Our arts education projects take place both on curriculum and extra curricula, in the classroom and outside it. Our ambition on every project is to leave a legacy behind in the school so that aspects of our delivery can be repeated or used further again by the school, beyond the life cycle of the delivered project.
We prefer, where possible, to work alongside teachers in planning our projects so that anything we do supports and enriches the real day to day teaching that happens rather than creating a project that exists beyond it. We always aim for relevance and our experience in schools over the years means we are adept at creating projects that realistically challenge students and staff to stretch their potential and learn new and useful skills.
Since 2006 we have devised and delivered many cross curricular arts projects looking at the theme of transformation as two secondary schools merged to become one and as the school prepared to move to new premises.
We have delivered further dozens of arts and media projects for York High School, from discreet drama and narrative based projects with young people at risk of or returning from exclusions, through to sports themed performance and media based projects involving dozens of different children across several departments for World Cup 2010 and most notably for the London Olympics 2012.
Most of our education work begins with a narrative. We ask, what is the story we are trying to uncover here, or what’s the message we are trying to communicate?
Our background means we naturally tend to consider this first through theatre and scripted writing but these are not always the best forms to tackle each new enquiry so, over time, we have developed our portfolio of options to now using the mode of expression that very best suits the new enquiry, message or skills of the group. That could now be that poetry, prose, plays, film, podcasting, or soundscaping, through to visual arts.
Over the past 7 years we have worked with Allerton High school to devise and deliver several of their annual Yr 6 to 7 transition programme.
Working alongside core staff and with students we’ve explored the themes and feelings of transition to secondary school and so far captured that in book form, as a film and recently as a visual art and poetry exhibition.
Over the past few years we have delivered a variety of projects in Canon Lee, alongside running the creative outputs for two summer schools and a new film where we closely followed the reflections of a cohort of year 11’s through their final year.
We were also permitted to work with students to stencil art spray vast swathes of the interior school walls.
Take a look at a video of this production.
Working with our regular collaborator Jim Gilroy we create graffiti stencil art work for the school walls that inspires, challenges, questions and amuses the school community as they walk these arteries between lessons. Images are mainly generated in consultation and dialogue with school students and teachers and the students often (safely) work with us in the final spray painting process.
Since 2008 we have delivered a variety of whole school performance projects for this primary and special school federation.
Working here mainly in week long residencies, we have taken themes that are important to the school, stories or focused on subjects and, starting with nothing on the Monday morning, by Friday home time have created several whole school performance celebrations, using, drama, music, dance and art in which, on a few of these occasions each and every student in the school (over 200 pupils!) has taken some active part, regardless of experience, expectation or disability.
