TUDOR ORACY PROJECT AT GABALFA PRIMARY SCHOOL, CARDIFF
Sept-Oct 2017
We had an amazing time helping the year 4 children to learn more about the Tudor times. We physicalised court etiquette and questioned the treatment of Henry’s queens. The pupils loved the range of games linked to the Tudors which improved collaboration, persistence and oracy skills. The pupils hot steated Anne Boleyn and they considered the reasons why people choose to be on Henry VIII’s side! Our work culminated in a trial with groups playing Henry, Anne, Lords, Ladies and Clergy as single characters, offering multiple opinions. Costumes were provided and the children enjoyed a celebration ‘banquet’ as a finale.
“We were delighted to work with Page to
Stage Wales. They understood what we needed
to achieve and even the shyest of our pupils engaged.”
Mrs Sandford. Year 4 teacher.
KINDNESS WORKSHOPS AT THE GATE IN ROATH, CARDIFF
Oct 2017
We were employed as part of the Made in Roath Festival to consider the quote, ‘When you have more than you need, build longer tables not higher walls.’ We felt it was important to offer both young people and adults access to these workshops, which touched on wellbeing and kindness, so we ran separate 3 hour sessions. As a group, we told stories of acts of kindness done by us or by others towards us. We dramatised elements of the stories through a range of techniques and employed music, movement and text work. Our participants said they felt more positive as they left and all planned to keep on committing the little acts of kindness which mean so much!
“The pace of the workshop was great. The range of games, improvisations and the monologue activity meant I got to work with different people and I felt well supported as well as challenged.”
Adult participant at The Made in Roath 2017, Acts of Kindness workshop.
SHAKESPEARE WORKSHOPS AT VICTORIA PRIMARY SCHOOL, PENARTH
Oct 2017
With the year 5 pupils, we ran Shakespeare workshops which began with a 30 minute performance of monologues and scenes from some of Shakespeare’s best known works and was followed by participatory workshops which allowed all to gain confidence and understanding.
“Thank you for the wonderful Shakespeare workshops. The children were inspired by the performances and it was super to hear the children confidently speaking the text by the end of the sessions.”
Mrs Price. Year 5 teacher.
DRAMA WORKSHOP 8-15 YEARS AT CHAPTER ARTS CENTRE, CARDIFF
Nov 2017
We ran a fun and informal drama day for young people workshopping physical theatre, mime and improvisation.
“The improv games made me have to think fast. I think I will be more confident at speaking in front of people after today.”
10 year old participant.
CILLA AND CAMILLA’S CHRISTMAS COFFEE CLUB AT LLANOVER HALL, CARDIFF
Dec 2017
Having previously written, produced and acted in a play based on verbatim interviews with women over the age of 40 about the positive impact of support networks based around tea, coffee and cake, we felt it was the right time to return to Cilla and Camilla's Coffee Club. For this festive outing, we were delighted to write for and perform with a talented group of actors at Llanover Hall. All profits were donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.
"You made me laugh but also reminisce about the people I miss at this time of year."
"We enjoyed the songs and the poems. Silly and funny in one!"
Feedback from audience members
HENGOED AND HOME PROJECT AT HENGOED PRIMARY SCHOOL, CAERPHILLY
Jan-April 2018
As part of the Arts Council of Wales’ Lead Creative Schools project, we worked alongside visual artist Gigi Jones to help foster confidence, oracy skills, community engagement and an understanding of the personal and social history of Hengoed. We visited the local care home to sing with the residents and to ask them about their childhood memories. The pupils made a range of artworks including collages of finds from the school grounds and wire framed dolls of local friends and family members. The children enjoyed a range of games to improve listening skills, concentration and collaboration as well as learning drama techniques and bringing to life some of the stories they heard. The children made short films and documented their learning in photos, drawings and written pieces. The project culminated in a celebration event with the children guiding school and community members around exhibits, videos and drama presentations.
‘That’s the most fun I’ve had in ages!’
7 year old participant.
AFRICAN ADVENTURES STORYTELLING PROJECT AT RINGLAND PRIMARY, NEWPORT
March 2018
Alongside storyteller and practitioner Bevin Magama, we helped the year 3 class at Ringland Primary to bring to life the animal stories they had been telling. We facilitated mask and tail making in school and made a range of costumes and props, presented in a story bag. We supplied material to create African backdrops and we collaborated with the children on a series of incredible trees made from recycled materials as part of their set design.
