Salisbury Downs Primary School
Salisbury Downs Primary School is in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and has a role of 480 students with approx. 30% on School Cards and 30% from non-English speaking backgrounds. There has been a steady growth in arts related activity and the school has a choir and has been involved in Wakakirri.
PROJECT COORDINATOR: Cecilia Littlewood
ARTIST: Sue Harris
PROJECT: A puppetry / performance project.
Aims:
• To introduce students to puppetry as an artform through the making of their own puppets and producing a puppetry performance.
• To introduce students to scriptwriting and presentation.
• To help children’s self-esteem while encouraging cooperative work and communication.
• To help students value the work of the artist and see it as a life-style and a profession.
Sue worked with every class in the school for three workshops to introduce different styles of puppets, assist in their construction and encourage the student's puppetry skills.
Students and teachers recorded the progress through drawing, story writing, digital photos and journals. Many classes performed with their puppets for an assembly or to another class.
Outcomes:
Many of the teachers felt happy with the achievements of their students as they demonstrated improvement in areas of cooperation, planning, audience skills, imagination and fine motor skills.
As a result of the Artists In Schools project, some classes have begun attending puppetry productions such as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Fish" by Windmill Performing Arts.
‘I would have liked to work with fewer students but I also understand there is a desperate need for students who are not exposed to the arts in every day life to have first-hand experience.’ Artist
‘My puppet’s name is Daniel and I worked with Corey. His puppet’s name is Bird and that is what it’s about. The bird says, “can you see the worm?” and I say, “yes”. So I grab the worm and we brushed our teeth and we flew away.’ 6 year old student
470 students were involved in this highly rewarding puppet project.
Go to page Sue Harris Puppets for more information about this artist
