Konflux Theatre Blog

As we are about to embark on the busiest summer term we have ever had, we took some time out to visit one of our favourite Newcastle schools, Canning Street Primary School.

Working with our fabulous Director Carly, the year 4 pupils took part in our ‘Going for Goals!’ Play in a Day project - the most popular Play in a Day title in Konflux history.

”Today was a fantastic opportunity for the children to work together in a fun and exciting way. The Olympic Games were used as a stimuli and the children memorised many facts as a result of their drama experience. Carly was full of enthusiasm and as a result the children were eager to learn and throughly enjoyed  their ‘Play in a day’.’ – Ms Mordue

Our  ’Going for Goals’ Play in a Day not only covers the history of the games, but it also looks at aspirational thinking, healthy living and cultural diversity. We are working with many of our Primary Schools in Nottingham as part of their ‘Raising Aspirations’ module, taking place just after SATS!

We are also very pleased to announce the launch of our brand new KS1 Olympic-themed Journeys. We are working with reception, year 1 & 2 pupils on short 1 hour sessions, enabling up to reach 120 pupils in the same day… bringing all the excitment of the games directly to your school hall. This was very successfully piloted with the year 2 pupils at our local partner school Riverside Primary. Guest blog coming to the creators of that project very soon…. !

Year 4 looking very proud of their fantastic performance

The Titanic on it's maiden voyage

Ready to mark 100 years since the ship set sail, is our brand new Play in a Day on the Titanic. Many of our schools across the Country are looking at the topic this term, and needless to say it has been a very popular choice for our Northern Ireland Spring Tour - especially for those schools based in or around Belfast! Here is the full synopsis:

Of all the tales of maritime disaster none have the enduring impact of the tragic events that unfolded on the 15th April, 1912. RMS TITANIC. The largest man made object ever to move. The most luxurious and iconic ocean going liner ever to set sail… and deemed by the owners and designers of her parent company the White Star Line to be ‘unsinkable’. It’s an age of great technological innovation and a fascination with exploration and expansion. Men still rule the roost… but not if the Suffragettes have anything to do with it (and they’re not afraid to play dirty). Political and social revolution is the order of the day at home and internationally. As Robert Falcon Scott and his team battle towards the South Pole armed only with sturdy boots, woolly jumpers and a stiff upper lip, a rival Norwegian team have, er… told a few fibs and are already way ahead of them. The bounders! Scott’s dignified scientific expedition suddenly becomes a race…

Meanwhile, on board the Titanic, things are looking good; very good. All 48 millionaires are happy… Captain Smith, on his last voyage, is happy and even the people in third class are making the best of it. Making good time through calm seas under a starry sky and with all the latest maritime technology at her disposal what could possibly go wrong..? A century later the questions still keep coming. Why did Titanic only carry 16 lifeboats? Was there really a mystery ship only six miles away that didn’t respond to distress signals? How could an unsinkable vessel sink? Perhaps the biggest question of all: who ultimately was to blame for the death of 1,500 lives? Could there have been a sensational cover-up? Oh and what does P.O.S.H. stand for?

It’s full steam ahead for Konflux Theatre’s brand new Play in a Day. Students will take their audience on an exciting roller-coaster emotional voyage through the events of that fateful night and it’s historical context. Yes, it’s another lively and thought-provoking day long rehearsal with our professional director, culminating in an interactive performance. Working together as actors, students will explore a wide range of key themes such as the value of teamwork, personal discipline, self-expression, confidence building, problem solving and… oh yes… fun. This unique learning experience may yet prove to be a day to remember.

Bring your life jacket… And yes, there will probably be some mention of Leo & Kate!

We had a fantastic year in 2011, finishing in December with our big move - moving our offices to Commer House, near Leeds, just up the road from one of our favourite primary schools. We are looking forward to another successful (and very busy) year! Here are some of our big projects for 2012:

The Olympics – ‘Going for Goals!’ This is without a doubt the most popular workshop that we have ever seen at Konflux, with many schools looking at the games as a whole school topic in the summer term. We are very nearly at capacity for National Sports Week in England, and also for National Sports Week in Scotland.

