The Butterfly Effect

The project is an exploration by the staff and pupils of Deedmore School and the Shysters Theatre Company of the link between creative learning and learning about creativity.

Through regular workshops, performances and visits to creative and cultural events the project will provoke experimentation, dialogue and understanding between members of Shysters Theatre Company, pupils and staff at Deedmore School and the wider community.

Deedmore is a Community Special School for children with moderate learning difficulites. The Shysters Theatre Company is a well respected highly creative group of performers, some members of which also have disabilites.

The journey and accompanying narrative of the project will be determined by the participants through an ongoing process of creative action and reflection within the workshops and visits and group performances. The transformational journey of a caterpillar from an egg through chrysalis to a butterfly will provide the framework for participants to draw upon their personal experiences in order to develop existing skills and new tools for living, learning and teaching.

Working together, participants will explore creative and non-verbal ways to express ideas, experiences and opinions and develop the means to learn about creating a forum for personal and collective understanding.

The Butterfly Effect is a creative project uniquely designed for and with Deedmore School and The Shysters Theatre Company. All staff and pupils at Deedmore will have the opportunity to engage in shaping the project and other schools will be invited to participate at specific intervals.

The project has been designed according to the principles of action research and will be determined by pupils and participants directly and at all stages throughout its delivery. The schools community and parent link worker will be invited to assist in developing further links. Public performances and presentations may take place to invited audiences. Parents will be notified of the project and offered opportunities to support its delivery and growth.

Project Aim One:
To establish the framework for a radically improved and sustainable educational methodology at Deedmore School through the collective efforts of all project participants.
Objectives:
1. To enable pupils to learn and experience decision making and consensus building though creativity.
2. To enable staff to utilise new and existing creative skills in their teaching practice.
3. To provide opportunities for pupils to develop socially and intellectually.
4. To establish opportunities for the school to export learning and success stories to other schools and the wider community.

Project aim two:
To establish the potential for The Shysters Theatre Company to impact upon education at local and national level and increase its capacity for expansion.
Objectives
1. To consolidate the skills of The Shysters actors and artists within educational settings and provide Continuing Professional Development opportunities for members in order to gain further experience and work in other educational settings.
2. To extend the company’s flexibility of approach and ways of developing projects educational settings.
3. To contribute to the development the company’s aesthetics through new ways of working developed within the creative collaboration.
4. To increase the company’s understanding of the links between the way we learn and the working processes within drama and theatre-making.

The results will be reflected through performances, new resources and evaluation that can be disseminated through Deedmore to other schools within the community and to Creative Partnerships nationally. Ultimately, the project will express the link between creative learning and learning about creativity

There are expected to be many benefits for each of the three main participant groups taking part inthe project:

The pupils will have the opportunity to work and learn with a group of highly respected creative professionals, some members of which also have disabilities. This company seek to provide inspiration and skills through being both peers and role models as well as having a personal empathy for and understanding of the childrens' learning needs.

Deedmore teaching and support staff wish to discover their own creative potential and new ways of teaching to provide real and tangible opportunities for their pupils that are widely available to pupils in other schools.

The Shysters Theatre Company wish to build upon their understanding of working within the field of learning disability and provide long term options for children emerging through statutory education.