Tell us about the initiative of working with RAS students. How did this evolve?
Arlene and I reached out to Matua Joe from Raglan Area School when the government created a programme called ‘Creatives in Schools’. Joe helped us to complete the funding application and create an exciting idea. We are really grateful to Arlene for her ideas and enthusiasm but sadly she couldn’t complete the project with us at that time. It was an opportunity for creatives to work within schools to provide a creative learning experience, to enhance students’ wellbeing, improve their core competencies in communication, collaboration and creative thinking, and inspire their interest and awareness of careers in the arts and creative sectors. The Creatives in Schools programme is a wellbeing programme delivered by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatū Taonga and Creative New Zealand.
What year group were you working with and what was the vision?
Year 9 and 10’s. The vision was to create a thriving creative space to teach children a new skillset within the world of jewellery making. The metalsmith programme developed alongside social studies with an original concept that all jewellery designs made would be auctioned to raise money as a social action. What became evidently obvious along the programme was the children’s love and pride for their handmade pieces and their desire to treasure or gift them being of upmost importance – we chose to honour and respect those feelings. So, the current exhibition at The Old School displays the year 10’s beautiful jewellery designs (not for sale!) Matua Joe taught the Yr 10s about Social Actions and about how to actively change the world through his social sciences classes. The students created display boards for organizations as a social action to raise awareness and donations– the level of the students’ achievement speaks for itself. The exhibition is both emotive and visually compelling and not to be missed.
What did you notice over the time of tuition and guidance?
I witnessed the students’ happiness and great pride taken in their jewellery making. Students were really engaged, and their attendance was incredible. Along with creative development I wanted the students to experience kindness, compassion, laughter, and unity – it was wonderful to see the students share their skills and knowledge with each other and many exampling their natural leadership qualities. We were blessed that The Community House allowed the course to take place in the basement and that Mike and the Community House welcomed us with open arms; it contributed to the overall success and engagement of the students.
The students created some beautiful pieces. Tell us about the incorporation of social action into the process. What kinds of topics were important to them?
We should all be so proud of our Raglan children for they reflected the Raglan ethos of caring for the ocean, the environment, animals and humanity at large, a broad range of organisations are represented – Seashepard, Greenpeace, WWF, TeamSeas, GumbootFriday etc. Matua Joe acknowledged that the students have a deep understanding of the challenges of our time and have the skills and enthusiasm to make the change.
How did you find the experience overall and is it something you would want to do again?
It was fantastic and I thank everyone involved; the children were fantastic, and I’d love to do it all over again.
This was the exhibition of Year 10 Students work. The next will be year group 9. The vision was to give the students a metal smith experience. I wanted them to connect with tools and materials and learn a skill that potentially could become a career. I have always believed in the value of creatives. That’s why this initiative was so exciting to me. I had a vision of creating a space that students could thrive in, enjoy and be able to example leadership.
I witnessed the participants really engage – their attendance was incredible. I wanted the students to experience kindness, compassion and laughter, and unity. The Community House allowed the course to take place in the basement and Mike and the Community House welcomed us with open arms and I believe this contributed to the success and engagement of the students.
This course enabled the students to share their skills and knowledge with each other, exampling their leadership qualities. Originally the course supported the students to develop concepts of social study. It encouraged the students to think about their actions and what they did, produced etc; the idea of gifting and supporting and the positive effects this can have on well-being and connection.
