By Naomi Awre, Learning Officer
Goodness – we are at the end of the academic year already, and what a whirlwind it has been! Now we’ve reached the summer holidays I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back over the year and pick out some highlights.
Autumn
Our annual History and Heritage CPD day is always a great way to kick off the academic year. Designed in conjunction with Martin Phillips from Historic England, we had a thought-provoking and fascinating day learning about the history and heritage resources available to our Sampad Associate Schools, as well as trying out some of the activities designed to get children thinking about why people might come to a place or leave it. It’s always inspiring to see teachers sharing ideas and learning from one another, and it really sets the tone for the year ahead. It was also a great opportunity to meet the teachers from our Sampad Associate Schools who we will be working with and eat some really yummy food provided by Change Kitchen. My head, heart and tummy are already looking forward to the next one.
Spring
We had a jam-packed Spring term with Lori – A World of Lullabies touring around schools with support from the Saintbury Trust. If that wasn’t enough, alongside the development of this charming piece, we also developed Bird Stories, a piece exploring music, dance and stories from South Asia themed around birds. It’s not often I get involved in our productions but I had the honour of working with the wonderful Bharatanatyam dancer, Swathi Shree Vadivelu, in facilitating this workshop, including learning a song in Tamil, which was a challenge I loved. Connecting with children aged 0–5 through South Asian artforms has been a big part of the Sampad learning journey this year, and I’ve loved every second. It’s a privilege to see how these shared creative experiences can spark curiosity, build confidence and bring people together from the very earliest years.
Summer
The summer term is always eclectic and so it is hard to pick just one highlight! We’ve had some great new partnerships develop, including with Edgbaston Family Hub, developing our early years work even further. Gillian and I also had the opportunity to take part in some International Rescue Committee training around trauma-informed practice, which was invaluable reflection time, and something we will continue to incorporate into our work going forward so that our learning programmes remain responsive to the needs of the children, families and communities we work with.
With all the new, it was nice to revisit an old favourite, My Journey, My Birmingham, at the start of June, and especially to see the adapted version of this at Colmore Junior School for the visit from the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza. Dame Rachel wanted to hear what the children liked about Birmingham, and it was poignant to consider, in the context of My Journey, My Birmingham (which is a theatre in education piece exploring the stories of those who migrated to Birmingham in the second half of the 20th century), what makes Birmingham home, for those who have moved here, and for those who have lived here all their lives. These conversations remind me why sharing stories and listening to one another is such an important part of our work.
Looking Ahead
With our Paul Hamlyn-funded Connecting Classrooms project starting in the Autumn and Diwali fast approaching, it’s bound to be an exciting start to the year. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing new schools, teachers and artists working together and discovering where those collaborations might lead. But first, a summer school, a play in a day, and last but not least, a holiday!
Looking ahead to the new academic year? Discover how the Sampad Associate Schools programme can enrich your curriculum with high-quality arts experiences.
Image Credit Hayley Salter
