!!!! National Opera House Present New Drama For Primary School Children
National Opera House
School Shows: Thursday, 25 & Friday, 26 April, 10am and 12pm
Booking is now open for school performances and public performances of Pegasus The Clothes Horse, which runs at the National Opera House. This play is suitable for young people aged 7-10
This new play by Wexford-based Alison Ní Mháirtín, brims with wonder and play. Irish language, music and mythology combine with puppetry, opera and some very silly socks to create an epic journey from a young girl’s own house to the National Opera House.
Follow the link to book your tickets: https://www.nationaloperahouse.ie/whats-on/show/pegasus-the-clothes-horse
!!!! Weaving the Walk
Tell us the story of your project – What was the impetus? What was it about? Who was involved? How did you begin?
Artist Annabel Konig
When discussing the possible project with the teacher of the classes I was going to work with, we discovered that nature, observation, fabrics and the environment, were the main topics that were going to make up the project idea. Based on those, ‘weaving the walk’, was born. The idea was that each child would go for a walk with an adult and look at their surroundings differently, looking at textures, picking up weavable materials, make drawings and if they could, write words, in a notebook which would be their form of reference for the weaving we were going to make.
The frames for the weavings were made from branches that I brought in. Each child had to learn how to tie knots, measure string and create the framework. There was co-operation between the classes as some children were quite young.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I had previously taught the children some simple weaving techniques and am passionate about our local environment, so I was excited to collaborate with Annabel on this topic. We decided on this project very quickly during our first collaboration meeting. Prior to our first workshop, I spoke to the children about the project and they were very enthusiastic. I also sent a note home to the parents, outlining our ideas and asking for their help in taking the children for a walk and gathering suitable materials for our weaving. Unfortunately the weather hadn’t been very nice, so not all children had been for a walk so we took an observational walk around the school grounds and looked at the colours and textures we could see around us.
During the first workshop, Annabel discussed the project with the children. Some of the children had brought in materials for the weaving and we looked at these and discussed their suitability, or otherwise, with the children. When we started putting the frames together, it quickly became obvious that tying strings was too difficult for the younger children so we enlisted the help of the older classes to assist them. This lead to the project becoming a collaboration for the whole school, as, over the course of the project, all 48 children in the school had the opportunity to engage hands on in the project.
How were the ideas developed and how did the young people, artist and teacher work together?
Artist Annabel Konig
The second workshop centered on the brought in materials and drawings that the students had made. The drawings were the layout plan. Each child then made a general weaving plan, based on their own frame – some being horizontal, one vertical some large, etc. Both the school and myself had brought in additional soft, weavable materials, which were interpreted by the students as flowers, sheep, trees, grass and sky. The textures of the materials made the pupils consider what a bush might look like or a stream, a flower, etc.
At the end of the project, each child had a finished, or near to finished piece and could tell the story to someone else of how their walk was converted into a weaving.
Teacher Brenda Binions
Annabel asked the children to draw the story of their walk and then select suitable materials to represent the story. She asked them what they knew about weaving and explained the techniques that would be needed in this project. She explained the importance of tying the woven strands to support the structure of the weaving and discussed which materials might represent the different aspects of their walk. Again, the actual weaving was a challenge for some of the junior children. So we got some of the children in the senior room to help. We also had the assistance of our SNA in the room, which helped greatly. Some of the children found it difficult to get started on selecting materials and others grasped the concept straight away and showed great imagination in representing their walk in the weaving.
After each workshop, I asked the children to reflect on what they had been doing. We discussed it first and then they wrote about it. I put some of these responses in a scrapbook, along with photographs of the various stages, to keep as a record.
When they had finished their pieces of weaving, we took them to the other class to show them how they had turned out and each child told the “story” of their walk, as represented in their weaving.
What was your personal experience of the project in terms of successes and challenges?
Artist Annabel Konig
I always learn from children, the way they interpret ideas, the way they manage to work in materials – often different than I would so I re-discover the possibilities of working. Many of the students discovered that the even though their walks were similar, how they picked the fabrics to represent elements in the landscape, altered how others understood their work. The challenges some of the students found was that in their initial excitement after the project had been explained to them, is that they may have bitten off more than they could chew in the size of their frames. Big is not always better. Successes were many for each individual child, being able to stand up at the end of the process to explain their work, finding that they were good at something event though school work generally is hard for them and, as one little boy said to me ‘I know how to tie my shoelaces now’, shows that, through an art process one can obtain life skills.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I really enjoyed this project and I know the children did too. There were challenges for sure, not least where to store the weaving frames between workshops! We were very lucky in that we had a wide selection of weavable materials, some of which I had in the school but much of it was provided by Annabel . We had initially asked the children to bring in found materials which they could incorporate in their weaving, but much of this was unworkable and in the end, we mostly used fabric strips , wool and twine to represent the landscape. The children focused on colour and texture to represent their walk. We could not have done this project without adult assistance and the assistance of the children in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes. However, the children gained great skills in selecting materials, weaving, cutting, tying and describing their work.
