New Hall students take top places in CISC Christmas Card Competition
The Art Department at New Hall School, a boarding and day school in Chelmsford, is celebrating the news that two of its students have been selected amongst the top 3 Senior entries of the Catholic Independent Schools Conference (CISC) Christmas Card Competition.
The Year 12 students, Jovial Man and Chloe Chan, joined New Hall from Hong Kong in September, with no formal Art qualifications. Jovial’s entry, the winning Senior design, was the second oil painting she had ever completed, whilst Chloe’s Highly Commended Senior entry was her first attempt at oil painting.
Upon release of the results, the CISC website stated: “The contradiction of the curriculum to the detriment of art & design is clearly not an issue in CISC schools”¹ and judges commented that they were “not prepared for the standard of the Senior entries which were breathtaking… each conveying a sense of the uniqueness of our planet”².
Gareth Hughes, New Hall’s Head of Art, said: “We are delighted with the successes registered in this prestigious competition by Jovial and Chloe. This achievement is extra special as both students have been at New Hall from only September and, as is the case with many of our overseas Sixth Form artists, have not studied Art formally before as an academic qualification. Both girls tackled the images in the tricky medium of oil painting on canvas which was a new experience for both of them. Our two successful students hold eventual aspirations in Architecture and Animation respectively.”