What’s Inside

at Abraham GuestSports & Arts College

The Creative DimensionSummer Issue 4 2011

...andmore!

• Plastersine Theatre Company setsthe stage at Abraham Guest

• Art Gallery - Spring /Summer• Personal Response - an exhibition

by Winstanley College Students• SLAM - Live Poetry

3

at Abraham Guest

Afully enriching experience

2

Sports & Arts College

The Creative Dimension

Skilled in Shakespeare

A timeless tale of two householdsIn March students from all year groups performed the world’s most famous love story,‘Romeo and Juliet’. The show began with students singing a selection of contemporarysongs and a dance (choreographed by JamesRosental) that were inspired by the tragic tale.The play, directed by Mrs Christine Smith, was a fusion of traditional and contemporaryinterpretation, with the actors in period costume, using a minimalist set design, but witha soundtrack of popular and rock music. The students learned how to perform stage combatwith sticks for the energetic and exciting fightscenes between the feuding families. They alsolearned how to dance a gavotte for the Capuletball, at which the star crossed lovers meet andfall instantly in love.The performance was a huge success andreceived magnificent reviews from parents,teachers and other pupils. Mr Barnes, Creative Dimension Leader said “Thequality of performance really was second to none.One of the best interpretations of this famous story I have ever seen. We could take this to anytheatrical festival and it would be as good as anyprofessional performance you would see! “

Prior to the school’s performance of ‘Romeo andJuliet’, the students involved in the productiontook part in some Shakespeare workshops toenrich their knowledge of the Bard and enhancetheir performance skills.Plastersine Performing Arts Academy taught thepupils how to perform stage combat using sticksand dramatic music. The students learned tomake the fight and death scenes lively, thrillingand believable, whilst still being safely timed andchoreographed. Another workshop session led by Plastersine was designed to improve the student’s general performance skills and increase their understanding of Shakespeare’s language.Firstly, in small groups they created and thenstaged their own similes. Next, the pupils compared quotations from the play with theirstandard English and modern equivalents, andthen performed them to the rest of the group,which proved to be extremely humorous. Harold and Christine Molyneux from ‘Sound ofSequence,’ who hold regular sequence danceevenings all over the North West, came intoschool and taught the cast how to dance agavotte. The pupils had fun learning how to dothis historic dance, which was performed at theCapulet ball during the play.

On February 17th and 18th the school daychanged, the learning changed, everythingchanged. Students came into the school to beconfronted by a full scale combat stage set in theschool atrium. A stage for the robots, they wereto make in the Discovery dimension, to fight itout! The scene was set for two very special daysof curriculum enrichment, where learning wasintense and delivered through a programme ofworkshops in every learning dimension. Our school curriculum is being organisedthrough learning dimensions. The Creative

Dimension (Art and Design, Dance, Music,Drama and Creative Writing). The DiscoveryDimension ( Science and Engineering) The WellBeing Dimension ( Physical Education, HealthyLifestyles, Food Technology, Ethics andPhilosophy and PSHE) The Global Dimension(History, Geography and Languages) TheEssentials Dimension (Maths, English and I.T.)and N.E.S.T (Nurture, Empower, Support andTrust where every child matters (pastoral care,)The Enrichment days helped to introduce ourlearners to the dimensions curriculum.

On these days the timetable was collapsed forKS3 and 4 and replaced with a programme of learning activities which addressed cross curriculum themes and post secondary workrelated experience. Years 7-10 were appointed aseries of four half day workshops relating to crosscurriculum themes and year 11 were appointeda series of workshops and activities relating tothe transition between school, further educationand the world of work. The key aims of the two 7-10 enrichment dayswere to ● Introduce crucial aspects of learning that

are not seen as part of the subject based curriculum.

● Place cross curriculum themes at the heart oflearning, that reflect some of the major ideasand challenges that face individuals and society, and help make learning real and relevant.

● Introduce elements of our Dimensions curriculum structure and emphasise the benefits of collaborative dimensional learning.

