Goxhill Primary make Dungeons and Dragons come to life at 20-21!

Goxhill Primary kicked off the last week of Spring Term 2013, with a fun packed day in the centre. The year two's have spent the term studying Dungeons and Dragons, the perfect theme to test our brand new Shadow Puppet equipment!

 

First, we visited the Sharmanka exhibition and watched as the characters swirled and twisted and danced their beautiful patterns across the walls of the exhibition space. We discussed what we could see and how it made us feel. We wrote lots of association words and answered questions on our worksheets.

 

The group then split into two and went to different parts of the centre to take part in different workshops to do with Sharmanka and our theme for the day: Dungeons and Dragons.

 

One group got the opportunity to play with light and dark, in the Education Room; making characters, scenery and props to reenact a set of story lines handed out at the beginning of the session. There were many variations on the story throughout the day and the children were lucky enough to have some pre-made characters, to help them tell their stories.

 

There once was a happy dragon, who liked wearing a hat...
 

He would ride his bicycle...
 

...to his dark and gloomy dungeon.

...where he kept his sparkling treasure, shining bright.
 

Once, a brave knight came to try and steal the dragon's treasure...
 

But the dragon was too strong and bit his head off!

During the other workshop, children made kinetic story plates, using basic craft techniques and story telling skills.

The children had lots of great things to say about the day and we look forward to hosting lots more Shadow Puppet sessions in the new term!

FILM TIME

Family Film Fun!
Wednesday 10 April at 1pm, 20-21 will be screening the family film by Martin Scorsese, Hugo. The film is being screened to compliment our current exhibition by Sharmanka. 

"Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton."

Prices:
Child - £1:50
Adult - £2:50
Family of 4 - £5
(all prices include a soft drink)
Contact 01724 297070 for more information.

Sharmanka FREE Family Fun Day!

This Saturday (16th March) sees a FREE Family Fun Day that celebrates the openning of our fantastic new exhibition "Gothic Kinetic" by Sharmanka Theatre Company and Jason Taylor's bright and witty "Everyday Objects"!

From 10am - 4pm 20-21 Visual Arts Centre will be buzzing with lots of fun games, activities, workshops and performances. Come on down for opportunities to witness some truly inspirational work as well as the rare chance to work with a professional artist, Jason Taylor.

Every quarter past the hour, The Chancel Gallery in 20-21 will be brought to life, with the theatrical kinetic sculptures made by Sharmanka's talented artists, designers and musicians. The exhibition hasn't been open long, but has created much excitement and a great buzz among visitors so far:

"Absolutely magic!"
"Dark and beautiful, fantastic shadows, and thought provoking"
"very thought provoking, haunting and clever. Fascinating! It's wonderful to have this here to see - interesting how he chooses materials and the questions that spring to mind."
"I saw Gothic Kinetic - spellbinding and inspiring!"
"Gothic Kientic is amazing and awe inspiring. Loved the whole show."

Take part in activities to create you own kinetic tabletop model or have a go in the puppet theatre, after making your own puppets!

Take part in a rare opportunity at 20-21, to work with artist Jason Taylor! Make a clock or build a larger sculpture with a professional artist! Here are some of the things visitors and schools have said about Jason's exhibition:

"Very inventive, made me chuckle"
"I like the Everyday Objects exhibition. Very clever ideas!"
"Strange?!"

 

 

There is a brand new glossy catalogue to accompany "Everyday Objects" at a cost of £2.50. To get yours, while stocks last, please visit the reception desk during your visit.

 

 



 

 

Indigo Moon Theatre will be performing their truly beautiful shadow puppetry, three times throughout the day. Performances will be at 10.30am, 12.45pm and 2.30pm.

 

 

 

 

Street Sport will be bringing bike and skate ramps so young people can come along and make healthy and active use of Church Square!

 

 

 

 

For the first in years, the Moving Toys will be on display for visitors to use! Be careful or you'll become hooked, watching the mechanisms and characters move before your very eyes!

