In this blog, each colour represents a different person in the group.
On Thursday we had to meet for the first time at Abbey Arts Centre as a group for the residential.
I felt…
Excited… I was nervous but excited,… happy, excited…nervous...excited…excited for the trip
After the meeting I felt
…confident…more comfortable…interesting… excited and scared…even more excited…. comfortable because I got to know people...
And we walked over to where we were staying for the night which was at Westminster School.
My first impressions of the house we stayed in were…
It was creepy! It was interesting… creepy, cool… haunted…creepy… that it was old like Hogwarts
I liked…
the sofa...the common room… the style… the food… the kitchen… the digital grand piano
I didn’t like…
the painting….. the creepy pictures… the itchy carpet… the portrait in the living room
We played a couple of get to know you games which involved a ball and a string. The ball game helped to remember names and the string showed us what we had in common and connected us.
What I had in common with others was…
doing music and drama...that I enjoy being creative, and my school… creativity…music… my love for the arts... school and interests such as music
We walked to our first destination which was to go to Somerset House for an art exhibition of Athi-Patra Ruga’s work. During the walk we stopped at the suffragette’s statue in Parliment Square. I liked it there because…
She represented women’s rights…. the statue was an interesting monument… I liked the stop because it was interesting…. I learnt about it in History GCSE… It reminded me of previous history lessons... because we talked about feminism and the history of the suffragettes
We also had lunch on the way to Somerset House which was nice because…
We got to pick what we ate… we were free to choose what we wanted to eat… it was yummy… nice, good combo… I was extremely hungry…I chose what I wanted (sushi)
At Somerset House we had a workshop with Verity, Sean and Sophia which was great because…
We saw nice work… They were very friendly and welcoming… they were very polite... they were nice, funny… they were nice and I learnt new facts… they were nice and welcoming
(Verity Richards, Participation and Outreach Co-ordinator at Somerset House giving us some encouragement to record our pieces)
The workshop consisted of lots of things like…
Tapestries, painting, sculptures…expressing yourself via your opinion on artwork and your version of Utopia… art and writing… creative writing… exhibitions, creative writing and artists… photography and creative writing
When we saw the exhibition my first impression was…
amazed… I thought it was interesting and fun and it captured my attention…Amazing!… overwhelming… astonishment… that it was different
-“His work is so inspiring, and loud and magical. Can I touch it?”
-“No, sorry”
-“…..pleeeaaassseee”
Dialogue between Verity Richards and a Carers Express Participant
I really liked…
Azania (fictional name of artist’s utopia)… the colours and the brightness of it...the painting and the sculpture.. . the statue/ figure… the extravaganza of the theme... the sculpture and the colours
I didn’t like…
I didn’t dislike anything…There was nothing I didn’t like except the weird video there (the second one)… .. the stained glass… the timing... I didn’t dislike anything
When we got back to the workshop room we had a quiz and then we got to go to the recording studio to record our own public service announcement. Making our own public service announcement was…
difficult… because…I was nervous doing the recording.
easy… because… because I was very opinionated about how I wanted my utopia to be.
easy… because… I enjoy recording.
hard... because… you had to stay controlled and not be nervous.
hard… because… it’s quite tricky to put thoughts into words.
easy... because… I got to use my planning to portray my ideas.
I enjoyed the experience because….
I got out of my comfort zones… . it was cool…we did photography... I learnt and experienced interesting events... It was a new experience where I stepped out of my comfort zone
“I love that today we had a voice here, like we are important and what we say matters” Carers Express Participant at Somerset House
After the workshop we went to dinner at Pizza Express, then we walked just up the road to go and watch the musical ‘Wicked’.
The musical was about….
It was amazing! I have no regrets watching it… the sequel to the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch of the West’s childhood and version of the story...about a witch who was nice and bad at the same time… What happened before the Wizard of Oz… What happened before the Wizard of Oz… The Wizard of Oz.
At the musical I enjoyed…
I enjoyed the singing in the musical and the effects of the lights and the changing of the set.
Imagination
Enjoyment and meaning.
Exaggeration and power.
The singing and the plot.
and I disliked…
The only think I didn’t like was when the giant Wizard of Oz head spoke as it was too loud so you couldn’t make out what he was saying.
I didn’t dislike anything.
I disliked that we had to leave.
People in the audience getting up during the play
I really liked the whole experience because….
fun... it was entertaining... I met new people and tried new things
If the opportunity came up to do this again I would... be excited to come again... definitely come along.
- I will recommend DreamArts to others
- I would recommend it to others as its fun and it gives you something to do in the holidays. It’s also a good experience and a chance to make new friends.
- I would recommend but it was okay.
- I was just having fun
- I would recommend it
Day Two: Friday 26th of October
We got up late and had a nice breakfast of toast, and cereal in our pajamas. Then we got dressed and met in the common room to discuss the day ahead. Paradigmz made an evaluation of the day before and read it out to us. There were words missing which we filled in to say how we felt about what happened yesterday. We knew we were going to the cinema but we didn’t know which film we were going to see. Gaynor gave us some options and we had to vote on our favourite. Everyone agreed that they wanted to see ‘The Hate U Give’.
Then we made thank you cards for the people who cleared their rooms out for us to be able to stay.
We had to get to the cinema quickly so we took a bus, but there was so much traffic, it was quicker to get off and walk again! The film was about police violence towards black people in America. A teenage sees her best friend get shot by police because they think he is holding a gun, when in fact he is holding a hair brush. She decides to be a witness even though it puts her and her family in danger. It was an emotional film but also very inspiring because she stood up for what her rights and the rights of others. In the end it made the community a safer place to be for everyone.
We got back to the school to collect our bags and said thank you to Kevin Walsh, who was a teacher there who had arranged for us to stay. We asked him questions about what it is like to be a pupil at that school and we talked about whether we would like it or not. Then we went to the Abbey Centre to meet our parents and say goodbye. I was tired but happy.
“I wish this was like, a week long! Make it a week long next time!”
“I can’t wait to tell my friends about this, they are going to be sooo jealous!”
Carers Express 