Our first science-based Play in a Day project – ‘Planet Rock! This is looking to be a popular choice for this spring. ‘ Take a trip around the milky way to check out the planets, the stars and the sun… oh, and I hope you like cheese because we’re off to the moon too! Rockets, flying saucers and astronauts in a fun-filled exlporation of the solar-system; all in 15 minutes and back in time for bell!’

Outer space

Our brand new project on the Titanic will not only mark 100 years since the ship set sail, but it will also explore history around that time… in Britain and across the water. More information to come.

The Titanic back in 1912

As well as all of our exciting projects, we are looking to welcome somebody new into our Konflux marketing team.

So all-in-all, a busy start to the year. Happy 2012!!!

We have now moved office. Find us now at:  

Konflux Theatre Ltd, Commer House, Station Road, Tadcaster, Leeds, LS24 9JF!!!

Our new telephone number is 01937 832 740.

We love our fantastic new space and are ready for 2012….

Following the success of Konflux Theatre’s range of Play in a Day workshops for Ks1, and the need for more theatre projects for our younger pupils  – we have developed a brand new project just in time for Anti-bullying Fortnight in November.

Our troubled robot

It’s Sam’s birthday and there are presents galore… and the best present of all is the shiny new robot from Mum and Dad!  The rest of Sam’s toys think the new robot is super-cool too and they all want to take it in turns to press the buttons and see what it does next, but one day disaster strikes and the robot is run over by the toy train.

Sam sets about fixing it, but the robot is never quite the same again. It now only says nasty things, it grabs and won’t let go and pushes all the other toys out of the way. The toys have a meeting to discuss what to do to fix the situation and it is decided that a complete re-boot is needed which leads to a very delicate operation indeed…

Can the toys re-program the robot to be super-cool again? Or are they destined for a life-time of insults and being pushed and grabbed by their new ‘friend’? The play considers different forms of bullying, how it can affect people’s feelings and a number of different ways to deal with it. This project ties is perfectly with PSHE (bullying).

‘Trouble in the Toy Box’ accompanies our other KS1 favourites: Our history titles The Great Fire of London and Florence Nightingale - and of course our most popular KS1 project Super Fred - which looks at Healthy Living.

For KS2 & 3 Anti-bullying projects – please see our website for full synopses including our new project on Cyber-bullying & E-Safety ‘Click Safe!’

Ready just in time to tie in with the celebrations, is our brand new Play in a Day project - The Olympics – Going for Gold!

With just under a year to wait, schools across the country seem to be looking at The Olympics as a whole school topic at some time or another during the new academic year.

In September we are launching our Olympics project, for which we have already pre-taken a huge amount of bookings. We have a primary & a secondary script so the performances and workshop content itself is age appropriate for the whole school to see.

Not only will the script cover the history and the values of the games, with the story beginning in Ancient Greece, but it will also look at other themes such as aspirational thinking; achievement; self-discipline and team-work. It will also explore cultural diversity and the importance of having a healthy and active lifestyle. Key messages for the whole school to take away.

Please see our brand new 2011/12 brochure on our website now! Advanced bookings for this project are highly recommended!

The time is drawing near, when the fantastic work of Aimhigher finally comes to a close across the UK. Since 2008, Aimhigher coordinators throughout the UK have been providing activities to widen participation to higher education.

 Our journey began in early 2009 with Aimhigher York & North Yorkshire on our Play in a Day project You Choose. This particular project was developed for year 8 & 9 students and focuses on Options; further & higher education; learning styles & routes and aims to demystifying perceived barriers young people hold about University and life-long learning.  The main aim of this project is to raise aspirations and break down the notion that it’s not ‘cool’ to be clever.

Following the success of You Choose came our transition Play in a Day project All Change, which was commissioned not long after by Connexions- Key Stage 2 Career-Related Learning. This project has since been used Aimhigher organisations across the country, and primary schools across Lancashire; Newcastle, Nottingham; Cumbria and York have had the opportunity to get involved in the project paid through their local Aimhigher organisations.

