“DON’T be scared,” is the advice from John Skillington, who after 38 years as an art teacher, believes students need to be less creatively inhibited.
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Mr Skillington will retire from James Fallon High School at the end of the school year and said one of the major changes he had witnessed was the focus schools now had on assessments and testing.
“But art students are treated in a unique way,” he said.
“They are encouraged to experiment.
“These days with the testing regimes, students are sometimes a little afraid to experiment and get things wrong.”
Mr Skillington acknowledged students still do great things, a point which will be proven at an art exhibition showcasing HSC works which opened at Lavington Library last night.
He said he hoped because the exhibition was being held in the library, people would stumble upon it.
“People don’t realise what kids are capable of,” Mr Skillington said.
The exhibition includes more than 30 works from students from James Fallon High School, Murray High School, Albury High School, Xavier High School, Trinity Anglican College and Scots School Albury.
Mr Skillington opened the exhibition and was recognised alongside James Fallon High School art teacher Carol Moore, who is retiring after 28 years, and Murray High School art teacher Ann Janczuk, who is retiring after 30 years.
The exhibition is open until January 24.