houses

We discovered that de Hooch’s painting was made at a similar time to some of the canal houses in Amsterdam. We created a sky and canal using old magazines, printed the canal houses and added wavy reflections in the water. 

Over the Bridge

We learnt that the Isle of Sheppey was invaded by the Dutch in the 1660s. We were excited to find a link between our island and the painting. After lots of historical research, we made a cardboard town inspired by both Dutch houses and our local buildings.

Celebrating Workers 

After noticing the broom, we thought that the woman must have been doing housework. We decided to celebrate the people who do work at our school by making sculptures of them – including our site manager changing a lightbulb and our cleaner mopping the floor.  

Order and Chaos

We thought that the painting looks orderly on one side, and chaotic on the other. We decided to make our own version of the picture, but cut into 9 puzzle pieces. Can you put the muddled, chaotic pieces back into order? 

17th-century Hats

One child asked, 'Why are they all wearing hats?', so we researched hats from the 1600s and learnt new words like ‘brim’, ‘crown’, ‘bonnet’ and ‘embellishment’. We made and decorated our hats to represent different parts of the painting. 

Is that a Pie? 

We thought that the woman was holding a pie. We looked at Delft on Google Street View and noticed lots of bakeries – which only added to our theory! We researched different pie recipes and worked with a local chef to bake our own apple pie.

Speculaas Cookies

We thought that the woman might be holding a basket of biscuits. A local Dutch teacher visited the school and showed us how to make Dutch 'Speculaas' (spiced) cookies and paper baskets to put them in. We also dressed up like the people in the painting for the day!

Tessellating Bricks

We asked lots of questions about the brick floor. We learnt about tessellation and different patterns like ‘herringbone’ and ‘basket weave’. We tried making these patterns using cardboard tiles, before visiting a local brick factory, York HandMade, to explore the traditional brick-making process.  

Courtyard Compositions 

We worked together to compose two pieces inspired by 'The Courtyard of a House in Delft'. One of our pieces imagines hidden stories that can be told through the picture. The other piece contrasts the light and dark parts of the painting. We worked with musicians from the Musicians’ Company to bring our compositions to life.   

Natural Blooms

Our students in Year 5 and Reception worked together on this project. Year 5 decided to make their own brooms from natural materials such as twigs, leaves and twine. Children in Reception then dipped the brooms in paint and used them for mark-making. 

Imagining Delft

After looking at the painting in detail, Year 4 decided to write poems about it. They then worked with a local musician to write music notation to accompany their poems, and performed them to the whole school.   

A Journey Through Delft

Our learners investigated the painting in a range of multi-sensory ways. We made prints in clay, explored opening and closing doors, played with light and dark, and projected the painting onto the floor. We enjoyed experiencing a piece of historical art at our own pace.  

Tiles, Tiles, Tiles!

We were fascinated by the brick floor, so we decided to look at 2D shapes and repeating patterns. We made tiles using paper and plasticine, before baking biscuit tiles. After decorating all our tiles, we created adverts to sell them! 

Building Our School

We thought about how the house in the painting may have been designed and built. The builders of our brand-new school visited to teach us about bricks. We then made 2D houses and wrote letters to the builders to thank them for building our school. 

Forget-Me-Not

We noticed that there are no men in the painting, so we thought that the woman’s husband may have died in a war. We made her a wall with the message ‘there is life after death’ and planted a garden of forget-me-nots and other flowers to symbolise life beyond the archway. 

What's Behind the Door?

Our art club wondered where the different doorways in the painting might lead. We visited local buildings and compared their doors to those in the painting. Then, we created our own doors, thinking carefully about what they looked like and what could be behind them. 

Uplifting Bricks

We were inspired by the detailed brickwork and stonework in the painting. We noticed that one stone at the bottom of the archway has an inscription on it, so we decided to create our own inscriptions to cheer up a dreary day in Delft. 

Fruit and Vegetable Quilt

We wondered if there was a garden behind the gate. We researched the different types of fruits and vegetables that were grown in 17th-century Dutch gardens and drew them on cloth. Then, we then put all of our designs together to make a collaborative quilt.