Our Learning Team have had a wonderful and busy end to our academic year. Today we heard from Learning Manager Gill about her Summer Term highlights.
It’s been a real privilege to work with so many children and young people this year with Sampad Associate Schools, inviting us in to support their visions for creative curriculum enrichment.
A definite highlight was our sessions with St Benedict’s Primary School. They worked with a South Asian dancer over 5 sessions, learning about 2 different styles of classical and contemporary Indian dance. At the end of the project, they then shared this with both families and the rest of the school.
Christchurch Secondary Academy joined us as a Ruby School in April and together we developed a range of opportunities for their young people’s first Cultural Day. This included 6 interactive music assemblies and dance sessions, leading to 2 wonderful flash mobs in the playground. It was a brilliant celebration be a part of and we are keen to support other schools with similar events.
In June, Colmore Junior School welcomed us in to teach Year 3 Bhangra Dance, and to explore Islamic Printmaking techniques with Year 6 as part of their Eid focus.
June also marked the re-tour of our acclaimed Theatre in Education Programme My Journey My Birmingham as well as our exhibition City of Empire to City of Diversity. Multiple schools have told us how these elements are central to their work with us, particularly with Year 6 groups.
Merrits Brook Academy invited us in to run a Creative Industries Careers assembly with Year 5 and 6. This was followed by a practical ‘auditioning for film, TV & theatre’ workshop with their as part of their Careers Day. We had such fun working practically with them and appreciated the teachers getting fully involved with their classes.
This term has also seen the launch of I Have a Dream, our book of 200 children’s words and writings from the UK and India. We held launches in 5 schools, as well as a presentation during our July Midday Mantra. We also launched the book at a special event at the British Library in London, as part of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2025. We are delighted that we were able to celebrate so many young people and share their hopes and dreams with a worldwide audience.
The other exciting project that the Learning Team has been supporting this term is Neel Akash. In June we welcomed Anandita, a talented dancer and writer from Bangladesh. Anandita worked with us to develop a new piece for schools exploring Climate Change and its impact on Bangladesh. This R & D was made possible by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture grant. Following the overwhelmingly positive response, we hope to raise funds to expand the piece into a longer participatory performance piece for Autumn 2026.
Finally, I was fortunate enough to meet with Head Teachers and Arts Leads to discuss their plans for next year and to run Drama and Oracy CPD sessions with staff in schools.
We’re now looking ahead to our 2025-26 progamme (of course as well as our Midsummer Masti Summer School for ages 7-12). I am particularly looking forward to our new Diwali performance in October as well as our first EYFS/Year 1 piece Lori in the new year. Other highlights already include residencies in 2 schools as part of their whole school cultural vision, music days and of course a number of flashmobs!
Please get in touch with us if you are interested in any of our new offer, or would like to chat about your vision for your school community. You can see our 2025-26 schools brochure here, and can contact me on gillian@sampad.org.uk.