The days were designed to Add a richness and relevance to the curriculumexperience of our learners ● Unify areas of learning across our curriculum

dimensions and help our learners make sense of the world. The diversity of learningexperiences was indeed extensive. Learnerswere engaged in a creative process of individual and collaborative thinking andpractice crossing all subject areas. Practicewas practical and demanded participation.The range of workshop activities included...Robot building, robot wars, film making,American football, army led team building,circus skills, mapping a journey to Paris,Zumba (salsa dance), international food tasting, a massive South American bannerconstruction, mixed media postcards fromAfrica, African drumming, storytelling, hennafabric designs, Bhangra street dance,Aboriginal map paintings, visits to FulwoodBarracks, yoga classes and much more...

A fully enriching experience.Learning was deep and intensive, and studentsfrom all ages were fully engaged and involved. Two great days that our learners relished and willremember for years to come.

54

at Abraham GuestSports & Arts College

The Creative Dimension

Sets the StagePlastersine

Aiming Higher Amazing five starsfor Ludus Dance Company

Plastersine are a theatre company and dramaacademy. They work with young people who areinterested in the performing arts, and we arevery proud that they have formed a partnershipwith Abraham Guest School. Abraham Guestnow hosts a Performing Arts Academy. Born in 2007, The Plastersine Group waslaunched to bring a wide variety of unique newlearning opportunities to a wide range of people, through the aid of performance-relatedarts. "The Plastersine Team are all very aware of thepower and importance of performing arts intoday’s society, and hope to make a significantchange in every person who chooses to accessany of the services available."

Mark AshtonDirector

Every Friday evening Plastersine take over ourperforming arts studios, theatre and atrium.Plastersine’s professional team lead workshopsin the performing arts of drama and singing, to all ages. The local community of Primaryschools send their young learners for the early workshops, which are then followed by secondary level workshops. Learners can getinvolved in performance or learn about stage management and lighting. All aspects ofperforming arts are represented, and mostimportantly it’s great fun taking part. There issomething for everyone at the PlastersineAcademy and you can gain accreditation for thework you do, and, if you are really keen there areopportunities for you to further your interests inperformance, by taking part in the company’sproductions which will include the AbrahamGuest Theatre as a venue. Plastersine were introduced to the school by Mrs Barnes, subject leader for art and design, andwe are very grateful for their introduction. Mostimportantly we are grateful to Plastersine. Theirteam works closely with our drama teachers andin-school workshops are frequent. In January,Plastersine held a number of workshops for years7 to 10, to give them a taste of the activities available for pupils at the evening sessions oftheir new Wigan Academy. Year 7 and 8 pupilstook part in some tasks that were designed to

improve their concentration and discipline in performance. The Year 9 and 10 pupils undertook lessons aimed at combining dramawith music, using music as a stimulus to createand act different emotions realistically. Thepupils then performed their improvisations atlunchtime to a full and eager audience in the atrium. The year 10 piece was based on a traincrash and the Year 9 performance was set in an18th century public house. The pupils enjoyedthe workshops and learned valuable skills.Plastersine also work with students at AbrahamGuest in different ways, such as GCSEShakespeare workshops and self esteem groups. If you are interested in working with Plastersinein the Friday evening academy sessions, let Mr. Barnes know of your interest or just comealong with friends on a Friday evening to seewhat it’s all about. Go to the website onwww.plastersine.com contact details are there.

What the students say...“Plastersine is like another family. It is a friendlyenvironment, where you can be yourself andlearn lots of skills for the future. My performancelevel continues to improve and recently I havebeen rewarded with the chance to perform onWaterloo Road and Hollyoaks.”

