Over six weeks of the Spring term year 8 have explored literacy through story telling, movement and music as well as drama. Will Benzies and Iwan Kushka worked with students in developing their literacy skills, their confidence and their communication and interpersonal skills. We began with  Belgian storyteller, Iwan  and guitarist, Will visiting the school for an enthralling performance of musical storytelling. They told “The Glassblower’s Daughter”, the compelling tale of Leela, a young girl pitted against a  cruel and powerful feudal lord wishing to marry her against her will. 

The entire year group were spell bound and looked forward to their weekly workshops with Iwan and Will. We ended with superb collaborative work carried out with students from secondary schools in both Syria and Palestine. This was 'live' via Skype and fostered many questions about cultural differences and conflict.

 

Below are just some of the positive comments from year 8 students:

Ellie: " We learnt how to create a narrative, we all took part and were less shy."

Joseph: " We learned to listen better and were taught how to improve our communication."

 

The evaluative comments were overwhelmingly positive, " I can now express myself through stories", " I became more confident and developed a positive attitude and learnt how to trust". Criticisms were not of the activities but more personal such as " It would be better if I did not care what i looked like  and could just let loose" and " It would be better if Iwan and Will stayed for longer".

 

There is no doubt that as a school we are extremely grateful to the family of Miranda Benzies, an artist and  ex student of Dartmouth Academy who sadly died in 2015. Part of her legacy is to support the arts and young people through Miranda's Fund, our students have benefited enormously.

 

 Nicola Perrott - Teacher Dartmouth Academy

 

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who has supported Miranda’s fund so far it has been not only helpful to students at Dartmouth and Totnes school but also to our family as it has given a feeling on continuity and process allowing us to see the positive lessons that can be learnt from experiencing loss.

 

In February Iwan and I started running a course at Dartmouth Academy based on storytelling, improvisation and public speaking. As it was the first manifestation of the Fund we wanted to keep it open and malleable and not goal orientated, aware also that this would provide some antidote to the curriculum led and exam driven framework that schools are obliged to use. The goals that we did give ourselves were to create a trusting and generous environment where the students would feel free to express themselves and listen to each other’s stories.

 

As a consequence of these circumstances it was fascinating to witness the transformation that took place in our 2 hour sessions. The initial response from most of the students to our proposal was bewilderment, they were prepared for us to be asking something from them, to create something suitable for appraisal that could be held up and marked. For us not having any preconceptions as to who were the ‘naughty’ ones really helped in treating everyone equally and it took a couple of weeks for these traits in the students to resurface as the novelty wore off, however in that time it became apparent to everyone that given different circumstances people display different qualities. Almost all the students struggled to express themselves creatively and effectively in the first few weeks with content mostly involving chicken nuggets, KFC and various cartoon characters, safe topics that don’t expose themselves. As the weeks progressed we witnessed a massive transformation as the students started to play with the space we gave them, with trust that almost anything would be accepted provided that it was well intentioned. We saw some incredible stories, performances and changes which when described can often seem trivial and yet given the context are clearly meaningful for these students. A few examples that are easier to communicate are; the class strong man being led blindfold but the class the victim, attendance from even the least attentive, a boy with a server stutter participating in public speaking and some exceptional improvised story telling. There’s no doubt that the kids benefited from this course not only in the way they relate to each other but also in the way they relate to themselves, being heard makes us feel valid which intern leads to an increase in self-confidence and self-worth.

 

We have learnt a lot this year about how the fund can be used effectively and directly for the benefit of the kids. Nic Perrott at Dartmouth Academy has been an essential part of making all this happen as have all the people who have contributed to Miranda’s fund. Thanks again to everyone who as making this possible. Future plans at Dartmouth Academy include bringing Playback Theatre in to run a similar programme in the autumn term and also to run a few one of sessions with local artists.

 

Report by Will Benzies on Storylab workshops at Dartmouth Academy

 

 

 

 

Also at King Edward VI Academy, Miranda's Fund volunteers are meeting with 6 formers to talk & share informally -about life & mental health. one session was held in january, the 12 students who came wanted more opportunities to meet & talk in this way. Dates to be confirmed.