The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Through the Portal

Marcia Cunningham (LCC), Rebecca Pettman (Head)
 and Corrie Blackstone (Year 5 teacher)

Quarry Mount poetry assembly, 

Thursday 27 February

In the light of the weather forecast for more light snow, I had expected to start this with the famous quote from the book, 'It was always winter but never Christmas.'   However, we were treated to bright sunlight streaming through the school hall windows on to the beaming faces of class 5.  Ms Blackstone's pupils were well rehearsed and up to the challenge of performing individual lines, or the whole thing, to a large room full of supportive and enthusiastic classes, parents, school staff and visitors.  No mean feat when you're only nine or ten.

Year 5 were studying the classic book by C S Lewis from the Chronicles of Narnia; local published author and poet James Nash took the theme of travelling through a wardrobe but instead through a portal to somewhere unexpected.  What would you find? Sense? Expect?  What could happen? From writing a myriad of ideas down, the young people shaped their ideas and words, learning new ones along the way.  (Who knew 'stanza' at that age?  They do now). They then set to writing their own accounts of their imaginary experiences, some frightening, some delightful, all  vivid.

As headteacher Rebecca Pettman said, “Having a Distinguished Visitor, a Proper Published Author, work with us is such a fantastic opportunity to encourage our youngsters to write and perform their own work.  I'm flabbergasted by the vocabulary they have used, and the confidence with which they stand in front of the packed hall to perform their work.”  As Corrie Blackstone, Year 5 class teacher, added, “ this gives individuals the freedom to express themselves in a context of their own choosing.  It builds on 'I Can!', not 'I Can't.”

For one young man this was the first time he had attempted to write a whole piece without help in all his time in the class.  And for another young lady with the disturbed background and English as a Second Language that many refugees have, her writing had developed by two years to stun and delight her teacher. 

Thanks again to the funding from Inner North West area management committee for supporting this work.  Thanks, too, to Headingley LitFest volunteer Rachel Harkess, who had assisted with the workshops in the classroom.

Report by Sally Bavage

Some of the lines the children wrote:

I'm running, running and running

The leaves felt cold, just like ice cream

I hear squeaky noises in the distance, my blood runs cold

There is no sky or sun, where am I?

I s[un around on the chair

Thinking what to do for work,

As soon as I blinked I was teleported to a fair.

I see a lamp-post which is rainbow-coloured

Next to it is an unfamiliar sweet shop

I travelled through a window and saw a treasure chest

I see stones around me, cut grass

I hear my frieds sniggering in the distance

They get fainter and fainter

All I can do is cry and panic

I was frightened by myself, without my brothers and sisters

I want to go home

And what had the children thought of the opportunity to write poetry in this way?

Poems don't have to rhyme!

How to get your ideas down first

How to edit and redraft

It helps your conscience grow

It's inspiring for other pupils

Reading your poem out

The Post Ram Tod Dynasty

Conrad Beck writes:

Cal (Doug Sandle)

Doug Sandle's new play, The Post Ram Tod Dynasty, refurbished from a radio play he wrote ages ago and which - mysteriously - was never broadcast, was given two brilliantly entertaining performances in the intimate but chilly (the heating was off) setting of the Meanwood Institute on Sunday 16 February.  The meaning of the odd title became clear in the opening five minutes: it is nearly an anagram of Tom Stoppard, the name of the famous playwright, in tandem with the word Dynasty. Cal, a playwright, is sitting at his desk wrestling with writer's block and scraping around for ideas, in the course of which he invokes the names of the likes of Stoppard, but to no avail, because he is interrupted first by his wife Ros, and then by their friends Linda and George. Perhaps they can help with what Cal describes as 'one of my existential fantasies'.



