Saturday Beginner Pottery Wheel Course | 5 Weeks | Nov 21

5-Week Beginner Pottery Wheel Course

A relaxed, hands-on pottery wheel course designed for complete beginners and those who have tried the wheel before and want to strengthen their foundations.

Over six sessions, you’ll learn the fundamentals of wheel throwing, including centering clay, opening, pulling walls, throwing cylinders and bowls, trimming, making and attaching handles, refining your work and glazing. As your confidence grows, you’ll also have opportunities to experiment with your own ideas and develop greater independence at the wheel.

You don’t need to be artistic, naturally creative or “good with your hands.” Wheel throwing is a skill learned through practice, repetition and patience. Expect muddy hands, a few wonky pots and plenty of satisfying moments when the clay finally starts doing what you want it to do.

By the end of the course, you’ll have experienced the full pottery process and created your own collection of handmade, functional pottery.

Course Details

When: Saturday Mornings
Duration: 5 sessions / 12.5 hours
Skill Level: Beginner — no previous wheel experience required
Tuition Fee: $260 per course
Minimum Age: 13 years

What’s Included

• Pottery wheel tuition and demonstrations

• Use of studio pottery wheels

• Use of studio tools during class

• Glazing instruction

• Bisque and glaze firing for up to 5 pieces is included in your course fee. If you’d like to fire additional pieces, you’re welcome to do so. Extra pieces start from $10 each, which includes both bisque and glaze firing, plus studio glaze.

• Access to additional practice sessions by arrangement with your tutor

Extra Practice & Catch-Up Time

Learning the wheel is all about repetition, so you’re encouraged to practise between classes. The more time you spend at the wheel, the more natural the movements will begin to feel and the faster your confidence will grow.

If you need to miss one of your scheduled weekly classes, you can use an available practice session as a catch-up session, subject to studio and wheel availability. This gives you the opportunity to work on what you missed so you can return to your next scheduled class without feeling behind.

Please let your tutor know as early as possible if you’re going to miss a class so we can help arrange a suitable catch-up time.

Practice sessions are available by arrangement with your tutor:

Wednesdays | 10am–12pm
Saturdays | 1pm–3pm

Clay & Studio Materials

Clay is an additional cost and is not included in the course fee. A 10kg bag costs approximately $55, including shipping to Blenheim, although prices may vary depending on the clay type and supplier.

If you’re enrolling with a friend, you’re welcome to share a 10kg bag if you don’t expect to use a full bag each.

Only Pottery Embassy-approved clay and glazes may be used in the studio. Unsuitable materials can damage kilns, equipment and other students’ work.

What to Bring

Please wear comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting clay on, closed-toe shoes and tie back long hair. Loose jewellery should be removed before using the wheel. Pottery Embassy is not responsible for damage to clothing or personal belongings.

5L bucket with a secure lid: Your bucket is used to collect clay water, slip and clay waste during class. Clay must never be poured down studio sinks because it can settle and block plumbing.

You’ll take your bucket home after each session. Once the clay has settled, the clear water can be carefully disposed of over a suitable area of soil on your property, away from drains and waterways. The settled clay can be saved and reclaimed for future use. Your tutor can show you how the reclaiming process works.

40L Storage bin with a secure lid: This becomes your personal drying, storage and transport box. You’ll take your pottery home after each session and bring it back to your next class. Please purchase the item shown in the attached photo from Bunnings so we can stack them in the studio and maximise our storage space.

The container creates a controlled drying environment so your pottery dries slowly and evenly until it reaches the leather-hard stage, when it is firm enough to trim, carve, refine or attach handles.

Sturdy reusable carry bag: Bring a strong tote or carry bag capable of safely holding at least 10kg of clay if you prefer to bring your clay home

Apron, old towel and cleaning cloth: Pottery gets messy, and these will be useful throughout the course and during end-of-class cleaning.

Cleaning & Studio Care

Cleaning is an important part of pottery and of working in a shared studio. The final 15 minutes of each class are reserved for cleaning.

Students are expected to clean their wheel, wash and return tools, wipe down their workspace and leave the studio ready for the next group.

Studio Guidelines

We want everyone to feel comfortable, relaxed and confident in the studio, so there are just a few guidelines to help classes run smoothly.

Please try to arrive on time, as demonstrations and important information are often shared at the beginning of each class.

If you do need to miss a class, don’t worry — catch-up/practice time is included with your course. Where space is available, you can use this time to practise what you missed and help you stay on track with the rest of your class. Please let us know as early as possible so we can help arrange a suitable catch-up session.

Please clearly label all of your work so we know what belongs to you. Unfortunately, unlabelled pieces may not be fired and may eventually be recycled if we can’t identify the owner.

Phones are absolutely welcome! In fact, we encourage you to take photos or short videos of demonstrations and your own progress. Recording yourself throwing can be a really useful way to remember techniques from week to week and see how much you’re improving.

And if you share your pottery journey on social media, we’d love you to tag Pottery Embassy so we can see what you’re creating!

Children and additional guests cannot participate in classes unless they are enrolled or have been approved beforehand. Friends and family are very welcome to briefly pop in, say hello and see what you’ve been making, but pottery wheels, tools and tuition are reserved for enrolled students.