Through Textiles WorkshopsDuring the Autumn and Spring terms the Year 10Textiles group had the opportunity to work withlocal artists Candace Davies and Hannah Rogers.The theme of the project was ‘Personal Identity’and involved the students creating drawings andimages that reflected themselves as individuals.These ideas were then used as a base to create adeconstructed/reconstructed garment. Differentmethods and techniques such as printing, stitching and appliqué were explored by different students. The end results are all veryexperimental and individual pieces.This work was part of our annual commiitmentto ‘Aim Higher’. Aim Higher is about providingthe youg people of Wigan with aspirationalopportunities which may change lives and raiseself esteem. Aim Higher is about recognising theimmense talent and creativity we have in Wigan.This particuler project involved many secondaryschools in the local Wigan borough includingAbraham Guest High Scool, Hawkley Hall HighSchool, Hesketh Fletcher High School, HindleyHigh School, Newbridge Learning Community,Rosebridge High School, St. Peters High School,St. Marys High School, The Byrchall High Schooland Tyldesley Fred Longworth High School. This ‘Aim Higher’ project is an exploration of personal identity, ambition and aspirationthrough creative arts which is run in associationwith Drumcroon Gallery. The final pieces - about40 in all - were exhibited in ‘The Galleries’ inWigan in April 2011.The standard of work wasextremely high and the exhibition was aresounding success.

Well done to all the students

Ludus Dance Company performed their outstanding new work ‘Consequences’ for Wigan students. The performance was in a triplebill format and featured the work of three of theUK’s most prominent choreographers; NigelCharnock, Yael Flexer and Ben Wright. The performances provoked thought about‘Consequences’ in their broadest sense and challenged pupils perceptions about them. Eachaction has a consequence that could be trivial,serious, immediate and obvious, unseen, unanticipated and remote. The performancehelped students to assess the risks involved intheir personal decisions and think about the‘consequential chains’ that result from thesechoices. At Abraham Guest we were privilegedto have two of the company members ,GeorgeAdams and Rebecca Thomas, come in and teachthe Year 10 and 11 Dance students.Henry Kay in Year 11 rated the “Amazing, fivestars *****” for the workshop and performance.Here’s what some of the other students had tosay;“The dance inspired me to experiment with different movements and contact work.”Lauren Holding, Year 11.“The workshop included fun and imaginativeways of devising a piece of dance withunique movement. I give it 10/10” James Rosental, Year 11.“Energetic, enjoyable, interesting to watchand pulls you in!”Michael Lilley, Year 11.

“The performance was brilliant, very inspiring and unique...”Stembile Mutimukulu, Year 11.“...I liked it, it was cool!”Samantha Kendrick, Year 11.“The workshop was an amazing experienceand I really enjoyed working with thedancers.” Bethany Jones, Year 11.“Ludus Dance workshop was amazing.” Erin Long, Year 10.“Consequences was breath taking.”Lauren Melling, Year 10.“I’d love to do it again.” Holly McChrystal, Year 10.“It was an amazing, breath-taking performance which kept you on the edge ofyour seat throughout...” Tammy Tudor, Year 11.

76

A

at Abraham GuestSports & Arts College

The Creative Dimension

B

C

D

F

G

E

H

J

K

L

M

N O

S

V

P

T

W

Q

X

Z

R

U

Y

Art Gallery

A Emily Stewart Y10 B Adam Holding Y10 C Calum Wood Y7 D Lauren Buxton Y7 E Jorden Taylor Y11 F Laura Wardley Y9 G Charlotte Rutter Y9 H Wayne Ford Y11 J Callum Brown & Craig Mullins Y8 K Jack Wood Y11 L Joe Anglesea Y11 M Jonathan Firth Y11 N James Saunders Y10 O Olivia El Mufti Gore Y7 P Lucas McKenna Y9 Q Large scale group work Y8 R Ellie Shepherd Y7 S Joshua Howard Y7 T Sharmayne Swarbrick Y7 U Chelsea Marsh Y7 V Conner Barnes Y7 W Lewis Liptrot Y8 X Sophie Brown Y10 Y Carly Brown Y11 Z Dale Mullins Y10

