The Freewheelers are embarking on three exciting initiatives with schools this autumn.
UScreens (Creative England) have funded a term of film-making workshops with 10 disabled teenagers from Woodlands School in Mole Valley and Walton Leigh in Elmbridge. This funding has been matched by the R C Sherriff Trust and we are most grateful for this. The course will be run by Media Tutor Chris Haydon and mentored by media Freewheelers students. The students will learn to make communicate their ideas through film using the new uScreen website, and staff and helpers will be trained so that the work can continue in the future. Disabled film-maker, Gary Thomas, will work with the students to inspire them. Work will be presented to both schools and parents at the end of term.
Also this term, we are trialling a workshop for top primary mainstream schoolchildren called “Trust”. Led by our Dance tutor and four of our dancers, and funded slot machines by the Wessex Youth Awards, this workshop will give children a new view of disability. They will try using a wheelchair, try moving when blindfolded, try standing up without using their arms, and then they will create a dance in pairs, helping and supporting each other. A performance will complete the workshop. Dances by the children will be presented alongside Anthony O’Sullivan and Sonas Musana’s now well-known “Trust” duet. The children’s views of disability will be recorded before and after the workshop. St Peter’s Catholic School in Ashtead was our first guinea pig school and there are two more this term. You can see a film of the first trial here…
Our third venture into schools is with a workshop about accessibility and inclusion. The Royal College of Engineering have funded Redbird Media to work with Freewheelers and other disability groups to develop a provocative film exploring the idea of perfect accessibility. The workshop looks at how a development might look if ideas of accessibility were built in from the outset. But it also provides an opportunity to discuss ideas around inclusion. The project has its own website at www.edenfields.com
Film of one of our workshops for schools, based around the theme...
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