Robinswood and Moat Primary schools embark on an inspiring Photography project

Debbie Christie - Catalyst in Matson and Robinswood

Debbie Christie - CG’s catalyst for Matson and Robinswood - tells us about a new project she’s been working on with primary school children in the local community in collaboration with photography students at The University of Gloucestershire.

How did the project come about?

We know that there is very little resource available for art, culture and creativity in school at the moment. The focus is firmly on academic results especially post covid where schools have been tasked with ‘catching up’. I really feel that young people are missing out on creative opportunities.

So, during periods in and out of lockdown I was given the opportunity to go into the local primary schools Robinswood and Moat to carry out a survey with the children. The idea being that they could choose what they wanted to engage with. The survey had 20 ‘visual’ questions of things they might be interested in exploring. They just had to tick the ones they were interested in - no long questionnaire! The top two interests were mural/street art and photography. But as Matson has done several murals in the past with the schools we opted for photography.

Who did you partner with?

The idea was to strike up a collaboration with The University of Gloucestershire, where students could come and support the children in school. The project works two ways; enabling the children to learn new skills but also for the students to support their degrees with community work. It’s also a great way for the children to find out more about what you can do at university in the hope that they might go on to University in the future.

The students are year two Photography BA Students Annie and Lucy. The have been leading and running the project for 3 weeks now and they have really run with it. I offered as much support as they needed but they didn’t need much at all - they are really shining! They are really enjoying the experience and they have both said they can now see opportunities in careers in the community, which is really exciting.

What has happened so far?

The first week was an introduction and ice breaker with the children. The following weeks have been out in the community and working towards collages. In May we took the group up Robinswood Hill - see the pics and video below! In June we’ll make a trip to the coast to do some outdoor photography and the results will be displayed in an exhibition in The Ewe Space in Matson and also with a celebration at Gloucester Services. We also hope the exhibition will then go to Gloucester Services.

Fingers crossed!

To find out more about the project please feel free to get in touch with Debbie on her email: debbie@creategloucestershire.co.uk