Lin, Oxfordshire Hospital School Teacher has written this touching post for the blog – thank you Lin.
I have been most fortunate to have been at the Highfield Unit for part of the Ashmolean 
project involving the Manet painting.
Art has not featured much in my education and I do not regard myself as artistic in any way; however, from week one of the project I have been totally absorbed. The project has so many aspects in addition to Art: history, science, music, drama, technology, photography and crafts. It links all these different areas in interesting and unexpected ways.
Each session is meticulously planned and richly resourced. The presenters, Nicola and Catriona, are enthusiastic and make every effort to engage the attention of the young people present. I have observed the attitudes of young people changing from non-involvement to participation, thanks largely to the gentle and sensitive coaxing and encouragement of the two presenters. The variety of activities provides opportunities for young people to feel comfortable and increasingly confident about their skills and abilities in an extremely supportive environment.
Another benefit of this project is the opportunity it provides for teaching staff at the unit to interact with the young people in an alternative and more informal way. Although teachers are not delivering these sessions themselves, they are very much involved, not only in helping to set up each session and ensuring that they run smoothly, but in using their knowledge about individual learners to integrate them into each session. It is wonderful to see staff sitting side by side with the young people, immersing themselves in the session, working on their own ‘masterpieces’. This staff involvement encourages the more reluctant youngsters in the group to start their own pieces of art.
Not all outcomes from this project will be measurable; however, I am convinced that all who participate will be enriched in some way. I know that I, someone who had little art background, have benefited enormously – educationally and at a deeper level in appreciating something which makes us human.