Here is an article from one of the schools we toured to in 2011.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
The NEW anti-bullying roadshow
The 2011 Anti Bullying Roadshow finished in December. 8-weeks of touring to schools, colleges, theatres, youth clubs and universities was hard work. Some would call it gruelling. We performed to over 30,000 students and drove over 6000 miles up and down the UK. The reception was fantatstic and the show was a hit. Our new TIE performer/facilitator on this tour survived until the end but said she could not do it again ... it was just too difficult. Our plans for 2012 for the anti-bullying roadshow are huge. We are going to create the biggest anti-bullying tour the UK has ever seen, employing the best staff and utilising the most up-to-date research, methods and techniques available. Most of the details are currently under wraps but I can say that the 2012 roadshow will reach parts that no other anti-bullying programme can.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Reflections of a new TIE performer
The following post contributed by a first-time performer/facilitator:
This week I went on tour with the Anti-Bullying Roadshow for the very first time. The team drove from the South-West up to the Midlands for the first leg of this compelling 6-week UK tour. The Sunday we left I was really scared, out of my wits, to put it mildly. The long drive didn’t help to put my nerves at ease. I slept restlessly and the next morning my team-leader half-jokingly told me to get used to the lack of sleep - all part of the job of national touring.
Our first show was at a secondary school, we worked with the whole of year 8 (hundreds of them). It’d be fair to say that it wasn’t an ‘easing into it’ performance. The group were loud and the teachers seemed to hold little authority with the students. During the performance I thanked my lucky stars I was stage-managing this particular show and not acting in it. All the same the students were engaged and had lots of fun in the show.
After the performance had finished it was my job to introduce the workshop. Out of nowhere, pseudo-confidence kicked in, and I even managed to get a few laughs. The young people were more engaged in the workshop than I had imagined.
That night my sleep was as restless as the night before, touring and working with unknown groups can be quite scary - this continued throughout the whole week. Tuesday came, and this meant so did the time for my first performance ever: two puppet shows and three workshops for a primary school. Fifteen minutes before we were due to start, I decided to double check the sound queues. They wouldn’t work! The laptop had been updated the night before and had messed up the files. I panicked but luckily found the back up CD. The puppet shows went well, the children loved it, and were engaged. The tricky part came when attempting to do drama sketches with reception aged children, they were shy at first, but they soon got into the swing of it. My team leader then repaired the laptop ready for the next sessions.
On Wednesday we worked in a very welcoming primary school. The friendliest to date. With a successfully engaging puppet show in the morning with the infants and an extended workshop with the juniors in the afternoon. Our smoothest session of the week. My confidence is growing.
Our week climaxed on Thursday where we worked in a children’s home working with two teenage girls. Although this was the smallest group that we worked with, it was the group that tested us the most. We were due to start at half past nine, but the first hour was taken up with the girls arguing, swearing and shouting at each other and trying to indirectly (I think) demostrate who was in charge (them lol!). But after that, they calmed down, and took part in the workshop, with one of the girls constantly laughing and having fun throughout. She was so interested and engaged that she started on her competition entry as soon as the session had finished (see our last blog post about the free Actionwork competition for anti-bullying week.
So those are the adventures of the first week. Stay tuned to find out what happens in the second week of the tour.
This week I went on tour with the Anti-Bullying Roadshow for the very first time. The team drove from the South-West up to the Midlands for the first leg of this compelling 6-week UK tour. The Sunday we left I was really scared, out of my wits, to put it mildly. The long drive didn’t help to put my nerves at ease. I slept restlessly and the next morning my team-leader half-jokingly told me to get used to the lack of sleep - all part of the job of national touring.
Our first show was at a secondary school, we worked with the whole of year 8 (hundreds of them). It’d be fair to say that it wasn’t an ‘easing into it’ performance. The group were loud and the teachers seemed to hold little authority with the students. During the performance I thanked my lucky stars I was stage-managing this particular show and not acting in it. All the same the students were engaged and had lots of fun in the show.