 

Every visitor will leave with one of our brand new 20-21 balloons! Don't forget to pick yours up before you go!

For more information on our FREE Family Fun Day, please contcat us on 01724 297070

Teacher Twilight Round-Up

Wednesday 6th March saw the first Teacher Twilight at 20-21, for a few years. The session was delivered in conjunction with Laura Fox, AST and Arts Coordinator for Brumby Junior School, and with Ian Till, former DT teacher and DT assessor.

The morning opened with a quick introduction to 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, just before a presentation on the new proposed Art and Design Curriculum, delivered by Laura.

 

Laura introduced the new curriculum with enthusiasm and spoke about the three basics that were being asked of Primary Schools: Sketchbooks, Artist Research and Making. Currently, a very broad scope to deliver really exciting arts projects and classes. 

Brumby Junior School run a scheme in the Summer Terms, called Creative Workshops. Click here to see for yourself, the superb creativity taking place in the classrooms. Laura spoke about how this scheme is delivered, how excited children become and what a success the project is proving to be. For more information on Creative Workshops, get in touch and we can put you in contact with the school.

Ian spoke breifly about the new Design and Technology proposed curriculum, and how frustrating it can be that DT isn't always at the forefront of agendas, but how crucial critical and design thinking is for children. His talk was inspirational in thinking about how design and technology studies, from such an early age count towards understanding further subjects in the future.

Some of the teachers hadn't been to 20-21 before, so we hosted a quick tour of all the gallery spaces and what exhibitions to expect in the near future. The tour made use of the Self Guided Tour Pack, which has facts on the history of the building, as well as on current exhibitions. It was useful for teachers to envisage the sapce in which workshops and visits happen.

We watched the whole of Sharmanka's Gothic Kinetic exhibition and returned to the Education Room to watch demonstrations of workshops on offer that fit the themes and materials of the Sharmanka show.

Ian's workshop displayed many automata and tabletop strcutures that are workable and suitable for any classroom. It included a piece of our Moving Toys Loan Pack, that we are looking to revive for the Sharmanka show.

Hayley, our Education Officer, gave a 10 minute demonstration on how Shadow Puppetry can be used in any classroom, as a topic starter, using lots of items found around the home, schools and classrooms.

People in the room were all handed a folded piece of paper with a number on, and on request unfolded the paper to read a section of our story.



At this point in our story, a ghost had suddenly appeared at a haunted house.

The ghost was then ate our main character, before going back home to his haunted house.

 

Setting a new scene for a different part of the story: a fairground with a clown.

 

Being innovative with resources isn't hard, when realising the possibilities of recognisable objects. Children would, more than likely see things before we had even noticed them. Shadow Puppetry is an offer from our Education service that can be adapted to suit many curriculum subjects and topics. The Shadow Puppet pack can go out on loan to any school, for up to one half term. The pack can be adapted to suit your school's needs. 

The basic pack includes:

•  A tabletop shadow screen, inclusive of theatrical velvet curtains and sturdy feet.
•  An over head projector.
•  Four acetate sheets.
•  A bucket of de-barked twigs.
•  Scraps of coloured semi - transparent materials.
•  Reflective silver plastic sheet.
• And much more.

Overall, the Teachers Twilight was a great success with astounding feedback results from Infants through to KS4. Links were made, questions were answered and a more solid understanding of what we offer at 20-21, was appreciated:

"Good resources. Open ended outcomes."
"Vaired and explored different avenues for educational development."
"Really clear ideas for how to develop Art/DT through workshops in schools."
"Very good [delivery]. Shared passion."
"Interesting to see the ideas developed from the exhibition."
"Lots of ideas to take back to the classroom... Interesting and engaging... Current issues were identified... It's easy to book places."

For information on any of the topics and opportunities discussed in this blog post, get in touch with our Education Officer Hayley McPhun on 01724 297074 or hayley.mcphun@northlincs.gov.uk for an informal chat about what we can offer to suit your school/class.