I’m not usually one to blog but recently I have received so many calls from schools about our programmes for next year that I thought I would post a little update.

We are currently in the final stages of confirming our schedule for the next academic year and we have some very exciting projects already lined up. I hope to be sending out all of the information in the next few weeks.

If you do have any questions you would like to ask in the meantime please call me in the office on: 0121 464 5712.

Gav

Leaving such an inspiring company whose work I have seen light a flame in so many children, young people and teachers has not been an easy decision and I will leave behind people whom I both respect enormously and consider my close friends.

I will look back on my many years with The Play House with great affection… Where else would you find yourself meeting with high profile police officers to discuss violent extremism one minute and introducing three and four year olds to a naughty teddy the next… and get paid for it!

However the great rewards of working for The Play House have only been possible as a result of our long and sustained relationships with schools, the highly skilled and committed practitioners who have worked with us, the thousands of children, young people and teachers who have (and continue) to participate in our work and the countless associates and advocates who have supported us. I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to all of these people and leave by wishing the company another 25 years of success…

From a modest start in Balsall Heath at St Paul’s Community Trust, Language Alive! was born. Steve Ball was appointed as a clown to promote language development across 12 schools. Over the next few years the work expanded to include Northfield, Saltley, Nechells and Ladywood with a range of tours and site-specific projects, and the team grew with Local Education Authority-funded teacher/actors.

The 90s gave rise to sister company Catalyst to tap into huge demand for health work. Fortunate timing, because the withdrawal of LEA funding stripped Language Alive! of most of its staff, and saw the company leave St Paul’s, struggling to survive.

But survive it did, and thanks to an Arts Council Lottery Award moved to its present premises above Percy Shurmer Primary School in Highgate in 2000. The Play House was born. The company went from strength to strength, being funded to create a virtual ‘Healthy Living Centre’, delivering a range of innovative and developmental projects through Creative Partnerships, and moving out of the classroom with Extended Schools projects.

But all these initiatives have come to an end. Looking back it says a lot about the cyclical nature of the world we work in. Once again funding is being withdrawn and The Play House, like many other charities across the country, is once again struggling.

But should we rely on funding? What is the value of the arts? Here’s a thought-provoking article from David Edgar about the subject. Make up your own minds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jan/05/david-edgar-why-fund-the-arts?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038

You can read an obituary from her daughter Marianne Heathcote Woodbridge here. This includes details of Dorothy Heathcote’s Life Celebration. For those interested in attending please RSVP by email or post to mariannekevin@yahoo.co.uk

For those who knew her work and want to see it again and for those who never got to experience it first hand, have a look at Three Looms Waiting – BBC TV’s 1971 Omnibus profile of her work:

‘No Kidding’ is a fun and slapstick participatory programme designed to improve the quality of children’s relationships with each other, and it’s one of our Language Alive! theatre-in-education tours for 2011-2012. Designed for 5-7 year olds it’s one of our most requested programmes, and an excerpt is presented free at ArtsFest, performed by Malcolm Jennings and Simon Turner.

‘No Kidding’ explores notions of friendship, co-operation and bullying through the eyes of a pair of ‘overgrown children’, Bally and Billy. In the best traditions of clowning, Bally and Billy struggle to maintain their friendship at work and play. Amidst all the fun there is a serious lesson to be learnt when Billy downs tools and the pupils must take the lead in resolving the conflict between the two larger-thanlife characters. Will the pupils be able to help Bally see the error of her ways and get her to apologise to Billy? Will the two make friends and get to perform their big finale?

Visit its website to find out more…

For 3 years I supported two lovely primary schools, Erdington Hall and Nonsuch Primary to work with artists and develop their creative curriculum. Teachers and children worked with outdoor visual artists, digital media artists, Mantle of the Expert practitioners, dancers, gardeners and a whole host of other creative practitioners. I hope the schools continue to work creatively to engage their children and I have found it fascinating to document the work. So a big thank you to the staff and children at both schools for making feel so welcome and for making me a much better project manager. Won’t miss the CP data base though!

I’ve also been reflecting on what I’ve learnt working on the projects that I delivered as a drama practitioner and storyteller and it’s hard to boil it down in a blog but here goes:

• Children are more confident as writers, speakers and thinkers if they feel a sense of ownership over a story and feel like they have participated in its making.

• Using a mixture of process led drama and performance techniques supports different kinds of learners.

• Stories are made to be told!

• A child’s imagination is often richer than the pictures in a book.

• Never expect children to respond to a story in the same way.

• Unlocking the imagination is the problem not a lack of imagination.

• Stepping into a story should mean just that – we go in together and grown ups need to be in role too!

I’ve worked in partnership with wonderful teachers across Birmingham and Coventry to use drama and story to develop children’s literacy, speaking and listening, imagination, writing, confidence and play. So thanks to Whitmore Park, Stanton Bridge, St John Vianney and All Souls primary schools in Coventry and to Hillstone, Skilts, Sundridge, St James R.C, Clifton, Anderton Park, Lillina de Lissa Nursery, Washwood Heath Day Care and Kingsthorne for having me.

We’ve just released next year’s programmes which are available to book. Apologies for the delay – funding, as you’d appreciate, has been a bit scarce, but we’ve been able to raise enough to keep school contributions the same as last year.

