Littledean Primary School is one of five Gloucestershire schools who have teamed up with professional artists and hospital staff to help develop designs for art works in six medical departments as part of the new Gloucestershire Royal Hospital’s GRASP project.

As well a range of artworks ranging from glass light boxes to mobiles, GRASP (Gloucestershire Royal Hospital’s Schools Residency Programme) also aims to enable local children to learn more about their local hospital, and hospital staff to gain a different insight into children’s thoughts and impressions outside the consulting room.

With a shared interest in sound, phonetics, hearing and communication, both from literacy and medical angles, Littledean is working with Tewkesbury based installation artist Annabelle Craven Jones to create artworks for the corridors of the Audiology and Ear Nose and Throat departments of the new hospital.

The school has already explored creative ways of educating children about listening and communicating, ranging from speech therapists working with staff to drummers in school.

“The necessity of targeting literacy and communication development often means we don’t have the time or resources to do this kind of project” comments head teacher Linda Hay. “Simply having an artist in school is beneficial, as the children hear how different people communicate and the use of different language specific to different areas of work.”

GRASP has been funded through the Pied Piper Appeal as part of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital’s NHS Trust arts programme, Leading the Way, and will enable four artists to be ‘in residence’ in five local schools until May, producing permanent artworks which will be installed in the new hospital for summer 2004 with the aim of calming, entertaining, and in some cases educating children and their families in waiting and consulting areas in the new hospital.