Apart from touring Roots and Flutes I relish the opportunity to use whatever arts and folklore skills I can muster in schools. Projects might last from a day to a whole term of once-a-week visits.
A short-term project could involve writing and performing songs around a theme that's currently being studied in class, or the creation of a story-map which charts the ghost stories, legends and history of the area around a school.
A longer project might look at the re-creation of a traditional story using straightforward narrative, song, music, puppetry etc; anything that can encourage new skills among the children and incorporate the particular gifts and enthusiasms of individual teachers. Or a group of children might make up a story, illustrate it, record the narrative and dialogue, and appropriate natural sounds (I can supply the equipment to do this), and end up with their own book/CD package.
A
while back I was lucky enough to be able to take part in a project in
Cottingham Croxby Primary School in Hull. The children had been looking
at islands, using Mairi Hedderwick's Katie Morag books as a starting point,
and, at the end of two days and a lot of hard work from all concerned,
we were able to present a half-hour production to the rest of the school,
using storytelling, mime, songs new and old, and lots of sound effects.
Bob Pegg visited our school as part of a Scottish project, which aimed to combine Literacy and the Arts. He spent two days with us, working on a presentation that included story telling, music and songs. We were extremely impressed by the talents that Bob had to offer. The children loved the exciting stories that he told and the ability he had to use music, song and a wide variety of instruments with which to embellish his tales. The staff were impressed by the flexibility and adaptability which Bob possessed, enabling him to tailor his talents to the various age ranges in the school and to relate extremely well to staff and children alike. He was also brave enough to take a whole school assembly with very short notice. Our experiences of working with Bob have been invaluable in helping us to enrich the curriculum and provide breadth and balance. A testament to Bob's success is shown by the children's desire to sing the songs, tell the stories and talk about the experience long after Bob left.
Fax: as phone
Email: bobpegg@howl.fsbusiness.co.uk