Arena Theatre Company video shows work it did with a school on the theme of "flock".
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00:00 [Music plays]
00:16 This is a second iteration of FLOC,
00:19 which is an arts residency within schools,
00:22 which celebrates community and migration
00:26 and the diverse nature of what makes up this amazing school here at Brookside.
00:32 We've had five artists occupy a central hub of four classrooms
00:37 and we set up each Friday over a period of 11 weeks
00:40 and all the students during this time migrate in and talk to us
00:45 and we have discussions and we ask them stories about their lives
00:48 and their families and their communities,
00:50 which we turn into these incredible artworks.
00:53 In this iteration of FLOC we have these beautiful wings
00:58 made up of the entire year six cohort.
01:01 Every feather is an individual student
01:04 and we've placed them on the back wall
01:05 and each student is coming in and taking photos of themselves
01:08 with these giant wings made up of their peers.
01:12 We've got these incredible stories that Jessie has collated
01:17 and underscored with music and sound effects
01:21 that we listen to in headphones
01:22 and we place them in these beautiful tents that the children go into
01:26 and really learn about themselves and each other.
01:29 Penelope has been building these incredible ornate nests with the students
01:34 and it's been one of the most popular activities
01:37 because they just come in and grab bits of recycled plastic and cane
01:42 and create these bowerbird style nests filled with ideas and stories.
01:50 Phil McGuinness has used a drone to shoot an enormous parade
01:55 that we did out on the Oval
01:57 and we've had these giant bird puppets,
02:00 enormous things, metres and metres long,
02:02 that the kids have operated
02:04 and from a drone we shot these migration patterns of these giant birds
02:09 and cut it together into this beautiful video.
02:13 We've got Mark Egan back on board and he's done some extraordinary things.
02:16 We've been working together to create augmented reality pieces.
02:21 So we've got these images that when you use a device like an iPad or an iPhone
02:27 they come to life.
02:28 Kids' contents that they made, whether it's drawings or ideas or stories,
02:33 suddenly burst out of these pictures.
02:35 I think having access to professional artists
02:39 is an opportunity that primary school kids just don't get generally
02:43 and so they've really enjoyed meeting different people,
02:46 working with different adults and the experience and the expertise
02:50 that the artists can bring to our school
02:52 is just something that we would have never been able to offer.
02:55 I remember walking past the first day and seeing a group of about 10 girls
02:59 surrounded around an artist and they were just like,
03:02 "Mr Bright, come over here and listen to this."
03:05 One of the boys over there just shared with me his song
03:08 that he's sharing tonight that he's wrote
03:10 and before that he was a really reluctant writer.
03:13 So to have that boy come up to me and say,
03:16 "Mr Bright, listen to my story," was just fantastic.
03:20 A few of our students who weren't excited about being at school,
03:24 they weren't engaged with the curriculum
03:26 and this sort of really helped to re-engage not only their learning
03:30 and their academics but really their focus of wanting to actually be here.
03:34 As a whole, every student in the cohort come Friday
03:39 wanted to be there working with Arena Hands On.
03:42 I love working with Arena because it's fun and they're really helpful.
03:50 I love working with Arena because they're really nice
03:52 and they kind of work together as a community
03:57 and they show different techniques in art that not a basic artist would do.
04:03 I love to work with Arena because it's so creative and we get to do new things.
04:10 I like working with Arena because they always encouraged you
04:14 to not give up with your projects.
04:16 It was one of the funnest things I've done all year.
04:20 It's been the most fun experience I've had in this school.
04:23 I love working with Arena because it brought out the truth of people,
04:27 my true self and let me be who I am and not be scared to do what I want to do.
04:33 [Music]