Discover a free, fantastical forest and outdoor gallery right in the heart of Bath! Designed by a collective of local and international artists and creative professionals. Forest of Imagination will transform areas around the Holburne and Sydney Gardens into wondrous sensory installations and architectural artworks, with creative activities for all ages.
Forest of Imagination is returning to the World Heritage City of Bath for its sixth year. Everyone is welcome!
Spend the day DOING SCHOOL DIFFERENTLY with the Bath-based School Without Walls initiative, and keynote speaker Sir Al Aynsley-Green, former Children’s Commissioner, author of The British Betrayal of Childhood.
This will be a call to arms: after eight years of practice and research into child-informed learning we have some exciting discoveries, revelations and validations to share with you. Whether you are from a school, an arts organisation, a funding body or you are just concerned about how we ‘educate’ our children, you will be warmly welcomed.
School Without Walls is an enquiry-based model of experiential and creative learning that has transformed teaching of the curriculum and the learning culture in a number of local schools.
The residencies we have hosted over the past year have had a focus on evaluating how artistic interventions like SWW can impact wellbeing, learner resilience and happiness. We’ve been looking at what it means to take care of things, take care around people and take care of people. It’s simple: when children realise that care has been taken around them and for them, they behave differently. They thrive. We want the same for you. We think you need it. We are going to carve out space and time for you. We want to put the art back into teaching.
Come expecting to: walk/move around town, look, listen, talk, think, watch, make and drink. We will be living out the practice of the project on the day of the conference, we’re hoping people will feel galvanised and leave imbued with the spirit of the project!
Bring:
Your slippers
If you’re an arts organisation, an ally who works in a school
If you’re from a school, an ally from a cultural setting
The verbal presentations will be BSL interpreted.
And please let us know if you are allergic to hypo allergenic dogs!
Should you have any requirements to enable your access to this event, please let us know.
Venue: Bath – the cultural campus (meeting place to be announced) Date: Thursday 31 January 2019 Time: 1pm – 6pm Cost: £70 includes light refreshments and wine (£50 concession for students and group bookings).
Sue was an extraordinary and inspirational person, a real heroine and trailblazing headteacher. She passionately believed that the arts have the power to be transformational in all of our lives.
Sue allowed teachers to develop their skills in creative and arts based learning, by allowing them to be courageous, take positive risks and push the boundaries of possibility. Sue’s vision allowed the transformation of both teachers and learners, enabling a truly research-full school and inspiring a new generation of teachers.
Sue believed in every child’s creative capacities, that School Without Walls would shine a light on their learning, as active citizens, working alongside creative role models as part of a team.
Sue showed how children’s eyes light up with learning when they are trusted and supported in their creative enquiries – their confidence, engagement, communication and reflective skills are all enhanced in this process.
Sue faced all challenges with courage and a passion for things being different. She always had a Plan B. Sue touched the lives of many, fighting for every child’s right to the arts, creativity and culture. The educational landscape is different because of Sue.
‘We are united in making education sustainable by placing creativity at its heart, we want children and young people to fall in love with learning, but there are some things we need to re-think.’
The poem and film People Fall in Love is a clarion call for the world to reconsider an approach to learning – not one that commoditises education and stifles creativity to everybody’s cost – please share this powerful and beautifully shot film with your contacts and networks if you believe that we need to #ReThinkEducation via a #CreativeRevolution.
The film was commissioned by Penny Hay, Director and Co-Founder of 5x5x5=creativity, School Without Walls and Forest of Imagination, as a gift for Sir Ken Robinson.
People Fall in Love has been created in response to the current education system, which does not prioritise human flourishment and is failing our children. Toby celebrates the views of 5x5x5=creativity’s Patron Sir Ken Robinson, whose TED Talk, ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ is the most watched TED Talk of all time.
People Fall in Love is a creative manifesto, Toby Thompson makes a personal and universal comment on the state of education, drawing on the wisdom of Sir Ken Robinson, the media and his own experience in the British education system.
Toby, is a creative champion for young people. In People Fall in Love he explores and expresses these ideas in his chosen art form, spoken word. Toby reflects the ethos of 5x5x5=creativity that supports every young persons’ creative potential – we offer it to you, the best way we can, through the unique creativity of a young person.
Sir Ken Robinson: “Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. Too often it is demeaned and diminished by dominant systems of education. Given the many global challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed – it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardise education, but to personalise it: to create environments where young people want to learn and where they can discover and develop their own talents and passions.”
Penny Hay: “The danger of the current education system places too much emphasis on: performance, accountability and league tables and not enough emphasis on the meaning of education, which is to bring out everyone’s potential to flourish in their own unique way.
“The system is outdated, a utilitarian structure based on a factory model that churns children out in ways that deny them their basic human rights. Rather than acknowledge that children and young people develop and learn differently – the system puts them into boxes and is a transmission model rather than an invitation to learn – they will never fall in love with learning this way.”
Directed by Buster Grey-Jung and Stroma Cairns and funded by Arts Council England this compelling and captivating film speaks to our hearts as well as our minds.
Sir Ken Robinson, Penny Hay and Toby Thompson invite you to be part of the #CreativeRevolution a virtual call to arms to #ReThinkEducation.
Please watch, enjoy and, most importantly, if you recognise how vital this message is to future generations and our wider society – please share widely.
Discover a free, fantastical forest and outdoor gallery right in the heart of Bath! Designed by a collective of local and international artists and creative professionals. Forest of Imagination will transform areas around the Holburne and Sydney Gardens into wondrous sensory installations and architectural artworks, with creative activities for all ages.
