Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

• the first year of the Lambeth Schools Carnival Project was funded by the London Arts
Board and was the result of a bid from Lambeth Education Department; and
• Black History Month has led to the development of ‘Carnival Arts and Calypso’
organised by ABC.
4.13 The Review Group found that some schools (particularly those in the area of Notting Hill)
have a long history of celebrating the Carnival and taking part in the Notting Hill Carnival.
The lack of the specific children and schools focus in Notting Hill Carnival has discouraged
many others who have preferred to take part in smaller local carnivals. Schools wishing to
introduce carnival into their curriculum at present have great difficulty in obtaining the books
and resources to support their work, and often do not know where to locate music sources,
materials for making masquerade, how to contact artists who will work with children, steel pan
teachers and tuners. These practical and organisational difficulties discourage busy teachers
from entering into this area. In order to overcome this difficulty teachers in Lambeth
produced their own self-help pack of resources with the co-operation and input from
experienced carnival artists. The study of carnival is relevant to all subjects of the national
curriculum and to the National Literacy strategy. It supports the personal, social and cultural
development of children, relates strongly to the newly introduced education for citizenship
and contributes to the creation of an inclusive learning experience for all children.
•
4.14 Museums and art galleries play an increasingly important part in educating children. Both the
Museum of London and the Horniman Museum have had exhibitions or installations about
carnival. The Horniman Museum has organised carnival arts workshops in the summer
holidays as part of their own museum education programme. For the past two years, the
Victoria and Albert Museum has staged a carnival event in which mainly children take part. In
terms of sustaining these positive initiatives, the Review Group felt that the long-term answer
could be the creation of a dedicated space devoted to the carnival arts where costume designs
and costumes could be displayed, videos of previous carnivals reviewed, calypso’s listened to
and steel pans displayed, together with the history of their invention and development.
The Benefits of Teaching the Carnival Arts in Schools
4.15 Teaching young children about carnival and Carnival Arts can help them develop several key
stage skills whilst maintaining and developing their creative interests by incorporating the
elements of performance and visual arts into their arts curriculum. The basic skills of design
can be applied and children can be encouraged to explore a whole range of activities from
drawing (which aids in their co-ordination) to testing outfits to check if they are waterproof
and exploring themes.
4.16 For several years, school carnivals have been taking place in parts of London. Indeed, a
nursery carnival has taken place every year in Kensington Park, giving children the opportunity
to perform and interact in a community setting with parents, teachers and carnival
practitioners. School involvement in Carnival Arts provides a unique opportunity to develop
positive relationships with creative carnival arts bands and groups. There continue to be
plenty of good examples of how Carnival Arts is used within an educational setting and
context to engage and develop young children. Year 5 pupils at Loughborough Infants School
in South London have learnt about recycling through Carnival Arts, creating a garden and
making musical instruments out of waste. Children from Fox Primary School in West London
have learnt how to use digital technology for their Carnival Arts project. An Office for
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