PERFORMANCE PERFECTION
wonderful experience for the students atMelland High School and our co-located mainstream high school, CedarMount Academy.What was important was that we gave the students autonomy.Working with pupils at Key Stages 3 and 4, we brokeMacbeth down into 10 key scenes and then the students created their own scripts, using a combination of Shakespearian prose and modern language. Pupils made costumes, multimedia visuals, stunning sets and really eye-catching marketing materials for the productions, which are running for seven weeks. By giving the students this level of responsibility, their passion has been inspired from the start.
PERFORMANCE PERF ECTIO N Work with the wider community Workwith thewider community
We have developed fantastic relationships with the creative industries here inManchester.We have creative partnerships with a range of professionals who come in to work alongside us, coach us and generally inspire everyone. Young people seeing creative subjects actually being used in ‘grown up life’ is invaluable.We show them the work-related opportunities in the creative industries and it makes it more authentic. For example, we really value the longstanding relationships with our partner company ‘Clict Media’, our community partnerManchester City Football Club, our interactive music specialist partners ‘Omnimusic’ and our professional vocal coach Yvonne Shelton. In addition we partner with the Lowry Theatre on work placements. One of our students on a work placement at The Lowry spotted an ad for a production and auditioned of his own accord - and got the part! We were so proud. Another student realised his passion for photography through taking part in a roduction and sourced a photography course in is own time, in order to pursue it fur ther.
h p
Instil routineInstil routine
Every performance needs to be practised. Apart from improving the performance and helping the cast members remember their lines, this repetition gives everyone confidence. Going over the same lines, the same moves and the same offstage instructions builds their relationships with each other and these carry on off stage. Rehearsal normalises everything and reduces fear .
Involve parents and carers Involve parents and carers
As with all schools, some of our parents and carers are very involved but others are not able to be.We communicate in a number of ways and try to involve them at every level.We also ensure that children are able to take part in extra curricular performances, regardless of their personal
CedarMount schoo circumstances, for e
xample, our jointMelland and l orchestra ‘Rawchestra’,
recently took part in a high profile jazz festival. We used a specially adapted wheelchair friendly minibus to transport everyone to and from the event so that nobody missed out, and used our interactive music specialist creative practitioners and specially adapted instruments to make sure it was fully inclusive.
It was a fantastic opportunity. Communication to parents/carers was key to the success of the performance, as with all elements of school life.
Inst l trust Instil trusti
Nobody wants to mess up and nobody wants to be laughed at. From the outset, we reassure that we are not expecting perfection and that nobody will laugh (unless it’s a comedy, then hopefully everyone will).We always have warm up games, we call it ‘serious fun’ - they break down the boundaries and get rid of any self-consciousness. This makes our performers better at their craft but it also instils a team spirit and camaraderie - and friendship - that far outlasts the performance.
Use high quality resources Use high quality ty resources
We want our students to take pride in their performances and this is not possible with shoddy kit. Thanks to a superb media and technology department, we have incorporated some top spec multimedia into our performances and it really
helps the students. It shows them that they are taking part in something worthwhile as other parts of the school are involved, and it looks more like the ‘real thing’.
The pure joy we see in our students when they perform is very moving. Thanks to a passionate set of teachers and hugely proactive creative practitioners, we’ve now incorporated
performance into every element of our school. While “Creativity” is not a subject in itself, we do practice creativity in every subject and in every ke y stage at our school.
It is so rewarding to see the confidence derived from performances and then see that confidence translate into other facets of life. This is not limited to our Coronation Street actor, our football-playing ladyMacbeth, our entire Shakespeare team or the enthusiastic and talented Rawchestra. It includes the pupils
working alongside cameramen and vocal coaches who visit our school. It includes everyone who takes part in our annual talent show, which we run alongside fellow BFET school CedarMount Academy It includes everyone taking part in our annual BBC news report and those providing voiceovers for a local performance of The Gruffallo - and the students who created a film this week about nursing, as part of their Citizenship course.
.
These are just a few examples of performances created at our school over the last few months. Thanks to the specialist coaching, guidance, encouragement and a sense of pride and responsibility, the students here have embraced performing at all levels, be it in the school festivals and performances, public plays, national T V shows or classroom activities.
All this means that they are developing awareness of, and skills in; teamwork,
communication, confidence and humility. Things that will stand them in good stead for their future lives.Which, at the end of the day, is what education is all about.
28
www.education-today.co.uk.co.uk www Novembe r 2016 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50