Once again our Arts Alive Art Gallery is full of superb artwork which celebrates the fantastic achievements of students from Year 7 – Year 11. The work shows completedstudy from the spring and summer term, with a range ofprocesses and themes being developed through painting,photography, ceramics, digital art and textiles. As usualthere has been an incredible amount of excellent work produced, which makes selection for the Art Galleryextremely difficult, but is testimony to the creativity our students are capable of. Well done to everyone who hasmade the art work which is being exhibited here, and alsohuge congratulations to all students who have worked hardto produce such excellent work throughout the year. Maybe your work will be seen on these pages next term.Watch this space!Mrs Sharon BarnesSubject leader – Art and Design

98

at Abraham GuestSports & Arts College

The Creative Dimension

Through the lens

Creative Ceramics

Learning at The LowryIn March, 35 Year 7 students were taken to TheLowry to take part in Dance and Art workshops.Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English artistborn in Stretford, Lancashire. Many of his drawings and paintings depict nearby Salfordand surrounding areas, including Pendlebury,where he lived and worked for over 40 years at117 Station Road, opposite St. Mark's RC Church.Lowry is famous for painting scenes of life in theindustrial districts of Northern England duringthe early 20th century. He had a distinctive style of painting and is best known for urban landscapes peopled with human figures oftenreferred to as "matchstick men". A large collection of Lowry's work is on permanent public display in a purpose built art gallery onSalford Quays, appropriately named The Lowry.When the students arrived, they were amazed bythe building itself and the facilities inside. The whole morning was dedicated to a danceworkshop where students honed their dancetechnique and learnt new choreography skills.They even got the chance to go up to the maingallery and take inspiration for their movementfrom Lowry’s work. Their final results were performed superbly and showed real creativity.In the afternoon, students were treated to anafternoon of art. Students were able to go backto the galleries and really study Lowry’s work indetail. They then got the chance to have a go atsketching their own Lowry inspired art work. Theresults were brilliant! At the end of the day thestudents learnt the skill of paper craft and created their own ‘pop up’ books using the newskills they had learnt.

Abraham Guest’s artist in residence Sarah Bakerdelivered two full day workshops to two Y8 classesduring the spring term. Sarah is a professionalceramicist who has taken up position as artist inresidence and art department technician. We arevery fortunate to have Sarah on the team. The workshops were based on a theme called”The Exotic” focused on natural forms from the earth and sea. Students used specialist techniques demonstrated by Sarah to create

In February a group of year ten GCSE art and design students went to Upholland church to take someobservational photographs. The pupils focus was windows and doorways and the church providedan excellent source and inspiration with it’s old ornate windows with textured frames and aged doorways decayed stonework and crumbling surfaces. The students were able to take a series of photographs which they edited when they returned to school using Adobe Photoshop. Some alterations included changing the tonal balance, the contrast and the colour to draw attention to theimmense visual qualities of this unique building. We have been able to print the best results on a verylarge scale using the art departments A1 printer. Lens and light based media is becoming a clear andpopular area of development in the art department. Great work year 10.

elaborately shaped vessels. Some vessels werequite large and had tall flowing structures; somewere much smaller but demonstrated great skillin surface texture. The clay workshops were thestarting point to a major project where pupilsused the techniques and processes they havebeen shown by Sarah as their vessels progressed.Both days were a great success with pupilseager to carry on with their work at everyavailable opportunity.

The new year welcomed in a new

exhibition in the atrium of paintings

by students from Winstanley College.

The paintings in this exhibition are

the work of student artists who have

developed their own visual language

to express their ideas.

Each student has chosen a

personal topic for exploration and

through research and development

experiments with composition,

materials, processes and techniques

in order to complete their final

outcome.

Seeing things from a personal

perspective and expressing

your own ideas , using your

imagination in a creative and

uniquely personal way is per-

haps the most exciting aspect

of art and design.

A personal response could take a wide variety of

forms, but should be informed by the focus of

the study, be this an individual activity, theme,

starting point, brief or problem that requires a

solution.

