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Newsletter 2017-18

Larkmead School Visual & Performing Arts | Newsletter 2017-18

Larkmead School Visual & Performing Arts

A few pieces drawn from Year 12’s photography exhibition ‘Growth & Decay’, which was on display in the

Goya Gallery at Larkmead School in late 2017/early 2018. To help inspire their work, they visited Tate Modern

to see the exhibition ‘The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography From the Sir Elton John Collection’.

Growth

&

Decay

Cultural Arts Days

Cultural Arts Day 2018: World War One


Art (remembrance poppy mosaic); Dance (life in the

trenches); Drama (army enlistment); Food (cooking

with rations); Music (WW1 medleys); Science (WW1

medicine); and Spoken word (life on the Home

Front).

The second Cultural Arts Day of the year - which was Cuban themed -

took place the following day for the whole of Year 8. Students enjoyed

art, capoeira, salsa, drama, food and music workshops.

On 4 July 2018, the whole of Year 7 took part in the

first of this year’s Cultural Arts Days, which was

themed around WW1.

After an opening presentation by Mr Cole (History

Teacher at Larkmead), pupils participated in four of

seven workshops on offer:


Community

Developing Partnerships with

Abingdon Music Centre

In September 2017, Abingdon Music Centre found a new home at Larkmead School. This newly formed

partnership builds on existing links - such as the jointly run Arts Award project (see p7) - and will better

serve the local community through a plethora of musical activities.

Community Arts Projects

On 4 June 2017, Year 12 students coordinated a community arts dance project

with 30 pupils from Carswell Primary School.

Community Arts Performances

Also in June 2017, Year 12 students performed a piece called Consequences to a

mixed audience about the challenges of young people and spiked drinks. This

was followed by a Q&A session.

Consequences performance

Cross-Cultural Arts Day 2017: Festivals

In July 2017, students in Years 7 and 8 took part in the cross-cultural arts days, celebrating festivals from

around the world. Workshops included: Indian art; Day of the Dead art; Samba drumming; Diwali; Bollywood;

Capoeira; and African storytelling.

Mental health performance: Under my Skin

In March 2018 the whole of Year 8 observed this

exploration of self harm in adolescents, put on by

Oxford’s Pegasus Theatre and commissioned/funded

by Oxfordshire County Council.

STEM to STEAM

Breaking the Code


Larkmead School participated in this year’s STEM to

STEAM project ‘Breaking the Code’, organised by the

South Oxfordshire School partnership project.

Culminating in a showcase at Didcot Cornerstone in

January of this year, participants spent several weeks

exploring connections between STEAM (science,

technology, engineering, arts and maths) subjects,

relating to topics such as code breaking, cyber safety,

DNA, the gene machine and forensic science.

Each school group - from Larkmead, Carswell

Primary, Fitzharrys, King Alfred School and St Helen

and St Katharine - carved their own path through the

project, with Larkmead students choosing to explore

‘the ethics of designer babies’.

The ethics of designer babies

Brave New World: Dance Company

Students from Years 9 to 13 came together to

question how our DNA develops and the links the

body creates.

They devised a dance piece exploring how these links

develop the human - and what could happen if we

begin to play with genetic codes, DNA and choosing

the traits of unborn children, such as the potential to

manufacture clones.

They asked the question:

‘What happens to the body and the mind; do our

brains fight against it or are they unable to?

Pick ‘n’ Mix: Year 9

Year 9 students asked the question: ‘If we enhance

the same aspect and get rid of others what might the

consequences be for society and the human race?’

Students developed what their ideal qualities or

movements would be and identified through dance

the traits to enhance. They asked:

‘What happens if these strands are not compatible?

What happens to the human? Does its body start

to attack itself or does it develop links?’

Ethical right or ethical horror?

Or are we duty bound to explore what technology can do in

a safe, reliable manner to help people, to help families create

a child free of disease. Would it be unethical not to do it?

These are dilemmas we have explored in Breaking the Code,

with input from Debate Theatre, we have challenged our

thinking, and asked the fundamental question: Is it ethical to

modify our genes?


ATCG

‘ATCG’ is a dance piece that explores the theme of

DNA and the codes that make up our proteins that

allow us to grow and develop.

As a class, Year 7 created four phrases of movement

that represent each code. The students then

developed the dance by creating their own genetic

code phrases.

The group also explored the shape of DNA (double

helix) through movement by looking at linear and

circular movement within the coded phrases.

ATCG stands for the four nucleotides found in DNA:

adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine.

Cultural STEM to STEAM Day Workshops

In November 2017, the

whole of Year 9

participated in theatre and

dance workshops themed

around:

Genetics; Designer babies;

Genes; and Coding.

Five workshops in total

were on offer.

Breaking the Code Dance Workshop

André Rebelo, who is a dancer with the Yasmin Vardimon

dance company, visited Larkmead in November 2017 to lead a

number of dance workshops exploring the theme ‘Breaking the

Code’.

Alongside participants from St Helen & St Katharine School,

pupils from Years 9 and 13 were exposed to physical theatre

techniques.

Drama Pieces

Following a workshop with Nigel Townsend from

Theatre of Debate, Year 9 and 10 students devised

drama pieces based on four topics.

