‘As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.’ (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Y6 loved hearing sections of the poem read aloud to them, the power of the rhythm and language as well as the story. With plenty of prior experience of paint and pastel, they had enough skill to be able to create their own image of the scene. Unable to observe an actual albatross, they did look at pictures to get an idea of its shape and colouring, before (but not during) the production of their own art.
(For anyone interested, notes on the teaching approaches that helped children towards these outcomes are on the COMMENTARY PAGES of this blog.)