We are delighted to have been invited to make a contribution to the University of Cambridge Primary Schools Arts Week, Journeys through fragments of sky. Every child in the school took part in this project. Children designed art work, rehearsed scripts and added their own text, danced and sang through each day, delighting the audience of invited guests and parents on the last day when they shared a few outcomes of their experience.
The aims of the project were three fold: to explore creativities in teacher professional development, to bring teachers and artists together through the process of creativity, building better awareness of the experience of arts learning for children and to explore the concepts of sky and journeys through the arts. Two young artists and our Musical Director led workshops as part of the whole team, exploring metaphors – ‘reaching for the sky’ and ’the sky is the limit’ with the children. They played singing games, wrote new songs together and sang ’Touch The Sky’, courtesy of Sing Up (website: http://www.singup.org) with the whole school. Feedback from children, teachers and parents indicates that the project was a resounding success.
The Head Teacher, Dr. James Biddulph said, “Working with the young artists from Living Song gives opportunities for children to learn alongside people with fresh ideas and in ways that immediately connect with children. During arts week, we saw children inspired by their warmth, enthusiasm and utter commitment in the potentials of every child”.