These were:

The Dilemma

Wanted or needed?

Gene survival

The future is no longer in God’s hands

André Rebelo workshop

Trips

New York

In April 2017, 18 A-Level performing arts students crossed the Atlantic to experience some of the diversity of

performing arts that New York has to offer. They saw the Broadway production of Miss Saigon, and

participated in a stage combat workshop and a dance workshop.


Other trips / visits

Spring/Summer 2017 | Thirty students from Years 8

and 9 were treated to a performance of A Linha

Curva in March 2017, a show of ‘samba-fuelled

dance’ put on by the Rambert dance company at the

Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury.

In April, A-Level students joined a behind-the-scenes

tour and lecture series at the National Theatre,

London, to learn about all aspects of theatre

production.

Autumn/Winter 2017 | Our GCSE drama students

visited Cotswold Wildlife Park in September to

observe and analyse animal movement and

relationships.

Also in September, 30 A-Level and GCSE students

went to see Andrew Bovell’s Things I Know to be

True - a portrayal of family breakdown through

physical theatre - at the Oxford Playhouse.

In the same month, GCSE students travelled into

Oxford to experience a concert of chamber music in

the Sheldonian theatre, put on as part of the Oxford

chamber music festival.

In October, Years 9 to 13 watched Tipping Point, a

show of aerial theatre performed by Ockham’s Razor

company, at Didcot Cornerstone.

At the Oxford Playhouse, Years 10 to 13 saw People,

Places and Things, a play about addiction, treatment

and self-awareness.

In November, Years 10 and 11 saw What Once Was

Ours at the Didcot Cornerstone - an immersive show

about identity and belonging.

Towards the end of the year, our Year 8 students

popped across the road St Helen and St Katharine

School for a production of The Lion, The Witch and

The Wardrobe.

Year 7 students saw A Christmas Carol, put on at

Oxford’s North Wall Arts Centre.

Spring/Summer 2018 | In June 2018, 30 students

from Year 10 and the sixth form saw a contemporary

adaptation - featuring real-life Verbatim interviews -

of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play A Doll’s House at Didcot

Cornerstone.

Imitating the Dog | Years 12 and 13 spent a two-day

residency with performance company Imitating the

Dog in September 2017, at Didcot Cornerstone.

The company, which specialises in telling stories by

fusing ‘live performance with digital technology’,

helped students to develop

their personal skills and

knowledge of production.

Following the workshop, the

students were able to

observe these techniques in

action during a performance

of Nocturnes - in which

three performers on stage

‘appear to provide the voice

and soundtrack to a film

being projected onto a

screen above them’.

Body Politic | In June 2017, 35 Year 8 and 9 students

enjoyed working with the Oxfordshire dance

company Body Politic, in a workshop that explored

issues surrounding mental health.

Singing Workshop | In July 2017, Larkmead’s singing

teacher Sarah Chitty ran a workshop exploring

singing techniques. It was open to any pupil

interested in singing.

Ceramics Workshop |

Year 9 participated in a

joint ceramics workshop

with students from St

Helen and St Katharine

School.

Photography Workshop | Years 7 to 10 joined a

workshop on creative composition run by

photographer Jordon Maynard in July 2017.

Misunderstood | In February 2017, former Britain’s

Got Talent stars ‘Misunderstood’ engaged Larkmead

students about online safety and cyber bullying

through an interactive singing/dance workshop.

Christian Workshop | Students from all years

participated in a workshop with a visiting band,

including the GCSE group who carried out song

writing workshops. Students had the opportunity to

perform with the band during break and lunch time.


Workshops

Imitating the Dog workshop

Arts Award

At Larkmead, 130 students are working towards their Bronze Arts Award. The Arts Award programme is run

by Trinity College London and Arts Council England to: ...support young people who want to deepen their

engagement with the arts, build creative and leadership skills, and to achieve a national qualification.

As part of the award, Year 8 participated in a residency with Larkmead School alumna Alice Zawadski - who is

now a professional vocalist, violinist, songwriter and composer - which was run by Abingdon Music Centre.

In July 2018, Year 8 and 9 students saw a performance of the musical Young Frankenstein at London’s Garrick

Theatre, after visiting Tate Modern. Tate Modern

Performances

We Will Rock You

Sell out audiences were treated to this year’s whole school production of We Will Rock You: The Musical in

February 2018. The show ran for three nights, starting with a performance to 180 primary school students.


Last year’s whole school production was Billy Elliot:

The Musical, performed 7-9 February 2017.

Other performances included the annual Celebration

of Christmas concert, featuring poetry, music, dance

and drama from both students and staff.

Devised pieces...

Year 10’s drama performance Dark Side of the Moon,

a showcase of controlled assessment pieces, took

place in July 2017.

In November, our Year 11 drama students performed

their devised pieces to parents.

Our A-Level drama students then delivered their

project work at a performance evening in December.

This year’s A2 performance evening was held on in

June 2018, featuring extracts from Othello and the

students’ Verbatim theatre on the #metoo campaign.

Dance Festival 2017

The annual Dance Festival took place this year on 29

November 2017. Seventy students were involved.

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