Evaluation
Here is the short version of the evaluation carried out by the University of Aberdeen's School of Education
And here is the Research Bulletin from the School of Education which features the Takeover!
And here is the Research Bulletin from the School of Education which features the Takeover!
What we did
Here's some facts:
:: We brought in 5 local artists (hip hop, dance, theatre, traditional music) who ran workshops. Each class took part in at least 2 different workshops.
:: We also brought in a Jazz Quintet and a Percussion Trio. Every learner watched a performance and got to have a try playing the instruments.
:: Pauline ran digital arts workshops with every class using different apps including Garageband, iMovie, Tellagami, DoInk and Book Creator. See TAKEOVER! Digital for examples.
:: With the help of the fabulous Mr Rafferty (P7) we choreographed a flash mob dance which happened all over the school throughout the week.
:: 120 learners achieved their Discover Arts Award, mostly in P1, P2 and P3
:: 117 have completed their Explore Arts Award (pending moderation) in P4, P5 and P6
:: and 36 are currently finishing off their Bronze (also pending moderation) in P7
:: 3 teachers were trained as Arts Award Advisers, complementing the trained team of Pauline, Jack and Sarah. Even filmmaker Graeme is an Adviser in some of his other work
:: The University of Aberdeen Education School have evaluated the project (See Below)
:: We brought in 5 local artists (hip hop, dance, theatre, traditional music) who ran workshops. Each class took part in at least 2 different workshops.
:: We also brought in a Jazz Quintet and a Percussion Trio. Every learner watched a performance and got to have a try playing the instruments.
:: Pauline ran digital arts workshops with every class using different apps including Garageband, iMovie, Tellagami, DoInk and Book Creator. See TAKEOVER! Digital for examples.
:: With the help of the fabulous Mr Rafferty (P7) we choreographed a flash mob dance which happened all over the school throughout the week.
:: 120 learners achieved their Discover Arts Award, mostly in P1, P2 and P3
:: 117 have completed their Explore Arts Award (pending moderation) in P4, P5 and P6
:: and 36 are currently finishing off their Bronze (also pending moderation) in P7
:: 3 teachers were trained as Arts Award Advisers, complementing the trained team of Pauline, Jack and Sarah. Even filmmaker Graeme is an Adviser in some of his other work
:: The University of Aberdeen Education School have evaluated the project (See Below)
Photos by Graeme Roger
PLANNING
There was a huge amount of planning that went into the Takeover and right from the beginning it was our intention to share how we planned it as open source documents. Here they are.
The timetable was written on a template sent from the school - we felt it was important to present this key information in a familiar format. Then each day we produced a daily diary which was circulated after school the previous day with key bits of logistics.
Alongside the development of the timetable we wrote up lesson plans for the times where the learners were in their classroom without specific artists visiting. These also include Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes. As well as the lesson plans we also put together further idea documents for each level and a support paper on Creative Evidencing. Click on the links below to download and see.
The timetable was written on a template sent from the school - we felt it was important to present this key information in a familiar format. Then each day we produced a daily diary which was circulated after school the previous day with key bits of logistics.
Alongside the development of the timetable we wrote up lesson plans for the times where the learners were in their classroom without specific artists visiting. These also include Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes. As well as the lesson plans we also put together further idea documents for each level and a support paper on Creative Evidencing. Click on the links below to download and see.
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Arts Award Takeover at kaimhill primary, aberdeen... blog post Day 4
So, we’re at day 4 of our massive Arts Award Takeover week project at Kaimhill Primary and this is the first time I’m sharing about it in the virtual universe.
To be honest, I’ve been suffering from social media guilt. We all have it, except those people who manage to blog, tweet and Instagram their entire existence. I’ve been acutely aware that this amazing project needs to be shared, but, until now I haven’t got around to it, despite constantly berating myself for not doing it.
Why? Because this ambitious, exciting, multi layered beast has been a mammoth undertaking. It has so many variables, any number of things could have gone wrong and the last thing I wanted was to build up an online expectation for something that ended up as a tricky thing to document.
However, my concerns have not been realised and I can proudly say that it has, so far, been completely brilliant. Today and tomorrow look set to be equally so and even if there are some surprises, nothing can diminish the wonderful atmosphere in the school, the boundless enthusiasm from the learners and the smiles from the teachers.