The paintings on exhibition are the result of an

individual creative journey that has embraced the

different ways each artist has interpreted, reacted

to and responded to ideas and source material.

This exhibition has an immense value to learners studying

art and design in KS3 and 4 as it illustrates how

different the process of making an art form

like a painting can be. Whether you are

studying and practicing through other art

forms such as ceramics, photography , textiles

etc, this exhibition illustrates diversity and

creative independence.

Personal Response

An art exhibition by students from Winstanley College.

1110

at Abraham GuestSports & Arts College

The Creative DimensionMakingMovies

Let’s Sing! 2011

Tick-tock, tick-tock,Dance around the clock!

Super Sounds Rock

Slam PerfectOur music department has a partnership withSarah Marks, who is a renowned musician. Sarahis the current winner of the Classic FM MusicTeacher of the Year Award. Sarah has workedwith Abraham Guest for many years, featuring incombined arts presentations and arts weekevents.

The Year 7 Inter-form Dance Competition had allthe students in the year creating a dance piecebased on ‘Time’. The judges had a very difficultdecision to make at the end of the afternoon asall of the form groups had worked really well!Congratulations go to 7S for 2nd place and 7Kwho were the champions! The students really got a lot out of performingtogether; they built friendships, learnt teamwork skills, developed their creative skills andhad a lot of fun along the way!

‘Amazing’! ‘Brilliant’! ‘Really exhilarating’! Justthree reflections of some of the 30 singers whowere lucky enough to be part of this annualvocal extravaganza.Masterminded by Keith Orrell, Wigan’s Vocalsupremo, ‘Let’s Sing’ offers participants thechance to be part of a 300-strong choir for a day,following four of his workshops in-house and a term of rehearsals with Mrs. Hitchen. Thisyear, there were 8 Primary schools and 2 HighSchools – us and Standish - and a 5-piece band;the Robin Park Arena roof was well and trulyraised!Musical numbers included ‘Ain’t No MountainHigh Enough’ and ‘Rule the World’. Two of ourbest Y11 singers, Bethaney Howe and SamHodgson, were selected to perform the solos in‘Something Inside So Strong’ and ‘For the FirstTime’ respectively – a great honour! Their liveperformances were recorded for their GCSEMusic coursework.This was our fourth ‘Let’s Sing! and definitely themost enjoyable so far. The students’ commitmentand enthusiasm shone through from the opening number until the last chord of theencore died away. Congratulations and thanksto all!

Installation artist and film-maker Candace Daviesspent two days working with Y9 students to introduce the process of animation and film-making. The groups of students explored the school environment to capture a variety of videofootage using digital cameras, and worked in theArt and Design IT suite using Adobe PremierSoftware to edit both film and sound.The films produced were carefully edited using avariety of processes and techniques; fade andlayering techniques, splitting the film screen,adding filters and colour changes, and alteringthe presentation of each film clip. The resultingexcerpts of film were fantastic, with studentsachieving very creative and ‘professional’ outcomes. We look forward towards more digital artwork asour learners become more and more confidentin these new technologies. Look out Mr. Disney... Here we come!!

“The inter-form dance was well mint! It took a lotof practice but at the end all the forms tried theirbest...well done.” Courtney Cornish, 7J.“I really liked working together.” Nathan Gaskell,7K.“I think the inter-form dance was fab, fun andfantastic!” Chloe Johnson, 7K.The brilliant 7K, performed their winningdance at the Wigan Schools DanceCompetition at Robin Park.A huge ‘Well done’ to all!

