Let’s Create

I am so happy to be writing this article and spreading good news during a time when we all need a little of this.  This uncertain time has been very difficult for us adults, but has been particularly challenging for many of the children in our community.

Our children have had their normal routines uprooted: many have not had their safe and caring school environment; no comforting teachers; they can’t play with their friends.  Many have felt confused and scared, and some have even felt isolated and forgotten about.

During these times of homeschooling, some very popular online lessons have been trending on YouTube and one of the main focuses of these has been art and crafts tutorials.  This is all well and good, but what about those children who do not have access to basic art and crafts resources?

This is why the “Let’s Create” packs have been introduced- to give a practical solution to this problem, by giving art and crafts resources to the children who need them the most, so they can take part in art and craft sessions. 

The packs will encourage the children to keep busy and focussed by being creative, which in turn will surely have a positive impact on their well-being by giving them a sense of achievement and promoting self confidence.

Each pack consists of basic arts and crafts resources- a range of different coloured crayons (with NHS rainbows in mind); pencils; sketch pads; watercolours; erasers; paint brushes; glue and play doh.

The packs were put together with a collaborative effort from Chesterfield Cultural Education Partnership, The Community Growth Project and The Mighty Creatives. 

The Community Growth Project work with local primary schools (Staveley Cluster Schools and Cavendish Learning Trust) with the aim to deliver quality arts and cultural experiences to young people.

The CEP asked the Head Teachers of these schools to allocate the packs to the children who need them most, and to then invite families in to the school to collect them.  This is a great opportunity for children to reconnect with school after school closures, and gives them a sense that they are being cared for from a distance.

This initiative has not just had a positive impact on the children, it has helped give the organisations involved an opportunity to respond to what has been happening during the pandemic at a time when they have been feeling somewhat debilitated, and of course a sense of success at reaching out to the local community and creating such a positive experience for the people who really matter: the children.

Donna Booth and Natalie Peace are hopeful that schools will see the impact the “Let’s Create” strategy and packs are having on the children who need it most, and are very much looking forward to receiving feedback from children and schools in the partnership, so they can continue (in Natalie’s words) “…to reach people on the ground, so that this initiative is not just a strategy, but provides bare minimum resources to the children who need them”.

Emily Bowman, Deputy CEO of TMC explained to me that ESPO and Tudor Book Binding also came together to help support the initiative during this time of need, and that between them, they managed to get all the resources together and into packs in the space of just a week.

Emily is excited to see pictures, videos and posts on social media showing what the children have made, and is also looking forward to feedback from families and school, before embarking on phase 2 of “Let’s Create”.

As well as having the pleasure of speaking with Emily, I have also been fortunate enough to speak with two of the Head Teachers of the schools benefiting from the packs.

Paula Lowry, Head Teacher of St. Joseph’s Catholic School explained that one little boy in year two did not have red paint in order to complete a task.  He was becoming anxious about this, and was worried he would be “letting his teacher down”. He and his family have been identified to receive one of the packs, and this highlights the importance of the schools being able to assign packs to families, as they are the ones who know the children the best.

Louise Parker, Head Teacher of Poolsbrook Primary School explained to me that creative activities, “where children can have free reign on what they want to make, and are not restricted to limitations of particular educational tasks, are really good for children’s well-being; especially at this time”.

Louise has managed to allocate one pack per family, rather than one pack per child.  She is glad to be reaching out to more children, and wants to reconnect with families when they come into school to collect the packs.

She has already seen some photos of what the children have created and these include a play doh monster; a card with flowers on; drawings of computer games characters; and of course pictures of rainbows for the NHS.

Louise said parent feedback has been very positive, and that she would like to say thank you to Natalie and Donna for making this happen.

It is clear that all of this has been a team effort, with so many people involved in creating, putting together and distributing the “Let’s Create” packs, so that those children who need them can have access to these basic arts and crafts resources, and even though they may have been feeling isolated and scared during lockdown, as it is a very strange time for them, they know they are being given a gift sent with love, from people who truly care.

Article written by Louise S.