 Following a tour in Kent, we had Northfleet School for Girls provide us with an article they had written about the day. Apart from commenting on what the students got out of the day – the confidence building, team work, etc – they also commented on how the play finishes: ‘With the right skills and training, you can build yourself an amazing future! What have you got to lose? Think for yourself, it’s your life… YOU CHOOSE!

Aimhigher has certainly been a brilliant initiative that has provided children and young people across the country with many unique opportunities. We have read many Aimhigher case studies, which feature young people who have benefited from the programme. With the loss of Aimhigher, and the increasing rise in University fees – I hope that the young people of today continue to aspire to achieving their goals!

Konflux Theatre in Education has had the privilage to be approached by The Hepwoth Gallery, Wakefield to take part in their fantastic Launch Weekend on Saturday 21st May 2011.

As part of an eclectic mix of wonderful site specific work Konflux Theatre and Local Primary School , Blackgates Primary in Wakefield delved into the history of the Gallery and what its architecture represents- Preserving Nature and promoting long term sustainability .

Our Director worked with a group of 30 Key Stage 2 children from Blackgates Primary for 3 hours on the Friday prior to the opening to create an exciting, fast paced performance of our ever popular Environmental and sustainability Play in a day workshop.

REDUCE REUSE AND RECYCLE PLAY IN A DAY!

Performed in the wonderful space ” THE BLACK CLOUD”

gave a real sense of excitement for the Children and for us.  What was achieved by the children was phenomenal and was received fantastically by hundreds of intrigued faces.

The Hepworth Wakefield opened it’s doors to thousands of visitors last Saturday.

8,500 visitors in its first day alone, and over15,000 people over the course of the weekend.

It has been brilliant for Konflux to be part of this event , here is a snipet from The Hepworth team

” On behalf of the Hepworth Fringe Team and Hepworth gallery itself, we would like to thank you for the fantastic performance Konflux gave over the opening weekend. We all very much enjoyed the piece and we appreciate all the hard work you went to. It was a huge success and because of this we have had excellent feedback from the public “ – The Hepworth Fringe Team

We had a fantastic day at the Hepworth and a huge Well done to the Children of Blackgates Primary for a fantastic performance.

We are proud to have been part of such a fabulous event. Thank you to all the Hepworth team who have been brilliant to work with.

‘Wired’ is our newest Play in a Day workshop aimed at secondary school students. ‘Wired’ is an exciting new show about cyberbullying .

This pacey, dynamic performance will explore a wide range of internet safety issues. What exactly is cyberbullying? Why is it dangerous? What forms can it take? How do you combat it? Can you combat it? Could you even be an unwitting part of the problem..?

From Instant Messaging, Blogging, Text Messaging and Social Networking Sites through to Internet Gaming and YouTube, our experienced Facilitator will work closely with a group of young students to devise a performance especially created for an audience of their peers but which will also contain valuable insights and information for adults, parents and guardians too.

The resulting interactive 12-15 minute performance is not only a fun and interesting way of exploring this highly sensitive and potentially dangerous area, but will also raise awareness of available support networks – from the CEOP to other widely recognised advocacy contacts such as Childline and Cybermentors. The young actors themselves will offer a series of ‘top tips’ designed to reinforce the message that personal safety is paramount when surfing the net.

Cyberbullying can take many different forms  and it’s effect is often devastating. If someone bullies you, you can walk away. When someone cyberbullies you, however, there is NO escape. You feel trapped… and things rapidly get worse.

‘Wired’ is an accessible and thought-provoking new workshop from Konflux Theatre which and looks at all the above from the perspective of the young people involved whilst promoting the key message of how important it is for people to seek help, advice and to talk about what fears or concerns they may have.

Anti-bullying Week 2011 is from 21st – 25th November.

Issues surrounding the environment are always a popular choice for our schools in Northern Ireland. Here are some pictures from previous tours with Craigavon Borough Council and Newry & Mourne District Council - with a photo from Carrick Primary School:

Working with a year 6 group in Craigavon Carrick Prmiary School - Yr 6 group

A year 6 group from Carrick Primary School

Due to the high demand for the spring tour – we are now running an Autumn tour starting in September. We already have 9 workshops booked in and will look forward to working with some new schools in the new acadmic year.