Sarah teaches the violin and viola and runs theSouthport String Ensemble and is a member of the Marks String Quartet – a classical stringquartet, with her husband Alexander who is a first violinist with the Royal LiverpoolPhilharmonic Orchestra. Sarah is also a memberof the Ceildhi Band, ‘Gallimaufry’ running country dance workshops in schools and BarnDances for the local community and playing atweddings, concerts and other functions. During April and May, students from 7M and 8Phave been lucky enough to benefit from her expertise, through a series of melody and rhythm performance and compositionworkshops. Working in small groups under Sarah’s direction,and with the assistance of Mrs. Hitchen, thepupils have produced imaginative and creativecompositions, using African djembes, xylophones and electronic keyboards, whichthey performed and recorded, with evidententhusiasm and enjoyment! Sarah’s boundless energy and enthusiasm istransmitted to the students, who are inspired tocreate imaginative pieces in new genres.In our next collaboration with her, we hope to involve pupils from local junior schoolstogether with Key Stage 4 students, to combinemusic-making and mentoring, to furtherstrengthen our community links.

Sarah Marks music workshopsA

During the Spring Term, professional musiciansRoger and Jack Gardiner returned to AbrahamGuest to lead four music workshops. The pupils were able to enhance and developtheir ensemble skills and instrumental techniqueson the electric, bass guitar, and drum kit.Having recently returned from a promotionaltrip to Los Angeles, Jack was able to inform the students of recent technical developments inmusic. He demonstrated skilfully the benefitsand applications of the “Loop Station” in phaserecording and sampling of live guitar parts andhow to overdub using sampled loops. A regularlive performer and contestant in the Guitar Idoland Petrucci Fever Competitions, Jack has beenin great demand on the music scene and has stillmanaged to keep up with his college studies. For the past four years, he has been developinghis technique and has incorporated manydifferent genres of music into his performingstyle. Jack has also been influenced by youngItalian guitarist, Daniele Gottardo, who inspiredhim to begin practising extremely advancedtechniques such as 8 finger tapping. Jack performed in the Atrium with Roger and waswarmly received by the audience.

Roger and Jack will continue to work with ourmusic students as an ongoing partnership. Theseworkshops are proving to be immensely popularand other pupils wishing to take part need to contact Mrs. Woodall in the music department.

On Friday 25th March, Giorgio de Carolis fromMotionhouse Dance Company delivered a workshop to the Year 10 GCSE Dance students.The workshop focused on learning repertoirefrom ‘Perfect’. ‘’Perfect’ is a professional dance work that the students study for their GCSE Dance exam. Thepiece is “...an unforgettable dance epic, withdesert landscapes, an evocative sound score,gripping filmic imagery, pendulum-like low levelflying, nail-biting acrobatics and agile dancerssweeping, teasing, flicking up and diving overhalf a tonne of golden sand.”The students were challenged with a gruellingbut highly enjoyable technique class and contactwork which involved throwing and catching oneanother and lifting each other upside down!“I really enjoyed learning repertoire from‘Perfect’. I also enjoyed making a dance up withLauren including new choreography skills fromthe workshop” Rebecca Howard Year 10.The Year 10s worked extremely hard throughoutthe workshop and gained lots of performanceand choreography skills. A thoroughly successful afternoon, well done to all!

Workshop

Partnerships

Slam poetry is always performed in front of a liveaudience, it’s about improvisation, and on Friday8th April at 1.45pm a slam poetry event tookplace at Abraham Guest High School.Chris Preddie, a rap artist, performed several ofhis slam poems to Y9 and Y10 students. He cameto entertain an audience with his dynamic stage presence, comical exaggeration and huge emotion, but he also came to inspire anddevelop students understanding of what poetrycan be.Chris was drawn to slam poetry for the freedomit gave him. “It is the most free style of writing,there is no right or wrong, there is no genre, sexor colour that you need to be to do it, you justwrite your piece, go out there and perform – freeyourself and be you. “Having grown up surrounded by crime and violence in Brixton, London, and having pulledhimself back from the brink of self-destruction,he spends his time working with young peoplein schools, colleges and youth centres. At Abraham Guest, Chris led a workshop thatgave all the students the opportunity to contribute to a slam poem and perform it on the spot, aiming to encourage the students to express themselves positively and with confidence.Following the success of the afternoon I am certain that we have not seen the last of ChrisPreddie at Abraham Guest School.

