“I can’t do art!” “I’m not an artist!” “I wouldn’t know where to start creating something like that.” “I can’t draw!”
These are just some of the things we’ve heard staff say in our schools. And yet, every single day, we ask our students to step up to challenges they think they can’t do. We expect them to show resilience, determination and courage as they take risks in their learning. So if it’s good enough for our students—it’s good enough for us too!
That’s where our staff crew day began. We set out to design an experience that would take us out of our comfort zones, challenge us to practise the same character traits we ask of our children, and strengthen our bonds as a crew. At the same time, we wanted to celebrate the incredible artists within our staff and give everyone the chance to explore new skills they might not usually find time for.
Our chosen mountain to climb? Creating an awe-inspiring piece of art—a stunning sea turtle.
We began our climb by grappling with the first layer: a colour wash for the background. This simple step soon became a crash course in colour mixing, as we experimented with blending shades and tones we hadn’t dared to try before.
Next came the challenge of thinking like artists—considering where the light would hit the turtle’s shell and body. Unsurprisingly, this stage was peppered with the familiar cries of “Mine doesn’t look right!” and “I’ve done that wrong!”
But each wobble was calmly and confidently met with the same phrase from Joyce, our teacher for the day:
“There is no such thing as wrong in art—if you’re not happy, it’s just not finished yet.”
That simple shift in perspective was powerful. It reframed mistakes as opportunities, unlocked resilience we didn’t realise we had, and encouraged us to keep experimenting rather than giving up.
Just as we were beginning to find our flow, Joyce challenged us to look at the world a little differently. What could we spot in our environment that might be used for printing onto our background? Suddenly, everyday objects became tools for creativity—textures, shapes and patterns we might never have noticed before took on a whole new purpose.
With this fresh perspective, we continued to develop our colour mixing, layering shades and experimenting with the objects we had discovered. Slowly but surely, depth and richness began to build across our turtle’s ocean habitat.
As confidence grew, so did the sound of crew. Supportive critique of each other’s work, genuine praise for moments of beauty, and the laughter that comes from spending time together filled the room. What began with uncertainty was evolving into a shared sense of pride and possibility.
When planning the day, our aim was clear: to challenge ourselves to step out of our comfort zones, try something new, and develop an art skill—safe in the knowledge that we’d be supported by an already pretty incredible Norton Crew. The buzz of laughter and chatter that filled the room was truly beautiful, but we didn’t want our day to be remembered as “just a lovely activity.”
We ended the morning by pausing to reflect. What had we learned personally today? What could we take with us back into the classroom? The answers were as varied as the artwork on our canvases: the importance of resilience, the power of encouragement, the courage to experiment, and the reminder that “not finished yet” is very different from “wrong.”
Our sea turtle may have been the mountain we set out to climb, but the real masterpiece was found in the way we came together as crew—supporting, challenging and celebrating each other every step of the way.
And in the words of our staff:
- “All our children deserve the same feeling we had today of being so immersed time stands still.”
- “I learnt that I can focus and create more than I thought I could—the children can too.”
- “It made me think about how we all had the same equipment and initial colours yet we all ended up with totally different final products—creativity and exploration is key.”
- “Really helped me reflect on how we break things down for children to allow them to succeed but still be creative.”
- “I really enjoyed it—it was totally out of my comfort zone but I actually found it really therapeutic and fun.”
- “It was a lovely way to decompress. Calming experience and something I wouldn’t normally do. It pushed me out of my comfort zone in a great way.”
- “Great to hear staff laughing together.”
- “Nice to be able to sit with friends and colleagues and create something to be proud of in a relaxed environment.”
These reflections capture exactly what we hoped our staff crew day would achieve. It wasn’t just about painting a turtle—it was about rediscovering the joy of learning, stepping bravely into the unknown, and remembering what it feels like to be stretched, supported and celebrated. If we can carry even a fraction of that mindset back into our classrooms, our children will continue to benefit from teachers who know firsthand the power of resilience, creativity and crew.