Cal (played by Doug Sandle in the afternoon and by Dave Robertson in the evening) seems to be stranded in Egypt, where the Professor Tompkin who has just popped into his head is in search of treasure. The waspish Linda (a beautifully nuanced performance from Jane Oakshott) suggests he bases his characters on the weather forecast and the determinedly placid Ros (a professional touch here from Maggie Mash) comes out with a frightening true story of when she was sitting in a train near a man who told her he was a psycho. George, who resents too much drama in his life (played by the intensely dramatic Murray Edscer) is taunted and pushed to the limits, because he cannot make out whether or not Cal is reading from a script. The atmosphere is almost calm, though, and they drink invisible whisky from a visible bottle, which Cal pours making glugging noises. We laugh. They are four credible characters in search of an author, perhaps, unlike the professor and Hilda, his nubile assistant in Cal's imagination, who could be extras in Murder on the Nile.

Ros (Maggie Mash), George (Murray Edscer), Cal and Linda (Jane Oakshott)

The atmosphere changes, first of all when George is made to answer questions about his childhood fears and phobias. Spiders are mentioned, ingredients in Doug Sandle's previous play last year. George storms out, soon followed by peace-making Ros. Alone with Cal, Linda declares her love to him, to his great embarrassment, and gets into quite a state. Cal can handle Hilda, but not her. Tremulous to begin with, Linda becomes extremely distraught. She locks herself in the bathroom, which along with everything else is behind a tiny screen in the corner of the tiny stage. All very dramatic, and when Ros returns with an apologetic George, to be joined by a back-to-normal Linda, it is time for the bourgeois delights of tea and sustainable olives accompanied by a delightful chunk of local cheddar. Soon, everybody is in tune with everybody else and Cal is back with the prof, still musing on the connections between real life and histrionic versions of it. It is a comedy after all.

While eating chocolate cake afterwards, members of the audience were wondering whether Doug Sandle has got any more radio plays stuffed into his bottom drawers. Let's hope he has.  

Three March events

Premiere of New Play by Ray Brown - Skybluepink- CANCELLED

SORRY! WE'VE HAD TO CANCEL DUE TO ILLNESS.

WE'LL TRY TO PUT THE PLAY ON LATER THIS YEAR.

[On the scrap heap, engineer Mal has 

lost everything: wife, job, house, self

respect. He demonstrates luxury tat to

those who can afford it.

Rich widow Anne is lonely in a 

meaningless world of electronic guard 

dog, imaginary mother, and Vlado the 

vodka bottle. 

Childhood sweethearts, they meet by 

chance and begin a life-changing 

journey of shocking truths, happy

memories, and increasing intoxication.] 

Written and directed by Ray Brown,

featuring Jem Dobbs and Maggi 

Stratford, this laughter and tears play

shines a light on desperate lives and illuminates late 20^th century Britain.

   

[7.30pm Tickets £6.] 

Maggi Stratford

Jem Dobbs

Ray Brown

 This event is one of our  contributions to the
 Leeds LitFest 2020






For ALL Leeds Lit Fest events, go to:
https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk/whats-on/

Seeing the Wood for the Trees at Shire Oak Primary School

Sally Bavage writes:

James Nash with class teacher Ian Martin

No rain this time to dampen the enthusiasm of the 25-strong audience of parents, no snow to chill nor wind to find the chinks in your coat.  Makes a change!  How refreshing for this latest visit to hear the poems written by 28 youngsters in year 3.  But the elements played their part in the poems that we heard.

The theme this year – Trees.  Very apt, when you consider both the school name and its proximity to the site of the Headingley 'Shire Oak. The name may refer to an oak tree that was a meeting place for settling legal disputes and raising armies.' (Wikipedia).  We didn't raise an army but certainly raised a storm of applause for the joyous and talented recitations of original poems the seven- and eight-year-olds had carefully crafted. 

James Nash, local published writer and poet and regular visitor, commissioned once again to work with Ian Martin's year 3 class, completed a series of writing workshops with a final assembly for all the school's pupils, 25 parents, a dozen or so school staff including headteacher Jane Devane, and some other visitors.  So not daunting at all then for the youngsters!

The class had imagined that they were a favourite tree and explored ideas around characteristics, events and the effects of the weather and the seasons.  Pines, silver birch, apple trees, willows, beech, oak, even magnolias all made an appearance. Early uncertainty had given way to an increased confidence in their ability to write, to rhyme (or not – they enjoyed that poems don't have to), to share and perform.  No shaking of leaves of paper here; all read out their selections in strong and confident voices. 