Watch this space...

BethHow long have you been teaching atAbraham Guest?

Mrs Janet HitchenWell, I first started teaching full-time here in1986, when my youngest son was one and he’s26 now, so – twenty five years. But before that,I’d been appointed as an Instrumental Teacherfor the Wigan Authority in 1977, and AbrahamGuest was one of ‘my’schools. I did a full dayeach week here, teaching violin and viola. Soreally, it’s thirty four years since I first came to thisschool!

GeorginaWhy did you decide that you wanted to teachMusic at Abraham Guest?

Mrs Janet HitchenI’d always liked AG because, as I said, I’d beenteaching the violin here for quite a few years, andit always seemed a really pleasant place to teach.I was offered a temporary job here for six weeks in1986, while the Head of Music was on secondment.That became a permanent job, when I wasappointed Head of Music, which evolved intoPerforming Arts Co-ordinator and Head of Year.So.. I’ve had a very enjoyable time - it hasn’t letme down at all! I’ve enjoyed teaching the pupils,the surroundings and of course, the great staff!

JamesWhat aspect of Abraham Guest are you goingto miss the most?

Mrs Janet HitchenWell……probably….the pupils. It has to be,because I get so much pleasure from seeingtheir achievements in lessons, and especially inthe concerts and shows. It’s an absolute delight– we’ve got such a lot of talented students in thisschool. I’ll miss my friends amongst the staff aswell – though I expect I’ll still be seeing a lot ofthem! I’ve made some really good friends overthe years.

JamesWhich Musical have you enjoyed taking partin the most at AG?

Mrs Janet HitchenI think probably the best performances havebeen in ‘The Wizard of OZ’ – without doubt the most high-standard professional studentperformances have been in that show. I thinkthat the most musically challenging one wasWest Side Story. This show was particularly difficult to do as the songs were so challenging,but we did a really good job with it! My personalfavourites, musically speaking, have been Guysand Dolls and The King and I.

OliviaHave things changed a lot during your timehere?

Mrs Janet HitchenObviously, there have been numerous massivechanges in education over the years, which as ateacher you have to be adapting to all the time –and different things that we need to focus on.Sometimes it seems as though you’ve only justimplemented something when it all changesagain! However, that’s the same in any school,and I think that I’ve been extremely fortunate tohave had such a long and happy career here.

BethWhat is your favourite memory from youryears here?

Mrs Janet HitchenI think this is really really hard! From a teachingperspective, one of the best things I’ve ever doneis to take part with the Choir in ‘Let’s Sing’ eventsover the past few years. The feeling of being partof such a vast choir has been tremendously exciting On a personal note, being pushed roundschool during lunchtime in a balloon-decoratedwheelchair by Mrs Hill (ex Drama teacher) on my40th birthday is something I’ll never forget…

12

Mrs Janet HitchenSPOTLIGHT

Mrs. Janet Hitchen, Performing Arts Co-ordinator, is retiring thissummer. Four Year 11 Music students, Beth, Georgina, James andOlivia, asked her about her time at Abraham Guest...

In April, the Year 10 GCSE Drama studentsand a selection of Year 9 students who are gifted and talented in Drama took part in a comedy workshop led by professionalcomedienne Victoria ‘Jordy’ Cook. The pupilsparticipated in ‘Who’s Line is it Any Way?’ styledrama activities and an introduction in how tocreate stand up comedy. The session improvedpupil’s confidence in performance developedtheir thinking skills and increased their abilityto create spontaneous improvisations. The workshop was also lots of fun, and thepupils produced original humour and genuinelaughs from their peers. They invented wackyfictional stories involving a range of strangeobjects. In groups they took on the role of one celebrity and without planning or conferring, answered difficult questions withone word per pupil. They spoke as the conscience for each other, contradicting whattheir character had said.

Confidencewith Comedy