“I don’t want this to end.”
7 year old participant.
"I have had the pleasure of working with Sarah and Serena as a Creative Agent for the Arts Council of Wales Lead Creative Schools programme. They are a highly effective creative team and bring all the Creative Habits of Mind to life in an exciting and enthusiastic way that delights the pupils. Their imaginative approaches are inspirational and it would be fair to say that they bring very much more to a project than would be expected."
Tom Maloney - Creative Agent
AFRICAN ANIMAL STORIES - BEAUFORT HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL
October 2018-March 2019
As part of a creative team, we led games, drama and craft sessions based on the topic of African Animal Stories for year 3 at the school. The learners enjoyed movement sessions to embody African animals and we facilitated small group devising of new stories such as ‘How the Lion Got its Mane.’ The learners created their own mythical creatures with us in collage form and made masks so that they could perform their stories in front of family and friends. We helped the children with the performance skills and made costumes ready for their celebration event.
"Is it ending? But we’ve had so much fun."
Year 3 participant
WWII PATHÉ NEWS PROJECT - GAER PRIMARY SCHOOL
October 2018-January 2019
After a successful collaboration at Hengoed Primary, we again teamed up with artist and filmmaker Gigi Jones to help the year 5 pupils understand what happened to British evacuees during WW2. We played games to encourage performance skills, researched the times and studied written and filmed propaganda messages. We had fun imagining war time recipe reels, role playing as different characters and learning war time songs. The children learnt how to write scripts for film and how to storyboard considering camera shots. The children became filming units with crew and actors collaborating. They enjoyed selecting costumes and green screen acting. Finally, their films were edited and proudly shown at our celebration event for friends and family.
"I’ve been in plays before but I’ve never written a script from the beginning
then performed it with costume and everything."
Year 5 participant.
"They loved the sense of humour you brought into the project and they all recognised how much their confidence and collaborative skills had developed."
Amy Doughty - Creative Agent
A VICTORIAN MYSTERY! - FLEUR DE LIS PRIMARY SCHOOL
October 2018-December 2018
The year 5 and 6 pupils were encouraged to approach narrative writing from a drama perspective for their Lead Creative Schools project. We took the exciting setting of 1851’s Great Exhibition as a backdrop and told candle lit stories to spark imagination. We learnt about the exhibits through physical theatre and soundscaping then the learners played exhibitors in our ‘Big Sell’ oracy challenge. Together, a story about the theft of the Koh-i-noor Diamond developed and the learners role played as ‘Bobbies’ and possible culprits. We took an ‘out of our seats’ approach to language games such as the simile game, preposition searches as well as mime games to encourage original adverb and verb choices. The group came up with a plot for our mystery through freeze framing and each participant wrote their own mystery, incorporating many of the exercises we had developed. The group held a Victorian Fayre to celebrate all they had learnt and we produced a book of their short stories as a legacy.
"There are drama exercises I will keep doing with my classes now I know they work."
Mr Butler - Class teacher
WOODLAND EXPLORERS - RISCA PRIMARY SCHOOL
January 2019-April 2019
For this Lead Creative Schools project we helped the learners in year 1 to create collages with materials that we all gathered on a forest walk. We then physically began to imagine being the animals and nature in the woodlands. We ran games and movement sessions and then worked as storytellers. We created the character of a resilient little mouse with a love of storytelling which led to the children telling their own tales. We helped them to make glove puppets and they all designed a house for mouse and friends which led to the creation of a willow structure in their play area which they made along with the artist Mel Bastier. We made an imagination bag and filled it with puppets so that they can continue to help Little Mouse and friends to play and tell stories.
"The children really enjoyed themselves and I loved learning new games to improve oracy and listening skills."
Mrs Farley. Year 1 Teacher.
RINGLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL
January 2019-March 2019
We had fun working with reception children in their learning journey garden thinking about animals and how we can be kind to nature and to one another. We sang with the children and played team games then used puppets to allow the children to role play and develop storytelling. As well, we introduced them to drama concepts such as physical theatre and freeze frames.
"I love this (puppet). I’m going to be its friend."
Reception participant
"We wish you could come back every Monday morning. Amazing to see the progress and increase in confidence and engagement"
Mrs. Isidoro. Reception Teacher
DEMENTIA FRIENDS PROJECT AT YSTRAD MYNACH PRIMARY SCHOOL
April 2019-July 2019
Having received training from an Alzheimer's Society 'Dementia Friends' volunteer, the year 5 pupils and Page to Stage Wales have welcomed members of the community with dementia and their close family and carers to be part of an intergenerational sharing project.
