Case Studies & Best Practice
The Arts Wire, Ignition Create CIC:
As a Community Interest Company, a big part of Ignition’s objective is to use the arts to address social change within community and school settings.
As part of our social change ambitions Ignition recently designed and ran a school's based pilot project, exploring the theme of identity. This pilot was called The Arts Wire.
The Arts Wire engaged two schools, one urban school in the centre of Birmingham and one rural in South Shropshire. The schools we engaged with had very divergent pupil profiles from each other; different in school size, demographic and physical location.
The Arts Wire used the arts to give opportunities for the children to explore and exchange stories of living in the City and the Country, using creative and participative theatre techniques. It enabled the children to exchange their experiences of their lives, communities and cultures in an open and engaging way. They shared their stories through acting, mime, movement, props, soundscapes and storytelling. These theatre techniques gave opportunities for the children to explore their similarities and differences. This generated discussion about other children's experience of growing up in a different environment and culture to their own.
The Arts Wire was led by Ignition’s Creative Director and Theatre Maker, Hannah Prior and Creative Writer, Vicki Duckett. They worked with Key Stage 2 pupils in each setting, bringing the two school communities together through the children’s stories, their performances and the exchange visits.
The Arts Wire culminated in visit by each school to the other school.
The project also offered The Arts Award Discover and Explore to a number of participants.
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Website: www.i-gnition.co.uk
As part of our social change ambitions Ignition recently designed and ran a school's based pilot project, exploring the theme of identity. This pilot was called The Arts Wire.
The Arts Wire engaged two schools, one urban school in the centre of Birmingham and one rural in South Shropshire. The schools we engaged with had very divergent pupil profiles from each other; different in school size, demographic and physical location.
The Arts Wire used the arts to give opportunities for the children to explore and exchange stories of living in the City and the Country, using creative and participative theatre techniques. It enabled the children to exchange their experiences of their lives, communities and cultures in an open and engaging way. They shared their stories through acting, mime, movement, props, soundscapes and storytelling. These theatre techniques gave opportunities for the children to explore their similarities and differences. This generated discussion about other children's experience of growing up in a different environment and culture to their own.
The Arts Wire was led by Ignition’s Creative Director and Theatre Maker, Hannah Prior and Creative Writer, Vicki Duckett. They worked with Key Stage 2 pupils in each setting, bringing the two school communities together through the children’s stories, their performances and the exchange visits.
The Arts Wire culminated in visit by each school to the other school.
The project also offered The Arts Award Discover and Explore to a number of participants.
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Website: www.i-gnition.co.uk
MediaActive Projects:
Animation in (and out of) the Classroom - working with Into Film and a number of local and national partners MediaActive deliver bespoke projects, animation and digital media CPD programmes for teachers. This follows on from the schools based work previously delivered by the team since 2003 as part of Thomas Adams Media Arts Specialist Schools programme.
mediamakers – children and young people explored the heritage of their local area, looking at landscape and culture. Using animation, film, audio, print and App design they re-interpreted their discoveries, making creative digital artworks that were shared with the wider public, through exhibitions and social media, serving to inspire and educate others.
mediamakers – children and young people explored the heritage of their local area, looking at landscape and culture. Using animation, film, audio, print and App design they re-interpreted their discoveries, making creative digital artworks that were shared with the wider public, through exhibitions and social media, serving to inspire and educate others.
Eyewitness – part of Arts Council funded Shropshire Remembers. Looking at first-hand accounts of WW1 including the work of war artists, poets and journalists, along with archive material, photographs, film, diaries, and letters from the frontline and home, children and young people have use digital storytelling, self-publishing and social media, to reveal and re-tell some of the hidden stories of WW1. An exhibition of the work created was held at Theatre Severn in early 2016, to coincide with the launch of the Eyewitness website.
Teacher Training - MediaActive regularly devise and deliver bespoke training in creative and digital media for teachers, youth workers, artists and organisations. Recent sessions have included: film and animation in the classroom; creative use of IPads; artists moving image; introduction to British and World Cinema.
Adventures in Alternative Cinema – MediaActive have been commissioned to support Young Programmer and Youth Audience Development initiatives across the FilmHubNWC area (Shropshire & Telford, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire and Derbyshire). In Shropshire, Adventures works with young people and local venues, exploring cinema “beyond the multiplex”, programming screenings of culturally diverse films, including Introduction to World Cinema interactive events designed for children, schools and families.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mediaactive.org
Teacher Training - MediaActive regularly devise and deliver bespoke training in creative and digital media for teachers, youth workers, artists and organisations. Recent sessions have included: film and animation in the classroom; creative use of IPads; artists moving image; introduction to British and World Cinema.
Adventures in Alternative Cinema – MediaActive have been commissioned to support Young Programmer and Youth Audience Development initiatives across the FilmHubNWC area (Shropshire & Telford, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire and Derbyshire). In Shropshire, Adventures works with young people and local venues, exploring cinema “beyond the multiplex”, programming screenings of culturally diverse films, including Introduction to World Cinema interactive events designed for children, schools and families.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mediaactive.org
The Hive & SEND School Case Study:
In The Hive's 90-120 minute Tech to Tune workshops, students learn about how the world of technology interacts with music. Students create sounds in unusual ways, design and build unique instruments from everyday objects and put them all together to create an entirely new musical experience! A combination of music, science and technology.
Artist observations
In this session the young people guessed the different components of what we'd need to make a working circuit using the makey-makey kits and came up with some novel ideas of how to trigger the sounds and what sounds they'd be triggering. These included a rabbit drawing with conductive tap for its nose, so that when you touched the nose and held the earth wires it barked! One of the other sounds they wanted to use was a pirate type voice triggered by touching drawing of a treasure chest with conductive tape attached.
The young people showed an interest in making sounds using the makey-makey circuits once they understood how it worked. They also were enthusiastic about using the loop pedal, Seaboard and synths to make music/soundscapes and enjoyed exploring these new ways to express themselves. For most of the group this was the first time they’d took interest in music making and sound exploring. One of the young people was drumming on a container that we’d held a microphone by to loop and really took to this, so much so that the teachers are going to set up drum lessons to continue his new found interest in music and rhythm.
Teacher feedback
The workshop was tailored to a very challenging group of young men. The workshop leaders took it in their stride, adapted and changed as needed. We have a number of the students ask when they are coming back and an increased interest in drumming lessons.
The staff commented on it being nice for the boys to have positive male role models and a better acceptance of different people, styles and personalities.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.hiveonline.org.uk
In this session the young people guessed the different components of what we'd need to make a working circuit using the makey-makey kits and came up with some novel ideas of how to trigger the sounds and what sounds they'd be triggering. These included a rabbit drawing with conductive tap for its nose, so that when you touched the nose and held the earth wires it barked! One of the other sounds they wanted to use was a pirate type voice triggered by touching drawing of a treasure chest with conductive tape attached.
The young people showed an interest in making sounds using the makey-makey circuits once they understood how it worked. They also were enthusiastic about using the loop pedal, Seaboard and synths to make music/soundscapes and enjoyed exploring these new ways to express themselves. For most of the group this was the first time they’d took interest in music making and sound exploring. One of the young people was drumming on a container that we’d held a microphone by to loop and really took to this, so much so that the teachers are going to set up drum lessons to continue his new found interest in music and rhythm.
Teacher feedback
The workshop was tailored to a very challenging group of young men. The workshop leaders took it in their stride, adapted and changed as needed. We have a number of the students ask when they are coming back and an increased interest in drumming lessons.
The staff commented on it being nice for the boys to have positive male role models and a better acceptance of different people, styles and personalities.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.hiveonline.org.uk