WEEK ONE: THE PLAN
Having come back from the holiday, we had our first workshop where we met the two groups of children and ran a series of exercises. I think this session was purely about meeting the children and getting to know them rather than trying to actively work towards the final product, and it was an opportunity of trial and error for getting to grips with what the children responded better to, and what they didn't mix with as well.
The plan we came up with went as follows, having our Year Three session first and our Year One session after:
YEAR 3 PLAN:
Admittedly, the groups were seemingly larger than we expected. Nevertheless, the strategies that really worked were having us as the facilitators spread ourselves about especially in the first few exercises where we were just warming up with icebreakers. By spreading myself out in the circle away from the Year 13s I was able to talk to some of the children and finding out their names, assisting them if they were shy, which seemed efficient and helped the session flow more easily. Myself and Sofianne led the first exercise, and by setting out clear gestures for them to use if they were nervous ensured that everyone in the room was comfortable. Immediately, I felt that within the first 10 minutes everyone in the room relaxed and the children seemed to feel comfortable with us soon enough. This was unexpected since I thought it would take longer for them to relax, nevertheless I think having a clear set out plan helped the group to feel a lot more safe with us. While the initial icebreaker took a long time, perhaps longer than we expected and ideally wanted, I think it was necessary for getting to know the children and helping them to feel relaxed, in control and comfortable. I think as facilitators we coordinated ourselves well in the first stages, being prepared and organised. It felt like an environment where everyone was united and on board, and this made it successful.
The Port Starboard game was an idea I had prior to the half term with Zach and Saffron, and implementing this into the workshop was something I observed that the children responded to very well. While there was a minor health and safety concern since the group was running everywhere in a frenzy, it seemed like they were having fun while actively thinking about travelling to different places in their local area. I think that this is a great basis for devising the show in the future, the idea that the children are travelling to different places - as well as this, it could possibly be a game we return to in the next few weeks as they particularly enjoyed this. What helped create this atmosphere and make it successful was us joining into the game and helping encourage the children as opposed to standing on the sidelines. It also transitioned perfectly into an exercise that Tyrell led with great initiative and enthusiasm. He improvised as he went along which I thought was really good as a facilitator and kept the children on board, as he was committing to instructing them with energy. The exercise consisted of them going on their motorbikes around Croydon, and was imagination fuelling. I think they responded to this well to some extent - however, I think eventually they weren't completely concentrating and were interacting with their friends more than responding to the exercise with concentration. Perhaps in the future we will have to negotiate that these exercises are led with more attention to how the instructions are said, so that the children take it seriously.
Nevertheless, a strategy that seemingly worked (for both Year 3 and Year 1) was putting our hands up if the group wasn't being attentive. We had brainstormed this prior to the half term and set it up at the beginning of the session so the children were aware of it as a rule. This was effective in creating a sense of balance within the sessions between the children having fun and also listening to instructions.
Finally, in the session we looked making acrostic poems spelling 'CROYDON' with the children. This was probably the exercise that required the most concentration for the children - and it's probably why after all the running around some of them lost focus. Within my group working with Sean and Stella, the group we were working with were quite shy apart from one outspoken confident girl. In particular, there were two girls that clung to eacvhother, and when we explained to them the prospect of creating an acrostic poem they were seemingly more withdrawn. The challenge that we faced was trying to get them to contribute but also trying to get the task done, and so myself, Stella and Sean tried to aid and encourage them to come up with things. Eventually, we did come up with a whole poem and the group had relaxed a bit. I thought that this idea was really effective since it got the children to think about their local area in regards to the poem in a specific way, and therefore was introducing them to the essence of the project. Having come up with the poem, we started to use physical gesture and movement to bring the poems 'to life'. What I noticed was that the children responded to this particularly well - they were more engaged when they were up doing something as opposed to sitting on the floor having to concentrate.
Eventually, we ran out of time but overall the session was hugely successful. I think that the children felt safe and comfortable with us and as such there was no general challenge in trying to get them to relax. The group that we have ranges in terms of confidence which is almost a joy - there are some quite loud and outspoken people but also some really quiet and introverted children. This range is good because different exercises will appeal to them in different ways, and therefore we should bare this in mind as we approach planning the future workshops.
YEAR 1 PLAN:
The Port Starboard game was an idea I had prior to the half term with Zach and Saffron, and implementing this into the workshop was something I observed that the children responded to very well. While there was a minor health and safety concern since the group was running everywhere in a frenzy, it seemed like they were having fun while actively thinking about travelling to different places in their local area. I think that this is a great basis for devising the show in the future, the idea that the children are travelling to different places - as well as this, it could possibly be a game we return to in the next few weeks as they particularly enjoyed this. What helped create this atmosphere and make it successful was us joining into the game and helping encourage the children as opposed to standing on the sidelines. It also transitioned perfectly into an exercise that Tyrell led with great initiative and enthusiasm. He improvised as he went along which I thought was really good as a facilitator and kept the children on board, as he was committing to instructing them with energy. The exercise consisted of them going on their motorbikes around Croydon, and was imagination fuelling. I think they responded to this well to some extent - however, I think eventually they weren't completely concentrating and were interacting with their friends more than responding to the exercise with concentration. Perhaps in the future we will have to negotiate that these exercises are led with more attention to how the instructions are said, so that the children take it seriously.
