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Pyramid Hill Community: St Patricks Primary School and Pyramid Hill College

Staff from St Patrick’s Primary, Pyramid Hill College and members from the Pyramid Hill community were invited to be members of the Festival Steering Committee. This committee devised the basic outline of the Festival, the culmination of which would be a performance for the community in term three.

The committee worked out a timeline for implementation of the program, considering items such as staff Professional Development; scheduling visits for travelling performers to the schools and the community; and dates for the final performance. Through a series of meetings, progress was assessed and further suggestions for improvement, such as creating a town fete to complement the performance, were developed and implemented. Committee members also facilitated the organisation of elements such as inviting dignitaries, coordinating stagecraft requirements, including lighting and sound for the performance, in addition to organising stall holders.

The initial introduction of the program for the remaining staff included a Professional Development session where the goals were outlined and timelines shared. A further session was held early in the year where staff had the opportunity to learn some of the circus skills that would be introduced to the children, and create an act of their own for the performance. The enthusiasm of the performers was extremely infectious, with staff commenting on the high levels of enjoyment and motivation they gained from them. Having the staff learn the skills proved an invaluable tool in later sessions where they could model the skill, appreciate difficulties that children may have while learning them, and offer encouragement for students. It was also of great benefit at the community nights where several staff members were able to pass these skills on to children and parents, without needing the performers to be present. The overwhelming benefit of the early PD sessions for staff was to give them the confidence, motivation and skill to perform their role in the construction of the Festival and its performance.

The theme for the Festival was chosen to be Life is a Treasure Box; you just need to find the keys. The keys were chosen to reflect elements needed to live mentally healthy, and were:

• Be Strong
• Know Your Feelings
• Always Think Twice
• Know What Makes You Feel Good
• I’m in Charge of Myself

These keys have been a core part of values teaching at the College, specifically being in charge of myself, and have empowered all participants in the Festival (child, adolescent and adult) to be happier in themselves, and have the confidence to achieve and succeed. Individual keys were chosen by children to be the initial blueprint behind the creation of class acts, and reflected the underlying theme of the production.

Selection for the acts was based upon having whole class participation, in addition to mixed ages, according to the specific act. With guidance from visiting artists, and further supported by teachers, each class created individual acts that promoted Positive Mental Health with themes such as: It all gets better again when I give my Mum a cuddle, and Feeling Happy/Feeling Better. Additional acts were created in which students were chosen according to task specific requirements. These included characteristics such as: the physical size needed to participate in an act, for example a small child was needed to stand atop a ‘pyramid’ of students; the ability to perform successfully a circus skill such as stilt walking, juggling or balancing upon a Rola-Bola; and musical talent (vocal or instrumental) to perform in the band or chorus. Children were required to practise their new-found skills. Opportunities were provided at school, by staff, during the course of the year, through supervised lunchtime and coaching sessions.

In order for the Festival to occur, a massive effort was required by staff of both schools. Quality teachers possess a range of skills such as flexibility, support, encouragement, initiative and adaptability, and these were regularly required to meet the heavy demands that the Festival generated. The weeklong visits by the artists required staff to modify their regular curriculum in order to allow students to devise, learn, refine and rehearse their specific class act, and train for combined activities with other students. The disruption specifically caused by these visits was universally claimed, by staff, to be the key negative feature of the whole Festival process, and it is to their credit that this aspect was largely negated by the artists’ dedication and enthusiasm.

Whole town events, limited in Pyramid Hill these days, predominantly revolve around sporting club functions, since events such as the Agricultural Show have ceased in recent years. Therefore the decision to combine the performance with a town fete was a masterstroke, as it brought the whole community into the Festival. Many community members had attended the evening sessions in the town hall, however the fete captured an extended mix of people. The town fete ensured a wonderful carnival atmosphere, and combined with wandering acts throughout the course of the morning, set the scene for a vibrant day. The behind-the-scenes work undertaken by community members was typical of a country town, where local groups, such as Lions, organised marquees and meals, and greatly contributed to the make-up of the day.

