St George's School
It's our business to help you learn
Stuff for Sir & Miss
Imagine a school for children and young adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities setting up their own business in their own school grounds.
What would happen if this business enterprise, based around creative learning, invited other schools to use a facility that the students at that PMLD school had not only designed and built themselves but actually ran themselves .
Well we're about to find out!.........As far as we know St George's School in Newport is the first school in the UK to offer a pay to use service to other schools. Students at St George's will have an opportunity to work at every level of the business, from management to maintenance from IT to PR and development, they will be able to gain real experience of real business and of life in the work place at every level. The far reaching effects of this project will be fantastic for all involved, for St George's, Island schools, benefactors, investors, funders, partners and sponsors alike.
Download the Dragon flyer.pdfhere.
A BIT ABOUT ST GEORGES'S SCHOOL.
Head Teacher Sue Holman reflects on the successes of the Making Sense project that lead to the setting up of DRAGON.
The Creative Partnership work at St. George’s School has really gathered momentum since the start in 2004, resulting in an ethos that will continue on into the future. The whole school has been involved directly throughout the project and in a way, the tangent skills have been as important as the finished sculptures and builds. The result is that our grounds and buildings are more exciting and interactive. Students are constantly reminded of their successes, and have had the opportunity to work alongside different year groups and abilities, developing a greater empathy for their peers; and the staff team are keen to involve creativity in the curriculum.
The project has fostered a real sense of community, not just in the visiting artists and people from outside of the school, but more so from within. Every young person has contributed, be it at the planning stage, or through the practical application and sensory activities. The project has given students a sense of context for their skills, enabling them to enjoy the fruits of their labour and develop a sense of empathy in relating to the needs of others.
The students and staff have particularly enjoyed working with Eccleston George who really have become part of the school family. They have contributed on so many levels to the pupils, supporting and guiding them to make art, and encouraging them to believe that anything is possible if they problem solve and work hard. They also worked with students to record and release the Making Sense Song, to raise money for materials to continue the projects. Their respect and support has provided fantastic role models for the students which we now see emulated in the daily behaviour of the school.
In line with the 'Creative Partnerships' ethos that helped to get our project underway we believe that creativity is not a skill bound within the arts, but a wider ability to question, make connections, and take an innovative and imaginative approach to problem solving. These are skills that are demanded by today's employers.
Our Creative Partnership project, we called Making Sense,gave us the opportunity to push towards a creative curriculum at St George's ahead of the goverments own forthcoming creative curriculum due to be implemented in 2008. This means that we have the experience to make DRAGON a useful and important resource for any school to benefit from.
