Berkeley Academy / Primary School - Summer Camp 2014

www.berkeleyprimaryschool.co.uk
Summer
School
Review
Berkeley
Primary
School 2 0 1 4
Berkeley
Summer School 2014
started with an idea: “Time Travel and Secret Agents”. That
was it; everything else would come from the children. So on
Monday 22nd July 2014, Berkeley pupils from years 4 and 5 landed
at Cranford Community College to begin Summer School 2014.
This is the second year we have run a summer school after the
hugely successful programme in 2013 and I was thrilled to be invited
by Kevin Prunty, Executive Headteacher, to once again lead the
programme.
As I walked into year 4 and 5 assemblies in May 2014, I was greeted
with squeals of anticipation and I could hear the children whispering
excitedly, “Do you think there is going to be a Summer School?”
I knew immediately this was going to be another very special journey
of discovery. One boy said, “I would highly recommend Summer
School to everyone. It is brilliant and I am definitely going again
this year”.
We were all delighted the majority of the 2013 Summer School
team was able to return. When I invited them back it was the
fastest response I think I have ever had to an email. Angeline and
Jerome returned to work on the dance, Niamh for the drama and
Luke, Kerry and Emma for the music.
Joining the team from Bounce Theatre was Apryl, a highly skilled
drama practitioner to lead the project and two visual artists, Rachel
and Zoe, who brought to the process something really special with
their dynamic and visually creative designs and puppet constructions.

At the start of June 2014, the team met together to plan how the
summer school would work. Our aim this year was to make a more
holistic and polished performance and to do this we would become
a Theatre Company. Creating the ‘Berkeley Adventure Time Theatre
Company’, named by the children, gave them an identity and a sense
of team with a unified goal.
The idea of secret agents travelling through time gave us the
opportunity to really push the boundaries and challenge ourselves
as arts practitioners. Four time zones were chosen; “The Future”,
“The 1980’s”, “World War 1” and “The Jurassic Era”.
We learnt a lot from our experience in 2013, in particular, the
way to get the best from the children. With this in mind, we gave
them greater control of the process and content and trusted in their
wonderful imaginations to make the story come to life. We reduced
the number of days they worked in each arts discipline to increase the
time bringing the performance together in the last week. Changing
the rotation timings put pressure on the children to work faster and
smarter, but it also proved the more we challenged them, the more
they achieved. They didn’t disappoint us and as one child said, “Well
Miss, we are outstanding”.
The children worked in four groups and in keeping with the theme,
we named the groups after the planets: Mars, Jupiter, Venus and
Saturn. The children loved the idea.
On day one and two, all the children worked in each arts discipline
for half a day and began the devising process. In art they made their
own secret agent file and created a character profile and name. In
drama they began to build a team ethos as they considered what they
would miss most in the future if they didn’t have it. In dance they
considered the same question but through physical interpretation
and in music they worked with keyboards creating soundscapes and
character themes. By the end of day two, we had the skeleton of a
storyline and some key characters emerged.
“Here I am in the fut
nothing to be recogni
The sun is letting dow
getting darker in the
Planes have been cru
make flying c
No human
on the foo
Different t
so differen
Literacy and numeracy were once again a key factor of the work
produced and this year we incorporated these skills and learning
opportunities within the body of the project and through their
designated roles as a theatre company. They designed, measured,
calculated quantities and chose material to make the huge human
and dinosaur puppets. They improvised ideas and situations which
stimulated creative writing, storyboards and character studies,
leading to an amazing storyline and script. They wrote poetry and
experimented with dance techniques, incorporating modern and
classical moves into their routines with mime. They wrote song
lyrics in different music genres with difficult rhythms and rehearsed
as an ensemble. They made wonderful junk percussion to create
atmospheric music for different time zones and link sounds to

