We are pleased to have been be part of the Lead Creative School for 2 years (2017-2018; 2018-2019). The Lead Creative Schools’ Scheme gives schools the opportunity to develop the creative skills and resources to ensure all children have a range of imaginative opportunities and experiences. It has been an amazing opportunity for our school and developed creative skills in both our pupils and teachers.
Year 1 of the Lead Creative School Project – 2017-2018
The project aims to engage, excite and stimulate our children to write creatively! In order to do this, we are looking to employ a creative practitioner for a period of time to focus on using storytelling and drama to bring a story to life that will give the children a spark for creative writing.
We are very excited about this project!
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Lead Creative Schools Brief Black Lane Primary
Our first year of the project has been amazing! The children in Cadair Idris decided to employ Creative Practitioners Helen and Rick who brought together the art of storytelling and music to bring stories to life.
The children explored a range of different stories from different cultures and countries and used their imagination to travel around the world, encountering lots of different experiences. They used drama, storytelling and music to become immersed in the stories, sparking their imagination. The children used a wide range of instruments such as drums, xylophones and tambourines to explore the use of rhythm and patterns in storytelling. They then used the story settings to create their very own slate xylophones, which can now be found in our outdoor area.
The children investigated different types of pop up books to motivate and engage the reader and then used the hands on experiences of the project to finally plan and write their own stories. They then held a celebration afternoon, sharing their stories with the whole school and parents.
What an amazing experience, with fantastic results. Thank you Helen and Rick!
Year 2 of the Lead Creative Schools Project – 2018-2019
After a very successful 1st year we are now looking forward to our 2nd year and continuing the love of storytelling across the school.
We now have an advert for Creative Practitioners to join our project and take it forward into our 2nd year:
Lead Creative Schools Brief 2nd Year Welsh Lead Creative School Brief 2nd Year
Our 2nd year of the project has been another amazing year for our pupils and staff. The pupils in Moel Siabod decided to employ Creative Practitioner Jo Munton, who is a professional puppeteer, poet and performer. She worked with the children to explore their outdoor environment and spark imagination for story writing. She developed storytelling skills through a wide range of hands on, practical activities.
The children went on walks around the school using features of the outdoor area to stimulate imagination for stories; where simple fences became dungeons, trees became an enchanted forest; benches became a snow castle; the sand pit became a desert island; willow branches became a witches cauldron. The children invented their own characters and worked together collaboratively to plan and create their own stories. We were even lucky enough to experience a real snow day! We built snow castles; bridges and an enchanted snow frog. The children went on a trip to a local area to explore a real castle and a real tunnel; exploring emotions and exploring ideas for stories. Amy Douglas (Storyteller) told us a story by the canal and tunnel. The children played a wide range of games to develop self esteem and confidence with speaking and listening.
The children made papier mache puppets of their characters and used drama to act out the stories using the features of the school ground. The children then recorded their stories on the Ipads and invited parents in to come and view their amazing work. The children loved telling stories through puppets and drama – without the pressure of writing. Please take a look at our story – all the children’s own ideas!!
The children thoroughly enjoyed this project and developed confidence with telling stories through speaking and listening skills.