Lots of smiles at the clapping of their parents at the end, pleasure at showing their work to family and laughs as James explains that he had been tempted to 'borrow' the odd line or so for one of his own poems.  No, not at all unlikely when you read selected lines like some of those below.

It's winter, I'm sleeping

A tiny tiny robin lives in these branches

I've always dreamed of children playing with me

I don't sleep in the night, I listen

I wish more people took selfies of me

I hate it when squirrels eat my nuts

In spring I cuddle in my thick leaves

Someone woke up and grabbed something out of the shed. 

It was a saw. 

All the trees shook.

When they went to the ill old tree,

Sady he made a cross where she will be cut down

Owls and woodpeckers peck and make a home in my trunk

Ants are eating my flowers

Magnolia trees dream and wish

Foxes and hedgehogs live nearby

Worms eat my juicy apples

I have my birds, they tweet a nice tune

A silver birch reminds me of my grandpa

I am dreaming to live in a snowy forest,

Not beside the noisy road

My favourite weather is windy

Because I love getting swept across the world

I dream of having another owl in my tree branches

I'm very popular in winter

When people hang their shiny decorations on my branches

Other trees are jealous

My favourite weather is the breeze

Because it makes be blow and creak

My vines hang low and proud

Woodpeckers give me a roaring headache

I see other trees having fun with the bees

A woodcutter comes and chops down a tree

He won't cut me, he takes an apple all glossy and red

My arms are full with red apples

The leaves are my clothes

My favourite days are sunny

Because families can camp uner my roof of vines

Dear Reader, could you have conceptualised and written  that at seven years old?!

As headteacher Jane Devane said, “I think it's a great start to them writing in key stage 2 to have such an opportunity to play with words, enjoy working with a Real Poet and to take pride in performing their work. Mr Martin is able to refer back to their achievements over the coming months and even future years.”

Grateful thanks to Rachel Harkess, Headingley LitFest volunteer (and former teacher), who helps with the workshops.  Thanks too, of course, to the local councillors on the Inner North West community committee who provide the funding for this valuable work to continue. 

Feedback from Year 3

What has been the best thing about this project?

Getting to know about poetry

It was fun

Something new

When we got to do the word list

What have you learned?

Poetry doesn't have to rhyme

Learning how to write a poem

Reading stuff is good

What will you remember?

Reading out my poem

More than one way to write

Pretending to be a tree

Feedback from Parents

Very expressive and heartfelt

Continue the excellent work please

Listening to all the seasons and colours being described

Conquering her fear of reading it in front of others

It's encouraged his reading and writing

Very confident performances

Encouraging creativity and confidence-raising

Should this collaboration be encouraged? Absolutely, with bells on!

Well written, great humour, descriptive and imaginative

Brilliant assembly, very proud mum

She has been talking for ages about meeting a real writer

Fantastic imagery

A very well-thought-out and delivered project

It gives the class the chance to meet and hear from a real artist and feel inspired

It has given my child an opportunity to think more deeply about writing – she is inspired!

Children were proud to read their poems

Growing his enthusiasm for poetry

A wonderful experience to use our language so creatively, especially learning from a poet

I didn't think she had written it! She's been telling me about alliteration. Thank you.

My daughter has loved the experience and grown in confidence with writing.

Wonderful, such creative pieces. My daughter was bouncing with pride about her work.

Great for him to feel there is a purpose to his writing.

Sometimes children's imaginations are better than adults!

A different approach to writing that goes beyond stories, reports, etc

Well done to everyone! Amazing assembly.

My son was absolutely gutted to have missed the first session through illness and has loved doing something new.

Opportunities to explore and produce poetry – and to work with a poet – must be kept in the curriculum

My granddaughter projected her voice very clearly and well. Well done to all of them.

Different creative perspective that supports humanity.

There was much more; this is just a selected line from each form.