depict time travel. Every child contributed and worked in every
aspect and at the end of each rotation, they would share with the
rest of the company their ideas, giving a real sense of being part of
something special and, ultimately, ownership of the show. Secret
agent certificates were awarded to celebrate individual achievements
which were motivational and very popular.
By the end of week 3 the characters and storyline were fixed. The
script was ready to learn and casting had been completed. Now the
hard work really began as the various elements in rehearsal and
preparation had to come together to create a whole piece.
ure there is
sed
n less heat it’s
day
shed down to
ars
s are to be seen
tpath
o the past its all
t”.
At the start of week 4, the theatre company came alive and there
was an excited buzz in the air. The concert hall was changed in to a
theatre venue and production week got underway. The excitement
grew each day in rehearsal as the production elements came
together. Lighting, costumes, props and scenery transformed an idea
into a reality and the magic of theatre began. They sang, danced,
swapped roles, learnt lines, played instruments always focussing
on the performance elements. The narrators became more confident
which helped increase the pace and energy; the characters became
more 3-dimensional which helped the actors to work on their voice
projection and stage presence. The songs became upbeat, rhythmic
and dynamic and the dance routines became more polished and fluid.
They were having so much fun whilst taking their task seriously.
Finally the performance day arrived. Pre-show nerves set in for some
(including the staff) but there was no doubt; the Berkeley Adventure
Time Theatre Company was proud to present “Pic Poc in Paradox”.
They performed to an audience of 100+ staff, parents and guests. As
the lights went down the magic began. All the children appeared with
florescent painted space ships moving in and out of the audience. A
pre-recorded poem, “Dark Jupiter”, written and recited by individual
children as “talking heads” appears on the screen. “Here I am in the
future, there is nothing here to be recognised...”. A large fluorescent
painted puppet of a Cyborg Queen with long extending arms mimics
the lights from the space ship. Her skirt is the portal for time travel
to other lands and we are transported to the future world of Paradox.
Paradox is a world in darkness and turmoil. Bob, the Super Villain,
has kidnapped “Pic Poc” the Cyborg Queen Elizabeth V’s magical
dog. Super-secret agents; “Half”, “Eyegore” “Rick Roll” and
“Gibberish Wisher” are sent on a mission to capture the villain and
rescue “Pic Poc” which will save the world and create a brighter
future. The agents land first in No Man’s Land during World War 1
on the day of the Christmas football truce, where they find clues in
a box of chocolates given by one of the British soldiers to a German
solider. This sends them to the Jurassic Era where we are introduced
to “gingersaurs”, with children costumed as small dinosaurs with

amazing headdresses and “Urvogel birds and “Beno Bees”. We meet
a very large green dinosaur named Dave whose eggs give them their
next clue. Then it is onto the 1980’s and we are in a Super Mario
game. We meet Princess Peach, the Mario brothers and friends. A
large rubrics cube provides more clues which help to capture Bob
and rescue “Pic Poc”. We finally return to Paradox and the Queen
promotes the agents to the highest honour of the elite MOI Squad.
The future is safe.
Each zone’s story is punctuated with songs performed by the
company: “Space City”, “World War Blues”, “O Tannenbaum”,
”War! What Is It Good For?” the ”Pic Poc” song. “Everybody
Walk The Dinosaur” with drums and junk percussion to create
the Jurassic sounds. The song, “Born In The 80’s” is accompanied
by a boy playing a jazz style riff on the keyboard.
The whole production ends with a company rendition of “Happy”.
Children once again join the audience and encourage them to join
in. On stage the staff join the routine with the children. They feel
real pride in their achievements. The finale is a well-deserved dance
in celebration.
The children’s new found self-belief and confidence really changed
their perception of themselves and what they could achieve. This
brought huge rewards for the arts practitioners who were stunned by
the change in individuals from the year before. The younger children
learnt from the older children who were really keen to mentor them
on what was required to give a good performance.
Everything about this process and the final performance celebrates
the wonderful opportunities this summer school offers children.
The storyline, characters, songs, art work, scenery, props, costumes
etc, etc, all created from the children’s wonderful imagination, hard
work and determination and the belief that they could create an
original piece of theatre good enough to share with an audience.
There is no doubt these children have learnt so much from this
experience, not just about how and what goes into putting on a
production but also about themselves and what they can achieve in a
short space of time with a skilled team to guide them. Summer school
is a journey of discovery, of possibilities and of achievements. There
are no barriers to learning or achievement and every single person
involved leaves the experience having learnt something new.
“My best
memory of
Summer School
is having all this
fun... it was the
best ever”.
“The best part
was the final week and the
brilliant parts that I’ve been
playing”.
“I would
recommend Summer
School to anyone because it’s the
best fun I’ve ever had”.
We have been amazed by the quality of work the
children produced. They were a joy to work with.
The whole experience has been full of fun and
laughter resulting in a production of which they
are really proud. Roll on Summer School 2015.
Jessica Joyce (Summer School Organiser)
“You should come to
Summer School instead of being bored
at home. I loved being here it is fun”.