With the support of Caerphilly Arts Development, we have run weekly sessions incorporating discussion, song, movement, games, craft and drama. The mutual benefits have been clear to see; we have laughed and cried, discovered much common ground and sort reassurance and understanding by spending time in one another's company.
"The sessions are delivered with professionalism, enthusiasm and heart. Page to Stage Wales has successfully combined elements of drama, music and creativity to engage both the young people and the visitors to the school who have dementia to create heartwarming sessions that have led to unexpected connections, empathy and understanding between all the participants. Most of all there is fun and laughter and everyone leaves the sessions with smiles on their faces. It has been a pleasure to be involved in this project and I hope more of this work can continue in the future."
Bethan Ryland. Arts Development Officer for Caerphilly Council
WELLBEING FOR SENIOR MANAGEMENT - CLOWNING WORKSHOPS @ INSPIRE CONFERENCE, CAERPHILLY
June 2019
We were very pleased to offer deputies and headteachers a chance to unwind, laugh and also be challenged by the philosophy of clowning. Receiving offers, being in the moment, taking risks and embracing failure are just some of the clowning principles we enjoyed exploring with our participants.
"In being asked to do something new, something out of my comfort zone, I was mindful of how the children at my school might feel."
Deputy Head Participant.
WOW WEEK AT YSTRAD MYNACH PRIMARY SCHOOL
July 2019
Ystrad Mynach Primary provide a week of extra curricular activities for their pupils to be shared and enjoyed with their families. We were delighted to be invited in to run drama games and activities for all the year groups in the school. It was wonderful to see the children encouraging their parents, grandparents and carers to get involved.
"I liked it when my mum volunteered with me."
Workshop Participant
INSET - DRAMA IN THE PRIMARY CURRICULUM
September 2019
Staff from Nant y Parc Primary, Risca Primary and Ystrad Mynach Primary showed real creative bravery as we invited them to consider how drama can be embedded in all aspects of the curriculum during our afternoon session on the first day of term.
"I wish all INSET was like this!"
Workshop Participant
CHAPTER ARTS CONFIDENCE THROUGH DRAMA
September 2019-November 2019
For this 8 week project we teamed up with Chapter Arts Centre to offer children from 3 primary schools in the local area the opportunity to make new friends, learn games and immerse themselves in imaginary worlds created through play. Each week we explored different themes with the aim of increasing the children's confidence and oracy skills.
We were also able to support the schools' teaching assistants as they experienced different approaches to group work.
"Thankyou for the fantastic workshops. It has been a joy to watch all the children becoming more confident and creative week by week."
Mrs O’Reilly - teaching assistant.
DEMENTIA FRIENDS PROJECT AT NANT Y PARC PRIMARY
October 2019-December 2019
We were delighted to again team up with Caerphilly Arts Development to deliver a 7 week intergenerational Dementia Friends project between year 4 pupils and members of the local community and care home. We found so much in common by sharing stories, singing songs, devising drama and enjoying craft activities.
"I can’t tell you what it has meant to meet with these wonderful children."
Adult Participant.
"I have learnt...people with dementia can still have a nice time and keep those feelings."
Year 4 Participant.
BARRY MAKING WAVES
January 2020 Onwards
We have been delighted to be part of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Great Place Scheme exploring Barry's rich history and future plans. As a community engagement branch of the project, we interviewed (pre lockdown!) individuals and groups of people from the Barry area to find out about their social history and connections to Barry.
We then turned those interviews into transcripts for posterity and are now working with actors via Zoom to create a play about what Barry means to its residents and how the future may look. It has been a joyful and poignant journey and we hope to perform and workshop the piece post lockdown.
WHAT'S YOUR STORY
March 2020 Onwards
The wonderful Cardiff based charity Exercise for All approached us to reach out to people with physical disabilities during lockdown. We launched a social media project to capture vlogs, stories, works of art, poetry and a whole host of other creative outlets in films inspired by the work of Company Three.
The films are a time capsule of life during lockdown with the aim of revealing the person first, disability second.
