Life’s a circus as children learn to find their identity
CHILDREN got in on the circus act during a special theatre project.
Schools from across the borough joined together for lessons aimed at exploring identity, celebrating diversity and promoting community.
As part of the project, Hamer-based M6 Theatre Company put on a showing of their latest production A Tiger’s Tale for the schools involved.
Last week Ashfield Valley, Healey, Caldershaw and Meanwood primary schools took part in the project with the children taking part in activities together despite only knowing each other for a few hours.
Coun Donna Martin, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Those children will have had an experience that will stay with them for years to come, perhaps a lifetime. The purpose of the linking network is to support schools to develop a positive, cohesive ethos by helping children to explore identity, celebrate diversity, champion equality and promote community.”
Erica Field, teaching and learning advisor at the council, said: “The children were brave and kind and incredibly supportive of each other. The M6 visit created the opportunity for them to have a shared experience with their linking classmates and supported them to learn about each other while discovering things about themselves. Their enthusiasm and joy was infectious.”
The play, based on the true story of the Holmfirth Tiger, combines circus, puppetry, live music and song.
From a circus train in South Africa, to a steamboat on the Atlantic Ocean and onward to West Yorkshire, a ramshackle travelling troupe tell us the unbelievable true story of a family of acrobats and their adopted tiger cub.
The production was written by Mike Kenny, one of the England’s leading writers in young people’s theatre.
Debs Palmer, chief executive of M6 Theatre, said: “Friendships and experiences in childhood stay with us all our lives. They are the foundations of what we believe about ourselves, each other and the world around us.
“It is our pleasure and privilege to work with Rochdale council on this project, where education and arts specialists combine to create memorable and potentially lifechanging experiences for children.”