What was significant for you about the project that is worth sharing?
Artist Annabel Konig
Process, process, process. You can learn skills that cross over into other elements of life and school subjects. Learning through creativity can often not feel like homework or hard learning, it can be done through fun and ‘outside the box’ approaches.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I always value the chance to collaborate with an artist. In this case, the project stretched the children’s creativity and expanded their skills, not just in art but in awareness of their environment, developing their confidence and collaboration with others. They each had a great sense of achievement and were delighted to show and bring home their finished piece.
Has anything changed in your work as a result of the project?
Artist Annabel Konig
Any workshop I do with children always encourages me to do more and to up the anti. Young people are so much more able than we think, once you give them the skills to succeed.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I think that as a teacher, I am inclined to keep projects small and within the confines of the classroom. This project had inspired me to look beyond the classroom and think outside the box. It has inspired me to ask more of the children and, with help from other adults and older children, encourage the children to expand their creativity.
!!!! Music Generation Job Opportunity: Administrator, Waterford & Wexford
Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board
Deadline: 5.00pm, Tuesday 1 May 2018
Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB) invites applications from suitably qualified persons for the positions of Administrator, Music Generation Waterford (1 post) and Administrator, Music Generation Wexford (1 post).
Both posts are full-time, 37 hours per week, and the successful candidates will be employed on fixed-term contracts for a period of three years.
Post details and applicant requirements are available to download from www.wwetb.ie/vacancies
The closing date for receipt of applications: 5.00pm, Tuesday 1 May 2018
WWETB is an Equal Opportunities Employer
Music Generation Waterford is part of Music Generation, Ireland’s national music education programme initiated by Music Network, co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills, and managed locally by Waterford Music Education Partnership, led by WWETB in partnership with Waterford City and County Council.
!!!! Documentation Award Update – Artist Clare Breen & Breadfellows’ Chats
The Arts in Education Portal editorial team have begun visiting sites of the recipients of our Documentation Award.
Earlier this month, we visited St Ibar’s National School, in Castlebridge, Wexford where artist Clare Breen has been working since October 2017 with 3rd and 5th classes. Each Wednesday she has worked in 2 sessions, responding to the work of 10 different international artists, including her own. The project is titled Breadfellows’ Chats with the Living Arts Project. The Living Arts Project was established in 2013 as a long-term visual arts education scheme, supporting the existing partnership between Wexford Arts Centre and the Arts Department of Wexford County Council.
The question “what does an artist do?” is at the center of this project. Breen selected 10 artists whose work is very diverse, and she has introduced the children to as wide a spectrum as possible of contemporary material processes. They have worked with painting, collage, sculpture, performance and the body, textiles, writing, film, photography, ceramics and sound. It was also important to Breen that the activities would cover the 3rd and 5th class art curriculum during the weekly sessions.
In week one the children made tunics to wear each week to protect their clothes. The tunics are painted with images responding to the question
If you were not a human, what would you like to be?
This could be an animal or an object, an alien or a monster, anything you can think of, but it should reflect some of your best qualities. (If this question is very difficult you can ask your friends for some help!)
This question was formulated as an alternative introduction that is not based on nationality, age, gender etc. to leave space for improvisation, allowing all to introduce themselves on their own terms. Working collaboratively, the children drew around one another while lying on the ground to find their shape; the traced figure became the outline for a tunic. Each child then painted on the tunic’s ‘tummy’ the animal/ object/ monster/ alien they had selected to wear over their uniform for the coming weeks.
The accompanying photos show the children in their tunics working on a painting project responding to the work of artist Sarah de Wilde.
!!!! Job Opportunity: Music Generation Development Officer, Wexford (re-advertisement)
Music Generation
Closing date: Monday 15 January, 2018
Waterford & Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB) is now inviting applications for the position of Music Generation Development Officer (Wexford).
Appointed by WWETB, the Music Generation Development Officer will be responsible for managing an extensive performance music education programme on behalf of Wexford Music Education Partnership.
County Wexford has recently been selected for participation in Music Generation – Ireland’s National Music Education Programme, which is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Three-year fixed-term contract.
Application form, job description and person specification available online at: waterfordwexford.etb.ie/vacancies/
Closing date for receipt of completed application forms: Mondy, 15 January 2018
Late applications will not be accepted.
Based on the volume of applications received short-listing may apply. Short-listing will take place on the basis of the information provided in the application form. Depending on the qualifications and experience of applicants, short-listing thresholds may be significantly higher than the minimum standards set out.
Waterford & Wexford ETB is an equal opportunities employer.