Children & the Arts START Programme at Nottingham Playhouse

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1 Children & the Arts START Programme at Nottingham Playhouse Case Study Introduction The Project Aims Curriculum Links Outcomes Feedback from the artists leading the workshops Feedback from schools Introduction Nottingham Playhouse has worked with the Prince s Foundation for Children and the Arts since 1998, delivering the START programme a programme designed to build relationships between the Playhouse and local schools, and to enable children for deprived parts of Nottingham to visit the theatre. Each year, nine classes from two schools attend two performances at the Playhouse and took part in associated workshops. The Project All children in KS2 at Our Lady & St Edward s Catholic Primary School and Bonington Junior School were to attend a performance of Aladdin on the main stage at Nottingham Playhouse, and a performance of Can You Whistle Johanna? performed by Roundabout. Both stories presented a range of opportunities for follow-up work in school. Can You Whistle Johanna? was supported by teachers resources. Additionally, each child in KS2 was to take part in one half day drama and two half-day visual arts workshops, to create an art exhibition based around the themes of Aladdin; and one post show workshop to explore further the themes of Can You Whistle, Johanna? The chosen elements aimed to present both teachers and pupils with tools to extend learning and creativity through theatre and the visual arts. Aims The programme aimed to: develop pupils confidence, motivation, engagement in learning, and selfexpression through language, literacy and art; and skills in collaborative working and communication. offer teachers opportunities to develop their understanding of drama and visual arts processes, and ways in which these can be used to deliver parts of the creative curriculum, including Literacy and Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning. It will also provide schools with models that can be developed for the government s new Find Your Talent programme.

2 develop links between the Playhouse and the participating schools, which will provide a sustainable model of partnership. Curriculum Links The programme offered curriculum links to: Art & Design: exploring and developing ideas; investigating and making art, craft and design; evaluating and developing work; knowledge and understanding. Design & Technology: Developing, planning and communicating ideas; working with tools, equipment, materials and components to make products. Citizenship: Developing confidence and responsibility, and making the most of their abilities. Outcomes All the children in Key Stage 2 at Our Lady & St Edward s Catholic Primary School and Bonington Junior School, Nottingham, took part in the project. Performances The children saw performances of two theatre productions, one in school and one on the main stage at Nottingham Playhouse. Responses to both were excellent, with children being able to enjoy two very different performance styles and approaches, one a play and the other a pantomime. Drama Workshop 1 After the performance of Can You Whistle, Johanna? in school, the children took part in a drama workshop to explore the themes of the play friendship, learning new skills, empathy, the loss of a friend a little further, prior to follow-up work in school. The children were appreciative and enthusiastic, and showed knowledge and understanding of the content. The teachers were able to download the education resources (enclosed here) from our website, for suggestions for classroom work. Drama Workshop 2 Prior to their visit to Nottingham Playhouse to see the pantomime, Aladdin, the children took part in a drama workshop looking at the themes and the story. They imagined they were Aladdin s Genie, and thought up their own magic commands. The teachers observing the workshops had the opportunity to learn new games and drama exercises from the professional artists who led them. Visual Arts Workshops The children then took part in two visual arts workshops, during which they each made a Christmas tree decoration and wrote their magic commands on it. Next they designed and carefully embroidered felt squares for a magic carpet, with their own message or picture. The felt squares were sewn together, to make a wonderful, colourful carpet for exhibition at the Playhouse. Children also decorated two large genies lamps by wrapping felt and wool around them, and hung their magic commands from the decorated paper smoke.

3 Learning Outcomes The drama and visual arts work developed the children s confidence both individually and in groups. It encouraged self-expression in speaking and visual art, and demanded concentration for long periods. Children learned to work together as a team, and to respect each others work. Watching the plays gave them the opportunity to see a story book brought to life, to develop an understanding of the themes of two different productions, to understand the different structures of a play and a pantomime, and to develop their critical faculty. Numbers Altogether, 310 children took part in the programme, taking part in four workshops and seeing two performances. The children from Bonington Junior School had not attended before; some of the children from St Edward s Primary School had visited the Playhouse, but had not taken part in workshop programmes. Ongoing Relationship Both schools enjoyed and valued the project, and want to continue the working relationship they developed with us. Through the work, a bond of trust between the schools and the theatre was created, which is vital for effective partnership work. Both schools are eager to take part in the 2009/2010 Start Programme if we are successful in our bid for funding for it. Future Opportunities We had designed the model for the current programme before offering it to the schools. If we are able to take part in the Start Programme, we will consult the schools before firming up the details, to see if we can improve on the model and to make sure that no opportunities are missed. Feedback from the artists leading the workshops What especially interested you? It was interesting to work with two different schools in two different areas, to produce one large piece of work. We decided on a sewing project; we were interested to see whether this might be perceived as uncool, and whether pupils might need encouragement to take part. In the event all the children were really enthusiastic. What did you like about it: I liked working with two different schools in two different areas. I liked the freedom we had in designing our installation and delivering the workshops in our own way.

4 What challenged you? I thought it would be a challenge to take a half-complete piece of work into a new school and get them to complete it, to enjoy doing it as much as the previous school, and to feel as much ownership over it. This was easily done, however, and it made the children more enthusiastic knowing another school had worked on it. It was a challenge teaching the same activity in a year 3 class as a year 6 class, but I enjoyed it! What surprised you? It surprised me how enthusiastic each child was to be making something individual that would form part of a larger artwork, and that their work would be hung in a public place. They completely understood they could not take their pieces home, and each was excited about contributing to something bigger. The ability of all the children surprised me. By the end each child had produced high quality work, even if they struggled to grasp the new technique at the beginning of the session. It was good to see that some children the teachers pointed out as possibly being difficult were not I think this surprised some of the teachers too. Did you learn anything from the schools? Leading from the last point, I increased my ability to treat the class as a room full of individuals instead of a homogenous group. We worked with a severely autistic child and a child with Downs Syndrome in a class of more able children, and from watching the teacher during the sessions, I learnt how to make what I teach and the processes I describe more accessible for them to understand, whilst still talking to the class as a whole. What do you think they learned from you? The teachers had the opportunity to learn skills, ideas and approaches from us, in both drama and visual arts. I think we promoted a very calm atmosphere and encouraged learning and developing important skills in a creative way. How were the children? Generally well behaved and excitable! Completely open and excited about the project. All produced great work. Comments to the artists from teachers They spoke a lot about the importance of the benefits of the processes and techniques our workshop developed e.g. hand-eye coordination and working with different materials. All teachers at Bonington said they wished workshops like this happened more often and how lucky the pupils were to be able to work with the Playhouse.

5 Teachers in both schools commented on the concentration, determination and creativity the children showed during the workshops. Feedback from schools Did you and the children enjoy the work? Yes, very much. What did you and the children especially like about the work? The way in which it was organised. The creative activities, which the children had time to finish. The adults involved with the work who supported the children. Was there anything that particularly challenged you? Just the timetable due to a very busy time of year. Was there anything that surprised you? The enthusiasm from the children and how they really wanted to achieve a high standard of work. All children achieved good results. With hindsight, is there anything you would have changed? No. Do you think you learned anything from the artists? It reinforced knowledge. Allowed us time within a busy curriculum to focus on specific learning. Is there anything we could improve for future partnerships? No, it was a pleasure to be involved. Thank you.