"What is felt and expressed is let go of...
then we are free to live in the now"
The continued uncertainties of this global pandemic has placed enormous stress on every aspect of our lives, with more change inevitable with new variants coming. We don't know how much this has affected people but what we do know is that our children and staff will have had many difficult experiences and it is important to provide a safe, structured, creative way for school communities to make sense of these experiences.
We have designed a whole school creative art project that will use art and storytelling to help children and teachers express their experiences, make sense of those, understand the experiences of others and help them to create a ritual to capture this history in the making.
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Staff will be trained and then supported with reflective practice by trained professionals, so they feel held and contained throughout, while we all navigate these unchartered waters.
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Lesson plans are provided along with a facebook page to access to a global community sharing images and ideas.
Four phases
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The programme is split into phases to provide structure, containment and the holding we all require to make sense of this pandemic.
This structure also allows the teachers to feel supported and secure. This in turn supports the children.
Phase 1
For the children to be able to identify what they have felt and experienced over the last few months and potential months ahead.
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Making the boats
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Placing the boats onto the sea
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Noticing each other's boats, sharing experiences.
Phase 2
Seeing themselves as part of a larger whole community with collective experiences.
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Collective display
Therapeutic
Making/Creating
Programme
Bespoke to your schools needs
Phase 3
Once the mural is back in the classroom, it can remain as something to refer back to over the coming weeks and months. Create ‘life buoy’ symbols that can be stuck on the boats, if a child is feeling that they are struggling, this will ensure that this is an ongoing process and not rushed through or forgotten.
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Ongoing support
Phase 4 (optional)
To create an artwork that symbolises the community experiences of Covid-19 2020 as a way to commemorate the historic aspect of this experience.
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Sculpture
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Mural
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Material collage quilt
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Film/Documentary – this would need to be started at the beginning of the process of every stage.
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Tiles – ceramic made by the kids
The therapeutic art project is now underway with the children that have returned to school. Working with the 'same sea, different boat' analogy, the children were able to have an outlet for some of their own thoughts and feelings about the lockdown period and it was a simple activity that all age groups could take part in. From this, there are already children who we have identified that will need more support going forward.
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