Situation:
As part of The National Trust's School Arts Partnership Project we were asked to create and lead a project that would engage 2 local schools with Sutton House in Hackney, its history and the community, through the sharing and performance of stories.
Solution:
Consulting with Sutton House's Learning Officer and with the teachers from the 2 schools we designed a series of fun and challenging workshops that would culminate in a storytelling performance on the 4th day.
The project would ensure that the 2 schools and 2 different year groups would interact, encourage new friendships and allow for different learning abilities and skills. The workshops would allow the children to work collaboratively and in creating the storytelling draw out their interests and responses inspired by 3 sets of stories.
Results:
Over the course of the 4 days the children became increasingly enthusiastic about Sutton House and their involvement with the property. They became more inquisitive about history and interested and sensitive to the situations related to migration and immigration. During group activities some children demonstrated positive behaviour, respect and great enthusiasm, which became contagious and spread throughout the whole group.