On Saturday we had another fun-filled day, fashioning our own quills from pheasant feathers. We used the quills and ink to create word portraits of our favourite character from Macbeth. Lisa told us about how Queen Elizabeth came to be queen and Mohammed told us about why Queen Mary was known as ‘Bloody Mary’. Did you known she had more than 500 Protestants killed! The children were given letters about our upcoming trip to The Globe Theatre. Look out for next week’s blog -our learning about subtraction and our work on portraits.
Author: blcadmin
If I were a cat… some lines from St Saviours Primary as part of Eliot Now project
Having heard Eliot’s poems, year 5 at St Saviours Primary have put pen to paper with a flourish, writing ‘If I were a cat…’ poems. Here are just a few lines to whet your appetite:
“If I were a cat
I would touch
The claws of the wind.”
“If I were a cat,
I would dance in the gaze of the moon and lick myself clean until the red fiery light of dawn rises up from its pillow.”
“If I were a cat,
I would daydream of leaping from candyfloss clouds
Without a single care in the world.
But I’m not a cat – so I can’t do any of that.”
Well done Wordsmiths of Year 5 at St Saviours!
Maths and Photography project gets underway with teachers’ INSET session
On Thursday 16th January our partnership project with Windmill cluster schools got underway at Loughborough Primary School, with an INSET session for year 4 teachers, in Loughborough’s brand new community room. This project, delivered by photography workshop leaders and volunteers from Fotosynthesis and community arts organisation Creative Sparkworks, will support children in maths concepts of shape and measurement using hands on learning and visual cues. On Thursday, teachers had a go at making 3-D shapes which the children will make and then put together to build a large structure, experimenting with planes and angles. They also went on a ‘treasure hunt’ to find some shapes and dimensions of objects around the school. These and other activities will be part of the children’s workshops starting next month. More to follow! We are grateful to the Ernest Cook Trust for funding this project.
SHINE on 18th January – Hubble, bubble….
This week at SHINE we have been designing our own soup! WE wanted to make a potion based on Macbeth’s 3 wicked sister Hubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble speech but our tutors were a little worried we would all turn into toads! Ms Wheatle said the Eagles soup was the best but Ms Ackerman said it was the Lions, Ms Downes said it was the shark’s soup that was the tastiest but by the end of it all I could tast was onion and garlic! Next week we are trying our hang at calligraphy using quills………..
Year 8 Photography sessions for Eliot Now
180 students from Evelyn Grace Academy have been up to Bankside this week to take photographs inspired by themes from Eliot’s The Waste Land, working with Brixton professionals from Brixton based Photofusion gallery. Its been a week of sunshine and rain, but no snow I’m pleased to report! Some fantastic shots captured by these talented year 8s, using DSLR cameras for research and taking their carefully chosen catalyst shot on polaroid film. Brixton Learning Collaborative would like to thank Lizzy King, Adrian Wood and the team of volunteers from Photofusion who have worked 4 days solid with groups of students, as well as all the staff from Evelyn Grace Academy for their enthusiasm and creativity in supporting the young people to find a ‘way in’ to this challenging great work, The Waste Land.
Jenny Smith, Partnership Manager
Teachers, Cats and lots of new words
13 teachers from the BLC met after school on 9th January to start the primary element of our Eliot Now project, with lead poet Jared Louche. It was a valuable chance to get together and discuss how the project will run and share ideas to explore the Old Possums Book of Practical Cats with our year 5 children. Enthusiastic relatives of our teachers have been sharing their cats’ stories and names – including one called David Cameron (we aren’t sure why!). The Naming of Cats gives a great opening exercise for readers to make up their own 3 names: their daily, family name, their special peculiar name and the name that they keep secret from everyone – then write a line or two of poetry to go with them.
Jenny Smith, Partnership Manager
BLC Poetry Slam – the competition begins
Friday 10th January saw the start of the BLC Poetry Slam where all the teams met at Evelyn Grace Academy to hear and see poetry in action! 4 talented young people from years 8 and 9 from Evelyn Grace dazzled us with their wordsmithing and told us how they got into poetry: an inspiration to everyone there. The new younger teams then joined in with poetry leader and compere Adisa’s poems. Workshops start in school on 21st January, kicking off in St Saviours and St John’s Angell Town with Neal Zetter. A great start.
Eliot Now project starting this week
We begin the New Year on a poetic note, as BLC year 5 teachers gather on Thursday 9th after school to work with poet Jared Louche on poetry writing inspired by T Eliot’s Old Possums Book of Practical Cats. It promises to be a lively, hands-on, voices-on session to get the creative juices flowing.
Funding Success for BLC Poetry Projects
Eliot Now
Funded by Clore Poetry and Literature Awards
An exciting and challenging project where children in years 5 and 8 in the BLC read, reflect and respond to the poetry of TS Eliot. This project brings the students work beyond the classroom through partnership with Photofusion gallery in Brixton and Brixton libraries. Postcards and posters will celebrate the work on the streets of Brixton.
“Poetry and literature reveal new possibilities and worlds beyond our own. It is vital that all children and young people experience the power of literature, poetry and creative writing – they are at the heart of our experience and culture.” Dame Vivien Duffield, Clore Duffield Foundation![CD_logo_-_Jan_10[1]](https://brixtonlearningcollaborative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/cd_logo_-_jan_101.jpg){kind=logo}
BLC Poetry Slam
Funded by The Walcot Foundation.
The powerful medium of performance poetry brings students from the BLC schools together to compete in the first BLC Poetry Slam at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton. Teams from 10 schools are coached by professional, highly regarded performance wordsmiths Adisa, Kat Francois, Neal Zetter, Indigo and Joshua Seigal in preparation for the competition.
“I believe that Slam poetry is an awesome medium for aiding young people through many transitions they will have to make during their lives.” Adisa the Verbaliser, Poet workshop leader on BLC Poetry Slam.
New courses for parents.
Sewing courses in BLC Children’s Centres
The BLC is delighted to be able to run sewing courses for parents in 2014, across 3 of its Children’s Centres, generously funded by The Big Lottery. Courses start in January at Hill Mead Children’s Centre and Loughborough Children’s Centre.
For more information contact:
Denise King for Hill Mead Children’s Centre 020 7274 8374
Marie Sinclair for Lougborough Children’s Centre 020 7274 8474
The Brixton Learning Collaborative 