Go Back and Pick: Material, Memory and Meaning in Primary Art Assessment

Join creative practitioner Esther Adesigbin at October Gallery for a hands-on primary art CPD exploring El Anatsui: Go Back and Pick. This practical session brings together teachers, artists and educators to consider how we praise, assess and meaningfully evaluate children’s artwork in ways that promote voice, identity and creative agency.

Using simple collage and assembly, we will work with the idea of “going back and picking” - gathering significant moments from our own past (creative or personal) and re-arranging them into new forms. This process becomes a starting point for thinking about how children’s artworks carry memory, transformation and imagination, and how assessment can reflect these deeper layers rather than surface-level outcomes.

Together we will examine our current approaches to primary art evaluation, the expectations placed on pupils and teachers, and the gaps that often appear between intention and practice. The session will create a supportive space for shared pedagogy, discussion, and collective thinking on how we can develop inclusive, culturally relevant and critically engaged approaches to assessment in the classroom.

We will begin with collective making and simple refreshments. @with_estheradesigbin will also share insights from 10 years of assessing art in a Camden primary school, looking at how assessment can carry meaningful weight for teachers, pupils and parents alike. Together, we will consider how we can support one another, reflect as a community, and shape practical questions that help us strengthen art assessment in real classroom settings.

The gallery space is fully accessible - we hope to see you there 👋🏽.