Participating in the Festival produced a wide range of benefits. Students had the chance to try something completely different. For many individuals it was an opportunity to experience success at a very high level for the first time. This success was especially important for those individuals who may find skills such as persistence, self-confidence and high achievement a rare commodity. Particularly noteworthy was seeing adverse student behaviour change to positive self-perception about skills and overall ability. Meeting the demands of an exceptionally challenging balancing act provided an opportunity to be rewarded for persistence and training, and to override self-doubts.

The opportunity to perform for a large crowd produced a noticeably increased amount of self-confidence in many children, and indeed in some community members who performed on stage as well. The decision to have a joint school effort has led to markedly increased links between the two schools in Pyramid Hill. A range of combined activities has followed throughout the year, with the positive relationship between the two facilities growing strongly.

The ‘different’ dress sense, attitudes and personality of the visiting artists also gave students the chance to meet new and ‘different’ people from those in their normal comfort zone of a small rural community, giving them a glimpse of a bigger world than they are used to seeing.

Staff and children and young people at both schools also gained great benefit in working outside their normal areas of their school, with cross-faculty teamwork, such as the Grade 2 and Year 10 Art teachers combining to design and create costumes for an act. The Year 8 Textiles teacher and students then made these costumes as part of their class work, giving them a purposeful and relevant activity for their subject area.

Life after the Festival has seen school life return to a somewhat ‘normal’ routine, however the legacy of the process lives on. Children are regularly using the circus equipment in their free time. Teachers have used new ‘tools’ in their general teaching: creating drama activities using the resources, having the confidence to try new things with their students, and using a child’s success to build upon the confidence that may otherwise be lacking.

Resulting from the Festival, a group of approximately 30 children have performed a ‘highlights package’ of the show at Kerang, and the possibility of having a ‘touring circus roadshow’ to other schools in the region has been floated, and will be considered for the future.

Highlights of the Festival were everywhere, including: a Prep child creating magnificent facial expressions as part of his act; a vibrant and colourful street procession; children covered with fairy floss; stilt walking students letting no terrain hamper their travels; a juggler persisting to keep all his rings in the air; and a Year 10 student having the confidence to sing a song in front of hundreds of people.

A teacher revisited a drum kit for the first time in 20 years to contribute to the band, to the amusement and surprise of his students. The ultimate highlight was the success that sheer hard work, dedication and enthusiasm will produce, and the hundreds of happy smiles that were created by the efforts of all involved.

The Festival for Healthy Living was an extremely long and sometimes arduous journey, but the ultimate reward and the benefits gained massively outweighed any negatives that occurred along the way. It was an outstanding success in Pyramid Hill. The feeling of achievement by all involved was extremely high; the positive atmosphere by the end of the performance was stunning. Children were on a confidence high long after the final curtain was closed, and audience members walked out with a bounce in their step, many not believing the quality, courage and confidence displayed by their own children in their performance, and the efforts they produced. The positive ‘vibe’ in the region was noticeable long after the day finished. The schools and the community are much the better for making the efforts required to undertake this Festival.

The Festival tapped into the hidden talents of our students and gave them the confidence to experiment with their individual creativity, and then challenged them to display these gifts to the wider community on the day of the Festival. They also participated in lessons that emphasised and enhanced their wellbeing through learning new strategies to draw from when faced with a challenge.

The children learnt the importance of working cooperatively with others; that to ‘have a go’ is a life long skill; and the importance of using this skill in all aspects of life. I am very thrilled and grateful that our school was part of a wonderful journey to assist the children in their own personal wellbeing and attitude towards themselves and others, and had such an opportunity to work cooperatively with the students and staff of Pyramid Hill College.

Contact: Mrs Denise Frantz Principal, St Patrick's School Pyramid Hill t: (03) 5455 7220 e: dfrantz@spatpdhl.sand.catholic.edu.au i: http://www.spatpdhl.sand.catholic.edu.au