Nevertheless, a strategy that seemingly worked (for both Year 3 and Year 1) was putting our hands up if the group wasn't being attentive. We had brainstormed this prior to the half term and set it up at the beginning of the session so the children were aware of it as a rule. This was effective in creating a sense of balance within the sessions between the children having fun and also listening to instructions.
Finally, in the session we looked making acrostic poems spelling 'CROYDON' with the children. This was probably the exercise that required the most concentration for the children - and it's probably why after all the running around some of them lost focus. Within my group working with Sean and Stella, the group we were working with were quite shy apart from one outspoken confident girl. In particular, there were two girls that clung to eacvhother, and when we explained to them the prospect of creating an acrostic poem they were seemingly more withdrawn. The challenge that we faced was trying to get them to contribute but also trying to get the task done, and so myself, Stella and Sean tried to aid and encourage them to come up with things. Eventually, we did come up with a whole poem and the group had relaxed a bit. I thought that this idea was really effective since it got the children to think about their local area in regards to the poem in a specific way, and therefore was introducing them to the essence of the project. Having come up with the poem, we started to use physical gesture and movement to bring the poems 'to life'. What I noticed was that the children responded to this particularly well - they were more engaged when they were up doing something as opposed to sitting on the floor having to concentrate.
Eventually, we ran out of time but overall the session was hugely successful. I think that the children felt safe and comfortable with us and as such there was no general challenge in trying to get them to relax. The group that we have ranges in terms of confidence which is almost a joy - there are some quite loud and outspoken people but also some really quiet and introverted children. This range is good because different exercises will appeal to them in different ways, and therefore we should bare this in mind as we approach planning the future workshops.
YEAR 1 PLAN:
Year One as a group were definitely more challenging, due to the fact they were younger, had shorter attention spans and lots more energy. Nonetheless, like Year 3 our clear structure and organisation helped engage them from the beginning, as we were strategic with planning in keeping their attention sustained throughout. Similarly, like Year 3 a strategy that worked for controlling this energy was putting our hands up and encouraging the children to be quiet. I imagine that this is a method their teachers use and by having a clear strategy we were able to deal with these challenges quickly and effectively.
The whole dinosaur theme seems to resonate with the Year One's really well, and they enjoy pretending to be their dinosaurs and using their bodies to do so. I think the whole advent of fun and play is something that is really working, and we should continue to use this to engage the Year One's in particular. When introducing the 'We're Going on a Dinosaur Hunt' theme, this seemed to also sit well with the children.
The biggest challenge of this session was working in smaller groups with the Year One's. I think they are the naughtier group in comparison to Year 3 and in smaller groups they seemed to bounce off the energy of one another more easily - if one person within our group was acting badly then everyone else would copy them. Myself and Zafra in our group tried to counter this by being persistent and trying to divert the attention away from that behaviour while addressing the behaviour in a light hearted way. Another challenge was that the group we were in seemed quite focused on the rest of the Year One's and that took their focus away. Trying to engage the focus of the Year One's was definitely the hardest part of the session. To resolve this in the future, it might be a good idea to split up friends from friends, not only to control behaviour but also to develop the confidence of people who may only feel confident around their friends.
Overall, I think the session was successful in meeting the Year 1's. Like Year 3, they bonded with us really well and there was no discomfort, which I think is the most important factor of a first workshop session. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and contrary to our expectations, there wasn't that many people who wanted to sit on the sidelines.
The whole dinosaur theme seems to resonate with the Year One's really well, and they enjoy pretending to be their dinosaurs and using their bodies to do so. I think the whole advent of fun and play is something that is really working, and we should continue to use this to engage the Year One's in particular. When introducing the 'We're Going on a Dinosaur Hunt' theme, this seemed to also sit well with the children.
The biggest challenge of this session was working in smaller groups with the Year One's. I think they are the naughtier group in comparison to Year 3 and in smaller groups they seemed to bounce off the energy of one another more easily - if one person within our group was acting badly then everyone else would copy them. Myself and Zafra in our group tried to counter this by being persistent and trying to divert the attention away from that behaviour while addressing the behaviour in a light hearted way. Another challenge was that the group we were in seemed quite focused on the rest of the Year One's and that took their focus away. Trying to engage the focus of the Year One's was definitely the hardest part of the session. To resolve this in the future, it might be a good idea to split up friends from friends, not only to control behaviour but also to develop the confidence of people who may only feel confident around their friends.
Overall, I think the session was successful in meeting the Year 1's. Like Year 3, they bonded with us really well and there was no discomfort, which I think is the most important factor of a first workshop session. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and contrary to our expectations, there wasn't that many people who wanted to sit on the sidelines.
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