Craigroyston Primary School Artists Residency - Year 3

c. Kat Gollock
c. Kat Gollock
I feel a bit of a funny mixture of excited, sentimental, hopeful, proud, sad... I think because we worked with P7 particularly, coming to the end of this project feels especially significant knowing that they are fast approaching an important turning point in their lives - this has been such a big, full and (I hope) self-affirming experience for all of us; the pupils did something really incredible together and I hope they will hold on to some of their beautiful confidence, creativity and cooperation as they head off to the Big School and beyond!

—Jack Anderson

Lead Artist: Jack Anderson
Trainee Artist: Susanna McGuinness

Jack and Susanna worked with Primary 7A and 7B classes at Craigroyston Primary School in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, getting to know them and finding out how they feel about the times they are living through. This film is a summary of what they did:

During their times together, they ceased to be a group of P7s and a couple of adults – instead they became a collective of professional artists! They were no longer in school but in a place where anything was possible, where imagination could take charge. They got physical and used movement to explore and process thoughts and ideas. They were curious, adventurous and honest. They were a bit daft sometimes. They were together.

Jack and Susanna's plan was to put together a performance by using movement and creativity to dive into some questions like who are we? What does it mean to be these people, here, now? People on the cusp of something? What’s important to us? They collaborated as they went to see what direction their ideas took them in – exploring themes like change, the unknown, moving on, endings, beginnings, freedom, dreams and choices.

Jack said: "I was interested in offering children the opportunity to say whatever felt important to them to say with their performance. I hope that by connecting to our bodies and moving together, we were able to make sense of some of our ideas and experiences – and I really hope that the project will support them to harness and amplify their natural physical exuberance!"