Background
Pembrey Primary is an English medium school based in the local authority of Carmarthenshire with approximately 235 pupils on roll.
The school is situated in a community that is rich in folklore about sea pirates and shipwrecks. The school badge features two crossed hatchets which connects to the local story of Gwyr Y Bwelli Bach (people with little hatchets). Pupils were largely unaware of the heritage around them with limited knowledge of how their community had developed.
The school selected 30 Year 4 pupils to take part in their first Lead Creative School’s project. The enquiry question for the project was: can using a creative approach to literacy and immersing pupils in local Welsh history help to develop a greater sense of community and impact on the wellbeing and oracy skills of Year 4 e-FSM pupils?
The project linked to numerous school development priorities, including, improving the attainment, wellbeing, creative thinking skills, and engagement levels of pupils, particularly those eligible for free school meals. 13 of the pupils selected for the project were eligible for free school meals, 6 of which were below the 95% attendance threshold.
Activity
The pupils worked with Creative Practitioner, Megan Bagnell Clark who is a multi-disciplinary visual artist. The Creative Practitioner was very keen to ensure the project was pupil led and started by asking them what they would like to share about their local community with others. An organic process of research and discovery unfolded during which the pupils actively learned about local heritage and community.
Activities within the project included; learning the story of Gwyr Y Bwelli Bach, visiting the local beach to see a real shipwreck, beach combing to look for ‘treasure’, researching place and street names, planting a secret path used by the ‘hatchet men’ and creating artistic responses.
On seeing and touching the shipwreck, one pupil said
‘I’ve managed to touch history’
Following a reflection on the activities, the pupils decided they wanted to showcase their learning and journey with the wider community. Megan worked with the pupils to create a multi-faceted contemporary response to the local history of the area. This led to the construction of an audio tour to which parent, governors and the wider community were invited to.
The audio tour started in the car park of the Ship Aground Inn. The pupils were responsible for ensuring all the participants had headphones. The tour through the village was led by the Creative Practitioner. Along the journey, participants could hear through the headphones the voices of pupils telling them about the village and community. There were also periods of walking and listening to sea shanties. Along the tour there were several stops during which the pupils took part in creative interventions, including; telling stories about their heroes, sharing personal treasures, taking part in a crowning ceremony and releasing balloons. The tour finished at the local community centre where the work produced by pupils during the project was presented in an exhibition.
Impact
The impacts of the project were wide ranging. One key indicator of success was to be found in the attendance figures which were the highest recorded for the year.
Wellbeing was tracked throughout the project. Pupils were given a wellbeing questionnaire at the start and the end of the project. As a result of the project there was a particularly marked impact on wellbeing, especially for pupils eligible for free school meal.
As well as having an impact on the pupils, the project also impacted on the teachers as demonstrated by the following quote.
The Creative Practitioner worked with us to develop our personal interest and knowledge of Art and Welsh Culture & Heritage in an enthusiastic and motivating way. This experience enabled us to teach in a meaningful and creative way that enhanced, enriched and extended our pupils' learning ,which otherwise we may not have had the skills or confidence to do .The areas of art, drama and film-making were less well developed than others at our school but during the project we focused upon and learnt about the creative ways of documenting and evaluating the project with some insight to video recording, film making , blogs and so celebrating the achievements of the pupils. These skills will influence our practice and enable us to repeat this project or a similar project for the benefit of our pupils in the future.
The teachers directly involved in the project shared their knowledge with other staff in the school. In particular, they have shared how pupil voice was used effectively to lead and guide the learning sessions; it is hoped this approach will be one of the legacies from the project within the school.
These skills will influence our practice and enable us to repeat this project or a similar project for the benefit of our pupils in the future
