creative partnerships

Iain worked as a sound artist on a number of creative learning projects in schools around the West Midlands as part of the Creative Partnerships programme from 2006 - 2011.

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St Bartholomew’s Primary School, Wolverhampton, 04-07/10

On this project Iain worked with a mixed YR3/4 class to create podcasts. They wanted to explore more creative opportunities for writing and pupil led learning. The children split themselves into five groups based on the kind of podcast they would like to create. Two groups chose to create fictional stories, two groups made magazine style shows with a range of features and the final group produced a factual podcast on their current topic ‘Mexcio’. The children researched and wrote the scripts then recorded and edited their podcasts using Audacity software. To present their work and give further writing opportunities they also created a blog which you can visit via the link below.

www.brilliantbartsbroadcasts.org

Penn Hall SEN School, Wolverhampton, 04-07/10

Iain worked at Penn Hall School again over the summer term on a project called ‘The Enchanted Worlds of Penn Hall School’. He worked with the whole school to create a fantasy audio trail around the school and its beautiful historic grounds. The pupils identified six locations that they found insipring or were special to them. Working in six groups each group developed a creative response to their location, often using text such as poems and stories. They then worked with Iain to realise their ideas as a soundtrack for the location. Iain worked with graphic designer Nick Smith to produce a map which particpiants could use to navigate around the trail listening to the soundtracks on mp3 players along the way.

In order to document the project and to create an additional resource for the school Iain and Nick produced an interactive CDRom which provides a virtual experience of the trail alongside supporting material.

Click on the image to take a trip around the audio trail. You must have Adobe Flash Player v.10 installed - download for free here.

Click on the image to take a trip around the audio trail.

Please be patient while the file loads and don’t forget to turn up the volume!

Bearwood Primary School, Smethwick, 03/10

Iain was working with Prof. D again and a large Yr 5 class on their project designed to develop writing skills by providing meaningful opportunities and creative stimulus. The children created avatars and wrote raps about them which they have recorded. They also set up a project blog which they updated with posts about the work they’d been doing. You can check it out at

http://avatar.primaryblogger.co.uk

Look Deeper - Old Park Primary, Telford 01/10

Iain was one of 9 artists invovled in a very ambitious creative intervention to launch this new school of creativity in Telford.

A mysterious mound appeared in the school grounds and another in the head teachers office. During the course of a week a number of strange things started happening around the school including weird sounds coming from the mounds and cupboards in the corridoors, lights changing colours, furniture moving, hidden UV messages appearing on walls, morse code transmissions and bizzare infections. The artists played a squad of scientists drafted in to investigate the occurences. Working with different classes accross the whole school each practitioner applied their practice to work with the bemused pupils and staff to respond to what was happening.

Aswell as designing the soundscape for the week Iain worked with a year 4 class to research the acoustic phenomena occuring around the school. The pupils recorded and analysed sounds including morse code messages. They wrote responses and translated them into morse code, recorded reports and observations and made alien noises using Audacity. Some of their work was presented as podcasts. Here is an example:

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There is a dedicated website for the project with background information, further examples of the work produced, reports and comments.

www.lookdeeper.info

Penn Hall SEN School, Wolverhampton, 11/09

Iain worked on a short introductory project with a Yr5/6 class at this School of Creativity in Wolverhampton. It was a challenging project working with 7 pupils with varying special educational needs. The pupils learned to become better listeners as they explored the soundscape of the school and its grounds. The children recorded the interesting sounds they heard and used them to create some short sound compositions.

Iain is lookin forward to returning to Penn Hall later this year to work on a new project.

Here are some of the sound pieces the pupils made:

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Alumwell Business and Enterprise College, Walasll, 06-09/09

This Yr 8 project involved an number of artists who worked with pupils to produce responses for an ‘Images of Alumwell’ exhibition event. Iain worked with a group of 20 pupils to produce sound impressions of the school based on field recordings made around the school and its grounds. The sound pieces were presented in the exhibition as a 4 channel sound installation and also accompanied a photographic slideshow in the school theatre. Other exhibits included digitally manipulated photographic portraits and a video installation.

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Colton Hills Community School, Wolverhampton, 06-07/09

One of a number of artists working with the whole of Yr 8 to produce online content to share with school’s partner school in Poland. Iain’s group explored the school soundscape to create short sound compositions that communicate impressions of the school, it’s grounds, staff and pupils.

www.belongatcoltonhills.co.uk

St Patrick’s Primary School, Coventry, 03-05/09

Working with rap artist Prof. D, Iain co-delivered this project for a Yr 4 class. The project was concerned with stimulating boys engagement with literacy. The children wrote and produced a podcast and wrote and recorded original stories with raps and sound effects.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Bentley Drive Primary School, Walsall, 03/09

On this project Iain worked with a Yr 5 class to produce a podcast on the theme of ‘Walk to School’ that was posted on the school website. The class also recorded and designed space sound effects for space themed computer games being produced by another Yr 5 class.

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www.cooldudegames.co.uk

Wyken Croft Primary School, Coventry, 01-05/09

This project involved working with a Yr 5 class to explore creative, cross-curricular delivery of the humanities and literacy curriculum. The children produced podcasts on the theme of rivers for the school website.

iain armstrong • sound artist