Health & Safety

Pottery is hands-on and sometimes a little messy! Our studio includes clay, tools, pottery wheels and high-temperature kilns, so we ask everyone to follow studio instructions and safety guidelines while they’re here.

Please wear closed-toe footwear and tie back long hair when using the pottery wheel. Shorter nails are also strongly recommended, as long nails can make throwing more difficult and can accidentally gouge or weaken your clay.

If you have an injury, allergy, medical condition or physical limitation that may affect your ability to participate safely, please have a quiet chat with your tutor before class. We’ll do our best to help you participate comfortably and safely.

The Nature of Pottery

One of the wonderful things about pottery is that every piece has its own journey and sometimes clay has ideas of its own!

Your pottery goes through several stages, including drying, bisque firing, glazing and final firing. Throughout this process, pieces can occasionally crack, warp, break or come out of the kiln with unexpected glaze results.

We take great care with everyone’s work, but unfortunately some parts of the ceramic process are outside our control. For this reason, refunds, credits or replacement pieces cannot be provided for pottery that doesn’t survive the drying or firing process.

If something does happen to one of your pieces, we’ll let you know where possible.

Most importantly, don’t put pressure on yourself to make perfect pottery. The goal is to learn, experiment, enjoy the process and gradually build your skills and confidence.

Think of pottery a little like learning to play the guitar.. after six lessons, you wouldn’t expect to perform a concert! Pottery is the same. Practice builds muscle memory, control and confidence, and every wonky pot teaches you something.

Finished Work & Collection

Pottery takes time, and your pieces need to move through the drying and firing process slowly.

Finished pottery generally takes approximately 6–8 weeks to be ready for collection. High humidity, kiln schedules or other studio conditions can occasionally extend this timeframe.

We’ll contact you when your pottery is ready to collect. If more than eight weeks have passed and you haven’t heard from us, please feel free to get in touch.

Once you've been notified, please collect your pottery within one month, as our studio storage space is limited.

Pieces that remain uncollected beyond this period may eventually be recycled or donated. Shipping may also be arranged where available for an additional cost.

Attendance, Catch-Ups, Cancellations & Transfers

Our courses are designed to build your skills progressively, with each week introducing or developing techniques from previous sessions. For this reason, we recommend attending all of your scheduled classes whenever possible.

We also understand that life happens!

If you know you’re going to miss a class, please let us know as early as possible. Catch-up/practice time is included with your course, and where studio and wheel space is available, you can use this time to work on what you missed so you don’t feel behind when you return to your regular class.

Catch-up sessions must be arranged with Pottery Embassy in advance and are subject to availability.

Missed classes are non-refundable, and we cannot guarantee a particular catch-up day or time. Late arrivals are very welcome to join the remainder of the class, although unfortunately we can’t extend the session to replace the time missed.

If Pottery Embassy needs to cancel or reschedule one of your classes, we will arrange an alternative for you.

Because our classes are small and your wheel or studio space is reserved specifically for you, approved refunds are subject to a 20% administration fee. Cancellations within 14 days of the course or workshop start date may not be eligible for a refund unless we’re able to fill your place.

Requests to transfer an entire course booking should ideally be made at least one month before your course begins and are subject to availability.

Private workshop bookings are non-refundable because the session is reserved specifically for your group.

Group Bookings

If you’re booking on behalf of a group, please make sure everyone attending is aware of the course information, studio guidelines and policies before arriving.

This includes understanding that pottery is a handmade process and that unexpected results, cracks, breakages and glaze variations can occasionally happen.

Photography & Social Media

We love capturing the creativity and atmosphere of our classes, and we may occasionally take photos or short videos during sessions for Pottery Embassy’s website, social media and marketing.

If you would prefer not to appear in photos or videos, that is absolutely fine. Please let us know before your class begins so we can make sure you’re not included in any content we capture or publish.

We ask that you let us know beforehand wherever possible, as once content has been published or shared it can be difficult to fully remove it from all platforms.

Students are also welcome to take photos and videos of their own pottery and progress during class. If you share your creations online, please tag Pottery Embassy — we love seeing and sharing your pottery journey!

Payment Plans

We want our courses to be as accessible as reasonably possible.

Weekly payment arrangements may be available. If Afterpay or Klarna isn’t suitable for you, please contact Pottery Embassy before your course begins and we can discuss whether another payment arrangement is available.

Can I Continue After the Course?

Absolutely and we hope you do!

Six weeks gives you a great introduction to pottery, but developing confidence at the wheel comes from practice and repetition.

After completing your beginner course, you can continue through another course, additional practice sessions or move into Pottery Embassy Open Studio Membership.

Membership is a great next step if you’re comfortable with the basics and would like pottery to become a regular part of your routine. It gives you more opportunities to practise independently, spend time at the wheel, experiment with your own ideas and gradually develop your own creative style.

Open Studio is independent practice rather than one-on-one tuition, so we recommend having a good understanding of the basic pottery techniques before joining.

Most importantly, come ready to get your hands muddy, have a go and enjoy learning something new.

By enrolling in a Pottery Embassy course or workshop, you acknowledge the nature of working with ceramics and agree to follow our Studio Guidelines & Policies.

Please also have a read through our FAQ section before your course, where you’ll find more information about what to bring, clay, firing, glazing, finished work and what to expect during your time at Pottery Embassy.