For weeks Evelyn Tomazos had been telling her students about the hidden treasures of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Most people just wander in the front door and set off to see the paintings and sculptures, but the Bankstown West Public School students knew to stop on the steps and “look up” at the sandstone statuary of rosettes, flowers and lions.

“Most of the children had never been to the art gallery and I felt they needed that exposure and that experience.

It’s a resource for life,” said art teacher Mrs Tomazos.

“It’s such a wonderful cultural, social and educational institution; we spent hours in there.” That one excursion late last year to “every room” in the gallery and to the nearby Botanic Gardens then fuelled Mrs Tomazos’s art classes for the next month.

The students toured The Arts of Islam exhibition and were amazed at the massive size of paintings, the lashings of gold and the intricate patterns and colours.

Back at school they created Islamic designs on gold and textured paper and studied the religion’s culture, food and music.

They made springtime friezes from photos taken of the Botanic Gardens blossoms and completed another photo realism assignment.

About half of the Year 5 and 6 children who went to the gallery were Muslim.

“These children need to feel there’s something very positive about their art and their background.

There is so much history in the [Islamic] designs,” Mrs Tomazos said.

Colour, pattern and shape are important elements in the spiritual artwork, with flower designs dating back thousands of years often signifying concepts such as longevity and eternity.

Before the excursion, Ms Tomazos attended a professional development workshop at the gallery about the exhibition and is also a “critical friend” on its teacher education program committee.

“What happened after the excursion is one of the girls said, ‘Miss, my mum and some friends, we’re going to the art gallery on Saturday’.

That was so wonderful,” Mrs Tomazos said.

Other parents followed suit and made their first family trip to the gallery.

Opening up the “A to Z of art” through weekly one-hour lessons for every child from Kindergarten to Year 6 underpins the work of Mrs Tomazos at the colourful Bankstown school.

“Art shouldn’t just be about a pencil and a piece of art paper.

We are introducing the children to the world of making art and appreciating art,” she said.

In the office of the principal, Owen Green, students show off their latest artworks, many of which are hung on his wall.

“It’s given all of the students an avenue for self-expression,” he said.

The former principal, Audrey McCallum, recruited Mrs Tomazos to use art to unite the school population of 220 students, where 98 per cent are from a non-English speaking background – predominantly Arabic and Vietnamese.

The art themes are integrated with other school studies and have included ancient Australia (with Albert Namatjira landscapes for inspiration), space, global warming and Chinese New Year.

There is a lunchtime art club for gifted and talented students and the hall has been transformed into a gallery for students, parents and community members.

“I am blown away by these kids and the variety of their art,” Mrs Tomazos said.

“I say to them, ‘Your artwork has to be like your own thumbprint I don’t want carbon copies; I want your own artwork’.” The Art Gallery of New South Wales has a number of programs and activities available for teachers and students (from Kindergarten to Year 12).

For details, go to www.artgallerynsw.gov.au/ed