Over the next few weeks there will be lots of information going up on this page about the project. We intend to share it all – how it came about, how we planned it, how we delivered it, what worked, what didn’t, what we would change, why we think other schools should jump in and try it out and so on.
We’ve been very fortunate to have support from Awards for All, YACNE (one of the Time to Shine youth arts hubs) and Aberdeen City Council on this project. We have a small pot of money to support Sarah’s time so she can go and help any school in Scotland to get started if they want to do something similar, at whatever scale.
If that might be your school, read on and please do get in touch.
To be honest, I’ve been suffering from social media guilt. We all have it, except those people who manage to blog, tweet and Instagram their entire existence. I’ve been acutely aware that this amazing project needs to be shared, but, until now I haven’t got around to it, despite constantly berating myself for not doing it.
Why? Because this ambitious, exciting, multi layered beast has been a mammoth undertaking. It has so many variables, any number of things could have gone wrong and the last thing I wanted was to build up an online expectation for something that ended up as a tricky thing to document.
However, my concerns have not been realised and I can proudly say that it has, so far, been completely brilliant. Today and tomorrow look set to be equally so and even if there are some surprises, nothing can diminish the wonderful atmosphere in the school, the boundless enthusiasm from the learners and the smiles from the teachers.
Over the next few weeks there will be lots of information going up on this page about the project. We intend to share it all – how it came about, how we planned it, how we delivered it, what worked, what didn’t, what we would change, why we think other schools should jump in and try it out and so on.
We’ve been very fortunate to have support from Awards for All, YACNE (one of the Time to Shine youth arts hubs) and Aberdeen City Council on this project. We have a small pot of money to support Sarah’s time so she can go and help any school in Scotland to get started if they want to do something similar, at whatever scale.
If that might be your school, read on and please do get in touch.
How it all began
Many moons ago, I was delivering Discover & Explore Training in Glasgow and the group were working on an Explore mapping exercise. At the end we were discussing potential projects and I said I had a dream to run a full primary school Takeover, where P1 to P3 did a Discover, P4 to P6 did an Explore and the P7s did a Bronze. In a week. And I hadn’t found a school willing to do it.
Up piped a voice that boldly said, “I’ll find you a school!”. That voice belonged to the wonder woman, Pauline Black, who has become my co-conspirator on the project. She has made some utterly ridiculous claims about what’s possible and what can be achieved, but she’s just the sort of astounding person that she has completely delivered everything she claimed. If you ever have the chance to work with her, grab it immediately. Her passion for education and the arts is awe-inspiring.
And so I got on the train up to Aberdeen to meet the other piece of our Takeover triumvirate, the incredibly and equally awe-inspiring head teacher, Susie Webster. What an excellent woman she is!
Our theme for the Takeover week has been ‘Jump in and run with it!’ and boy did Mrs Webster do that when Pauline and I tentatively proposed our project. “We’re looking for a school that will let us set the timetable for the week, for every class”, we said. “That’s OK”, she said. “We want to invade your school with artists, arts students and performers”, we said. “That sounds fabulous”, she said. “We want to randomly appear in classrooms and get the kids to do a flash mob dance”, we said. “Brilliant!”, she gasped.
We were on!
Up piped a voice that boldly said, “I’ll find you a school!”. That voice belonged to the wonder woman, Pauline Black, who has become my co-conspirator on the project. She has made some utterly ridiculous claims about what’s possible and what can be achieved, but she’s just the sort of astounding person that she has completely delivered everything she claimed. If you ever have the chance to work with her, grab it immediately. Her passion for education and the arts is awe-inspiring.
And so I got on the train up to Aberdeen to meet the other piece of our Takeover triumvirate, the incredibly and equally awe-inspiring head teacher, Susie Webster. What an excellent woman she is!
Our theme for the Takeover week has been ‘Jump in and run with it!’ and boy did Mrs Webster do that when Pauline and I tentatively proposed our project. “We’re looking for a school that will let us set the timetable for the week, for every class”, we said. “That’s OK”, she said. “We want to invade your school with artists, arts students and performers”, we said. “That sounds fabulous”, she said. “We want to randomly appear in classrooms and get the kids to do a flash mob dance”, we said. “Brilliant!”, she gasped.
We were on!