After the performance had finished it was my job to introduce the workshop. Out of nowhere, pseudo-confidence kicked in, and I even managed to get a few laughs. The young people were more engaged in the workshop than I had imagined.
That night my sleep was as restless as the night before, touring and working with unknown groups can be quite scary - this continued throughout the whole week. Tuesday came, and this meant so did the time for my first performance ever: two puppet shows and three workshops for a primary school. Fifteen minutes before we were due to start, I decided to double check the sound queues. They wouldn’t work! The laptop had been updated the night before and had messed up the files. I panicked but luckily found the back up CD. The puppet shows went well, the children loved it, and were engaged. The tricky part came when attempting to do drama sketches with reception aged children, they were shy at first, but they soon got into the swing of it. My team leader then repaired the laptop ready for the next sessions.
On Wednesday we worked in a very welcoming primary school. The friendliest to date. With a successfully engaging puppet show in the morning with the infants and an extended workshop with the juniors in the afternoon. Our smoothest session of the week. My confidence is growing.
Our week climaxed on Thursday where we worked in a children’s home working with two teenage girls. Although this was the smallest group that we worked with, it was the group that tested us the most. We were due to start at half past nine, but the first hour was taken up with the girls arguing, swearing and shouting at each other and trying to indirectly (I think) demostrate who was in charge (them lol!). But after that, they calmed down, and took part in the workshop, with one of the girls constantly laughing and having fun throughout. She was so interested and engaged that she started on her competition entry as soon as the session had finished (see our last blog post about the free Actionwork competition for anti-bullying week.
So those are the adventures of the first week. Stay tuned to find out what happens in the second week of the tour.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
FREE COMPETITION
Anti-bullying week is around the corner, and to celebrate this year's theme 'stop and think words can hurt', Actionwork are holding a brand new free exclusive competition to get young people involved. We want you to create a piece of artwork under this year's theme for your chance to win loads of cool prizes. You could make: a film, song, poem, story, collage, painting, drawing, animation. The possibilities are endless. The closing date for this competition is the 9th of December.
Check out this link for the entry form and more info: http://tinyurl.com/3dv47rq
Check out this link for the entry form and more info: http://tinyurl.com/3dv47rq
Thursday, 20 October 2011
7 reasons to book Actionwork
Actionwork is a theatre, film, education and anti-bullying company. You can book our anti-bullying roadshow or other creative programmes by checking out our website http://www.actionwork.com/.
1) Actionwork listens to you and creates programmes of work tailored to your needs.
2) Actionwork does not preach or condescend to students and young people they work with but tells it as it is.
3) Actionwork is at the cutting edge of creative action in education.
4) Actionwork provides free resources, follow-up guidance and free e-mail support to clients.
5) Actionwork has fun with you, plays games, delivers interactive creative activities and always with a smile.
6) Actionwork works with all people from all parts of the world.
7) Actionwork works in the real world and the virtual world.
http://www.actionwork.com/
1) Actionwork listens to you and creates programmes of work tailored to your needs.
2) Actionwork does not preach or condescend to students and young people they work with but tells it as it is.
3) Actionwork is at the cutting edge of creative action in education.
4) Actionwork provides free resources, follow-up guidance and free e-mail support to clients.
5) Actionwork has fun with you, plays games, delivers interactive creative activities and always with a smile.
6) Actionwork works with all people from all parts of the world.
7) Actionwork works in the real world and the virtual world.
http://www.actionwork.com/
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
2012's School Inspection Framework
The 2012's Ofsted inspection framework states inspectors should assess: "pupils’ behaviour towards, and respect for, other young people and adults, including freedom from bullying and harassment that may include cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to special educational need, sexual orientation, sex, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment or disability."
check out http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/draft-framework-for-school-inspection-january-2012 for more information
http://www.actionwork.com/
check out http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/draft-framework-for-school-inspection-january-2012 for more information
http://www.actionwork.com/
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