THE FILMING OF OVER MILLWOOD
Throughout 2021
As part of our community outreach with the Heritage Lottery backed Barry Making Waves scheme, we were able to turn our verbatim theatre play 'Over Millwood', based on Barry residents' stories, into a film. From young carers to lifeguards and window dressers, the stories are a testament to Barry's dynamic and diverse community.
Along with film maker Steve Johnson, of Dragon Fruit Films, we cast Barry community members in roles and had a wonderful time filming scenes. A soundtrack was composed specifically for the film and, once edited, it was shown at the Barry Memo and shared with schools and community groups.
To watch the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvNxnjJYqs8)
WIZARD OF OZ WORKSHOPS AT ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN WALES
July 2021
We were delighted to be invited to St John the Baptist to lead workshops for the whole of year 7 and 8 during their Expressive Arts week. With 'The Wizard of Oz' as stimulus, we developed a series of workshops which explored wellbeing and our participants unique characteristics by considering the individual strengths of Dorothy and her plucky companions.
We even managed some forum theatre as the pupils improvised everyday difficult scenerios then used bravery, logic and kindness to resolve issues.
'It was fun to act out the scenes and see how different people had thought about things.'
Year 8 participant.
CONNECT 2 CREATE
June 2021 onwards
An offshoot of the lockdown project 'What's Your Story? Share,' Connect 2 Create was a lottery funded project which allowed disabled people opportunities to connect on zoom with others whilst participating in a range of creative workshops including drama, gardening, baking and art. We project managed along with our partner, Exercise for All and create films to promote and document the monthly workshops.
NANT Y PARC - LOCAL HISTORY WORKSHOP
October 2021
The school invited us in to work with the year 4 class on the topic of local history, including the challenging topic of the Senghenydd Mining Disaster of 1913. The class responded with thought and maturity to all the work we did.
‘"The class were all really engaged. Great to work with you again.’"
Miss Winters, year 4.
OUTDOOR LEARNING PROJECT - ROATH PARK PRIMARY
Jan - April 2022
Teaming up with artist Gigi Jones once again, we worked with staff and year 2 pupils to adapt a cabin in the school grounds into a magical place for imaginative play. Using drama and creative writing techniques, we encouraged the children to imagine the adventures they would go then Gigi and the children designed fairytale and space themed backdrops, window panels and decorations for the area as well as making hand puppets. We sourced puppets and costumes then the project culminated in a lovely outdoor sharing event where the children demonstrated their games, story telling, puppetry and all they had achieved.
"We have seen a huge impact especially in some of our quieter children."
Mrs Burnett, year 2 class teacher.
HORRIBLE HISTORIES WEEK - HENGOED PRIMARY
February 2022
We were delighted to return to Hengoed and see some familiar faces! This time, we ran fun, fact-packed workshops with a Horrible History theme. We covered dinosaurs, Romans, Tudors, Florence Nightingale, Victorians and WWII. The children got to interview characters from the times, learning some horrible history. The pupils played games, took part in quizzes and brought scenes to life through drama.
‘"Are you coming back? That was fun!’
Year 1 pupil.
‘Eastern Explorers.’ LEAD CREATIVE SCHOOLS - TREDEGAR PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL
Jan - May 2022
With geography and oracy aims, this project included physical theatre, storytelling, art, songwriting, script and poetry writing to imagine the geography of different countries and celebrate cultural wealth and diversity. The project culminated with the class creating a dramatic presentation of all they had learnt over the weeks which included the telling of stories from other cultures, song and movement.
"Having seen the 'journey' from day 1 of the project to the performance on Thursday, I am a totally proud teacher!
I am in awe of what you achieved with the children and it's been a pleasure working with you both!"
Mrs Broadwell. Year 5 teacher.
CDP - TREDEGAR PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL
April 2022
We delivered a half day CPD for foundation phase teachers, considering different games, exercises and approaches that link drama to curriculum topics and support classroom management.
'"Lots of ideas given to take back to the classroom. It helped to participate in game and activities. The handout was useful to recap when it comes to planning."
Teacher feedback.
‘Piece by Piece’ Project
May - July 2022
We facilitated sessions with an LGBTQ+ group, encouraging creative expression. The group decided the direction of each session and over the weeks we offered a photomarathon, music appreciation, clay and mask making activities.
"I express myself through photography. I enjoyed the challenge."
Participant feedback after the photomarathon session.
Verbatim Theatre Workshop - Gladstone Primary, Barry
October 2022
At this workshop, we were able to share scripts and clips from the film ‘Over Millwood’ film which was a verbatim piece. We passed on techniques to capture speech verbatim and the pupils turned their writing into short theatre pieces to share with one another.
