Culture & Confidence at City College (CC@CC) is a new initiative this academic year. At City College, we aim to support our students’ all-round education beyond their chosen courses, and our CC@CC programme is a bespoke series of opportunities that prepare students for life in the wider world beyond education.

For this week’s session, we visited the British Ceramics Biennial, and had a wonderful tour of the exciting exhibits. Some of the things that the students got to see included a mosaic-covered car celebrating Stoke’s lost nightclubs, an interesting musical installation using ceramic instruments, and a powerful piece about the beaching of whales because of the effects of sonar, as well as exploring smaller, more traditional pieces from a range of local and national artists, including students from Staffordshire University. 

Our students also had the chance to get their hands dirty! Using clay from the construction site of Old Oak Common, the new HS2 railway station in west London, they made their very own heritage-inspired tiles, to which they added wildflower seeds. Each clay tile will remain un-fired and will be laid together at Staffordshire University, where they will provide a rich bed for wildflowers to grow on, creating an urban meadow in the city, and creating something beautiful out of disregarded materials and overlooked elements of nature.