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Schools involved in the Creative
Partnerships Birmingham Programme are exploring the concepts
and teaching methods behind the Reggio Emilia approach, developed
in Italy, which focuses on a child-centred curriculum and
uses creativity as a key tool to unlock learning and develop
young people's expressive abilities.
Artist Lorna Rose is working in three Creative Partnerships
schools to introduce this approach to their Reception classes,
partnering with the teachers to develop their understanding
of the approach and enabling them to adapt it to their own
teaching methods and class requirements.
Initially, children and teachers were hesitant to participate
in the creative activities, being scared of making a mess
and getting into trouble - instead pupils would attempt to
impress Lorna by writing their names or the alphabet. But
after sustained work and development, Lorna and the teachers
have shown that they are also responsive to drawings, exploring
and explaining things and have found that they receive much
more information this way. Teachers and artists have noted
a significant increase in children's verbal and visual expression,
as well as improved social skills.
For more information contact Rebecca Jacobs at Creative Partnerships
Birmingham, Tel. 0121 224 7447 or email rebecca.jacobs@creative-partnerships.com
CTC theatre creates theatre experiences
for children and young people, which aim to contribute to
their emotional, spiritual and social development. The company
tour professional theatre productions to schools and venues
within Tees Valley, the North East and nationally, and promote
greater awareness of the value of theatre to children and
young people through courses, events and publications. Since
1994 CTC Theatre has presented more than 2,150 performances
of 35 plays to over 225,000 children of all ages, stimulating
young imagination and helping to develop speaking and literacy
skills.
For more information contact CTC Theatre, Arts Centre, Vane
Terrace, Darlington, DL3 7AX,
Tel +44 (0) 1325 352 004, email ctc@ctctheatre.org.uk
In Yorkshire the Early Years and Creativity
Hub is bringing together arts organisations initiating
creative projects with babies and parents. The Hub consists
of early years specialists and practitioners, Sure Start,
artists, arts managers, education officers, arts organisations,
a children's librarian and Arts Council England, Yorkshire.
They have two events a year, one to focus on practical training
and professional development, and the other highlighting strategy
and policy developments. They plan to commission research
into international models of creative good practice, and hope
to hold a national conference in Leeds in 2004 to share and
celebrate models of creative early years work. For further
information contact stephanie.simm@artscouncil.org.uk
LEAParts (London Education
Arts Partnership) has initiated three networks that cater
for Early Years, Schools and Education Managers. Each network
meets three or four times a year and also hosts a full day
CPD seminar. The networks are managed and facilitated by LEAParts,
but all developmental decisions are made collectively by the
network. The Early Years Network provides artists and educators
with a platform to share their experiences, promote quantifiable
models of good practice and develop partnerships across disciplines
within the early years sector. The overall function of the
network is to celebrate the diverse range of Arts in Education
activity and raise the profile of successful creativity in
early years learning.
With the growing interest in addressing
the opportunities and creative challenges of producing Early
Years Theatre, Polka Theatre in Wimbledon held a weekend
showcase to view and reflect upon recent developments in creating
theatre for babies and toddlers. For more information contact
jobelloli@belloli.fsnet.co.uk
Rochdale
Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) has employed professional
troupe The Splinter Theatre Group to help get its education
and support for parents message across in a fun and engaging
way. The Splinter Theatre Group devised a unique piece of
work for Rochdale MBC to demonstrate the importance of Parenting
Support at the 'A policy for the future' event in October
2005.
Rochdale's Sure Start
programme is focusing on developing children's communication
and language skills through performance art. The programme
is implemented by M6, a professional theatre company based
in Rochdale, which has created Story Tree, a language-based
production with a storyteller using props, puppets and costumes.
M6 worked closely with early years staff to ensure the language
and style of storytelling is accessible to very young children
and that they will understand the themes such as sharing,
cooperating, loss and concern for the environment. The stories
last approximately 20 minutes and have been designed to be
performed in non-theatre spaces such as nurseries, toy libraries
an community centres. The non-verbal elements of Story Tree
reinforce the language, and the storyteller leaves each child
a gift to remind them of the experience and to encourage them
to recount the stories to their friends and family. M6 and
Rochdale's Sure Start are now developing a new storytelling
project incorporating more than one language which will celebrate
and empower children who speak both Urdu and English.
For more information about Rochdale's Sure Start programme
visit www.rochdale.gov.uk/childcare
or email anne.evans@rochdale.gov.uk
For further information about M6 Theatre Company visit www.m6theatre.co.uk
In 2003 Sure Start and
the Adult and Community Learning Service funded a series
of creative sessions (poetry, storytelling, ballad, printing
and artwork) with parents in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire which
enabled them to record their under fives' development through
imaginative methods. The sessions were administrated through
Broxtowe College, Beeston. Mums (unfortunately, no dads turned
up) took on the role play of parents and toddlers - eliciting
creative material from their 'child' by as many methods as
possible; spoken gesture, symbol and song. Each parent bound
the final results into a book, with the front cover produced
through a simple monoprinting session. For more information
contact Project leader Dave Wood on davewrite2002@yahoo.com
 Talking to the Animals is a partnership project, funded by Nesta which investigates how museum collections can facilitate communication between under fives and their families. Two of the gallery displays have been changed to make it easier for families with under-fives to talk about the exhibits. The project's key aim is to develop displays that encourage families to communicate confidently and to interact with the museum's artefacts. Four museums are involved: The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-On-Trent, Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery, The New Art Gallery Walsall and Worcester Museum & Art Gallery. The museums are supported by Stoke Speaks Out
In the natural history gallery visitors can take a closer look at the stuffed animals and try a range of fun activities like the special animal puzzle, dressing up clothes and bird sounds. Children can hide inside the big tree and read their favourite animal stories or track the trails to see the animals in their homes. There are also Treasure Baskets available on request from the Visitor Desk. These are a collection of specially selected natural objects and everyday items for babies to play with. 
Through the project it is hoped it will give parents, carers and grandparents the tools needed to communicate about the collections with under 5s. The project also aims to make less confident visitors feel more comfortable in a museum environment and to overcome barriers to help make museums a more friendly and welcoming place for families with young children, especially those that may not usually visit.
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