We’ve also been able to attract funding for some exciting new work. The Arts Council has supported two linked tours this year – Peep! and Mosaic (click to find out more information). Both will be distinct programmes, but both will explore ways of creating theatre that is more accessible to a wider range of children. Peep! is available to Nursery, Reception and Year 1, and Mosaic for Years 2 & 3.

Another exciting project will be taking place at the evocative Moseley Road Baths. Pool of Memories will use the stories collected from the local community to explore the history of this fascinating building, and is part of a wider Heritage Lottery-funded project being run by the Friends of Moseley  Road Baths – you can find out about that project at www.poolofmemories.co.uk.

Paper Chase is a project that might seem familiar to some schools, but we’ve submitted a bid to the Clore Poetry and Literature Awards to build on previous work to make best use of enhanced digital audio technology and interactive resources. The aim is to offer greater support for the teaching of literacy, andprovide children with a dramatic impetus to create their own original poetry.

Some of our most popular tours are also making a return, such as our Key Stage 1 bullying and relationships programme No Kidding, and our Early Years numeracy piece Little Red Hen. There’s a strong selection of historical work too, with 7-11 year olds taken back to Tudor Times to explore the story of Anne Boleyn and Where there’s smoke… transporting them to the Great Fire of London. For Years 5 & 6 Saving Hope will explore the human stories around the outbreak of the plague.

You can find out more about all these programme by clicking the links above, or by downloading the brochure from the Language Alive! page, where you can also find the booking forms. Please get in touch if you’d like any more information.

Language Alive! is effective because the children are involved and this leads to great follow up work. It is never about a one off performance.

Teachers have very different personalities and over the years there have been teachers who do not want to be involved in anything brought in from outside the school. In fact they never appear to emerge from their classrooms !!!!

However, Language Alive! is different. One year a previous Head Teacher was going to stop Language Alive! due to the cost. The teachers were very upset and every single teacher complained that it was a tremendous experience, and because of this he changed his mind.

Every time Language Alive! has been in school  teachers praise all aspects of the programme and how it has helped the children in their class. The children look forward to it, knowing that every year Language Alive! will come into school. These are remarks children have made about Language Alive! programmes.

” I thought I was really there”

” It made me think”

“I learnt without it being boring.”

” You understand stuff better”

Celia Reeves

Every Child Matters Manager/Teacher

Anderton Park Primary School.

No Kidding, photographed at Anderton Park Primary School

The people who work here or with us are just brill; it’s like someone has just rounded up a group of lovely people, branded them with the “PH” poker and involves you in everything that happens.

I came along 5 months ago and was given an interview for Apprentice Administrator; i thought “Ok, got my happy face on, let’s go for it!”. To my surprise I was interviewed by 3 staff members…wow…where is that cloning machine when you need it?

When we got talking, it didn’t feel any more than a friendly chat, it just felt comfortable and flowing. It’s a shame all interviews aren’t like this…with tea to boot! (I’ll talk more about this later).

I GOT THE POSITION! Happydays.com.

Went to my first Play House meeting and my god was I baffled; everyone was talking about funding, plays and what people are doing. Even though I didn’t have a clue, I listened and learned a lot, and now I still have no idea! (I’m joking).

I work in the office all my time there but if there is a programme going out, I do get the humble chance of seeing them and it’s a fantastic opportunity.

The first play I saw was a programme called On The Edge, talking all about extremism, how to recognise it, query it and how to deal with it. It was great, the Teacher/Actors were in-depth and very believable and the energy that was given off and received for both the audience (children) and the actors was….well you need to be there to know what I mean. There were a lot of times in the play where I wanted to leap up and go “Oi! You shouldn’t be doing that, that is not nice!” (Yes I’m 20 years old but I’m a kid at heart). What surprised me the most was the fact that the children in year 5 knew words like extremism, terrorism, etc. At that age I was learning words like difficulty, octagon…so the education nowadays has far exceeded when I was a nipper and I’m thrilled to know that children are becoming more intelligent  and how fast they grow.

Another programme i saw was called Fit For A King. Phew! Talk about keeping in shape! It teached children all about food diets and how to stay active and healthy. The fact that the children were doing better jumping jacks then I was, made me realise how this programme was perfect for me!

Mr. Tea, Mr. Tea….Mr. Tea!
Believe me, the amount of time being here, my blood must actually be…tea! Whatever we do or wherever we go there will always be a cup of tea in our hands. It’s what keeps us going, what gives us our inspiration and development and also what keeps people making a funky beat with their sipping and gulping!

Tea is the very foundation of The Play House, without it we’re nothing but an empty mug. I must admit…I used to have 4 sugars in my tea (bad I know) and now I’m down to 1, so I’m proud of myself (the fact that they have weaned me down cause of my high energy and many toilet breaks might be the reason). Warning: Be ready to get addicted!

The staff here are….well shall I say varied? They come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. To be honest there is not one person I do not like, they’re all friendly and wacky in their own way and there is never a time when you feel left out. One of the unique points is that each one has a great knowledge of their role and they have had background experience before.

It’s just awesome to know they take their work to a high standard and that they genuinely enjoy what they do, and I feel proud to know I’m working alongside them as the “PH” team (we do fight crime during night-time), creating such out-of-this world works of art and promoting the growth of children for the future! That’s what I love about this place.

My first blog…maybe one day I’ll look back at this and say – “There’s what I wrote! Wow! Autographs anyone? Only if there is a cupper involved!”.

This fascinating short film outlines his perspective of education today, his vision, and what he sees as some potential ways forward.