The idea
The children choose their involvement at the start of the summer and enhance it throughout the playscheme. In the past we have had dancing, singing, fashion shows, hosting, magic tricks and comedy, whilst some prefer to help with the music and lighting production, scene setting or promoting and recording. Once they have chosen their role, they will have 6 weeks to create their performance and practice for the deadline day, which will be in the final week. The project follows the line of Britain’s got talent so we have a judge’s panel containing one child, a playground legend and a local hero
Another huge part of the project is to record the event throughout the project to put together a video of the performance, the practice and of course the outtakes which will be given to the children that have taken part and uploaded onto our Facebook page.
Our staff team have variety of skills include music and videoediting, DJing, arts and crafts, costume design, choreography and more
What we'll deliver
- At the start children will choose their acts or roles it is our jobs to accommodate and advise.
- The film will be given to all of the children that took part as a memento
- The footage gathered through out the project will be used by the children in the media team to put together a film
- The judges will pick their favorite 3 acts, which will go to the final.
- The project will continue annually.
- The project will last 6 weeks over the summer holidays (16th July-24th Aug 2018)
- Users involved in music editing will use the decks to mix sound effects and recording for dances and performances
- Props, recording and editing will run along side the sessions.
- The show will be performed to families, friends and other users in the last week of the playscheme
- They will then have 3, 2-hour sessions per week to practice at the playground
Why it's a great idea
Children and young people from deprived backgrounds rarely get chance to express themselves. This project allows children to perform like their idols and take the spotlight. The children will take charge of their own performance guided by the staff and using the equipment to make it extra special. For those that do not want to be at the heart of the performance, there is the added option of sound and video editing, scene setting and presenting the show which is where the DJ equipment and the camcorder is essential. The children will learn new skills, be physically active, work as a team and engage positively with the people of the local community who will watch in pride. The main reason that this project is great for the children is because it allows children to have access to equipment that they wouldn't have access to with out us providing it. It opens life experiences and may lead to them finding a passion which they may follow into adulthood and achieve beyond expectation.
Steps to get it done
- Delegating jobs (I.E team leader in charge of props, team leader in charge of media etc)
- Practice performances and create scenes, staging and media
- Show time
- Advertise performance day
- Advertising the project
- Evaluate for the next project
- Purchasing the equipment needed
- Put the footage together to make a video
The equipment that we will purchase will help us take this project to the next level and help young people learn skills like DJing and video editing which steers them towards career paths that they would otherwise not have knowledge of or access to. It will also community sprit and motivate the children to take part and for parents to encourage them to continue.
Although the learning outcomes for this project are tremendous, the main thing we aim to get back from this project is to encourage children to take part in something fun, positive and stimulating. We hope to create a sense of pride and achievement in children and encourage them away from the stereotypical "estate kids" label that they are often painted with.
The project will also be open ended as once the equipment is in place the staff will be able to repeat the project each year and also run other side projects throughout the year and help use stretch our service out to attract new users.