"All of year 6 were enthusiastically engaged, stepping out of their comfort zones, building their self-confidence, inner-belief and resilience skills."
Mrs McCarthy, Year 6 class teacher.
Shakespeare Workshop - Pentyrch Primary
Jan 2023
We performed extracts from Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the pupils then invited them to participate in exercises designed to demystify the language and encourage confidence and collaboration. We also had fun improvising scenes as characters from the texts.
"Thank you so much Page to Stage Wales for a wonderful, interactive workshop."
School Tweet
Welsh Myths and Legends - St Michael’s Roman Catholic School
Jan-March 2023
We were delighted to draw on our storytelling and craft skills in supporting the year 3s to explore known Welsh myths and create their own stories. Serena used games, drama approaches and storytelling to support the children with their oracy and writing whilst Sarah shared traditional craft skills such as sewing and felting, teaching them skills for life.
“I have never done sewing before so that was new and it was fun.”
“I liked acting out being an explorer.”
“My favourite thing was when we described what a time stone was then we got to make it with Sarah.”
Year 3 Feedback
‘Brew and Review’ - Warm Spaces Sessions
Feb-March 2023
In collaboration with Exercise for All and funded by the Warm Spaces grant, we hosted drop in sessions at Chapter Arts Centre. Participants were able to enjoy refreshments, meet new people and engage in cultural conversations.
“I would love to do this again. Cups, cake, chatter, companionship.
Great to discuss things, share ideas, meet new people, listen to different opinions.”
Participant feedback
‘Piece by Piece’
February to May 2023
In collaboration with Literature Wales and Newport Mind again, we are facilitating workshops for young people in Newport. Using drama and creative writing approaches, we encourage participants to explore a range of topics around wellbeing and mental health in a gentle yet active manner.
"I have liked having a space to think and write about my feelings."
Participant Feedback
Drama Workshops for Health and Wellbeing at Ysgol Hen Felin
June 2023
It was our privilege to work with teenage classes at Ysgol Hen Felin as part of their Health and Wellbeing Week. We did a warm up and played games to encourage confidence and collaboration then performed scenes with bullying themes, using forum theatre techniques to explore issues and deliver an anti-bullying message. The groups came up with brilliant solutions to problems and performed in the resolved scenes.
"Wonderful that the pupils got to have this fun, new experience."
D Goodenough. Community Partnerships Coordinator
Explore at Nant y Parc Primary
Sept - Nov 2023
Thanks to the ACW’s Explore Fund, we were delighted to return to Nant y Parc Primary School. We offered drama and movement workshops to a range of classes. The children and staff enjoyed exploring the Expressive Arts and embraced the benefits of out of seat learning.
"Thank you for your time and expertise when delivering the drama workshops."
Miss Cotton - Teacher
Music and Metacognition Enquiry at Moorland Primary School - LCS
Jan - March 2024
We had a wonderful time working with two year 6 classes at Moorland Primary as we responded to music in a range of expressive and creative ways. The classes planned the sessions using metacognition skills to reflect on what they already knew, what they wanted to find out about and how that might be achieved. We explored drama, creative writing, clay, drawing, banners, digital skills (Garageband to record) and helped write a song about music, its importance in our daily lives and how it helps us process emotions. The classes proudly shared the process in a celebration event which involved them performing their song, drama and poetry then curating their own exhibition about the power of music.
"Learning all the new games and listening to lots of different kinds of music and also performing our song because we worked on it together.’"
Year 6 participants reflecting on what they enjoyed
Numeracy and Physical Theatre at Malpas Court Primary School - LCS
Feb - June 2024
In a first for Page to Stage Wales, we explored how using out of seat approaches could help a year 4 class explore numeracy. When we first visited, the class impressed us with their knowledge of the Amazon Rainforest so we devised activities around the theme such as spotting Amazon animals and magnifying their lengths by x10 or x100, learning about time by dramatising activities and how long each one took, creating a floor map and physically plotting coordinates, ensuring we had enough supplies at camp through number bonds and role playing with money to buy supplies. The children also worked on collaboration and resilience by playing lots of warm up games with numeracy themes (such as Bop 22) and creating soundscapes, freeze frames and movement sequences to immerse themselves in the rainforest.
"I liked doing numeracy this way."
Participant Feedback