Creation Inspiration Day in Yatton

                            Creation Inspiration – Yatton

6 March 2010

This event took place on Saturday 6 March to celebrate World Book Day and was very successful with over 400 people attending. The schools were buzzing with lots of creative activity and excitement. The number attending exceeded all expectations.

This was helped by the variety of methods of advertising including press releases, flyers, leaflets, posters, banner and holding short workshops in each school in the lead up to the event. This excited the young children in both local schools and created a positive atmosphere before the day had even started.

The day was a good example of extended learning for the whole family including grand parents, parents and young people aged 0 – 14. The day took place across the Children’s Centre, Infant School and Junior School all on the same site. However the day also included another rural primary school and the local secondary school as well as reaching to other communities far and wide. Literacy was really brought alive through the workshops leaders and activities provided throughout the day. Children’s authors inspired families demonstrating that learning is exciting for adults as well as children.

Many parents stated that this day gave them new ideas to work with their children and made them see literacy in a different way. This is fantastic as many see literacy as just reading but this gave families the opportunity to see literacy in a wider context.

There have been lots of positive comments from parents including:

‘A really exciting day. Please can we have more of these things. Excellent opportunity for children to learn and have fun!’

‘We shall enjoy looking at the tapestry in Yatton library.’

‘Days like this keep kids active + interested in learning without realising they are – Brilliant day.’

Children enjoyed new activities and were excited to be working alongside local actors who have starred in popular television programmes such as the Tracey Beaker series. Children were enjoying learning with their parents in a fun and inspiring environment.

Comments from children included:

‘I learnt you do not have to be scared off anything.’

‘I met two authors, I had lots of fun!’

‘Do it again please!’

‘I would want to do it again’

This day engaged workshop providers from the Backwell and Nailsea Cultural Hub funded by Find Your Talent which aims to increase the cultural offer for children and young people. Staff and workshop provider feedback has been very positive describing the day as awesome:

‘Everyone I know is raving about it to everyone. I thought it was fab especially the pirates and the dragon lady.’ – Youth Worker

‘Congratulations on a brilliant day’ – workshop provider

‘I was particularly pleased to see some secondary students and their parents whom we are positively targeting for engagement in terms of narrowing the gap’ – Head teacher Backwell Secondary School

‘Highly successful in bringing together a large number and a wide range of families from different parts of the community…….increasing parental involvement has been a key focus for us as a school this year and this event has helped us with our aim to make parents more welcomed and better informed about their children’s learning……I feel confident that the day will have inspired parents to engage with children and try out activities especially related to stories’ Head teacher Yatton Junior School

One of the central workshops of the day was the Textile Art workshop which was to produce a piece of collaborative art work for the local library. This is an important link to community cohesion as it did not only get people working together on the day but will have a lasting place in a central place in the library. This will enable members of the community to come together in a local place to see the work they contributed to, giving a sense of belonging.

To bring the community together we involved lots of community groups including the Yeo Valley Children’s Book group, the Library and the local book shop. We also had The Brandon Trust providing the community Café serving light refreshments and selling small crafts.

The day also gave us the opportunity to talk to families and consult them regarding other positive activities within the community. As a result family learning will be built into the planning over the next couple years.

The day met all the original objectives and the overall aim providing an informal and social occasion for families to enjoy learning together.

Marie Davis

Extended Services Partnership Manager

March 2010