School: Tranent Infant School, East Lothian, pupil roll 280, age of pupils involved P2, headteacher Rona Nussey What was the best arts company to visit your school in the past year? Catherine Wheels from Haddington How did you hear about them? Through advance publicity from East Lothian council.
What did they do? A play called Martha.
There were two actors and a fabric goose on wheels. The play was about an old lady who didn’t want anything to do with other people and a goose came to her garden because it was ill. She made it better. Then it flew away to be with its own kind and she realised her life would be better if she let other people into it. There was to be a raft race that weekend and the people from the village would be there so she decided to go along and make friends and be among people.
Did you do any preparation? No.
Did you do any follow-up work? The teachers had class discussions with the children on the subjec ts raised.
What did the visit cost? pound;150, but we had subsidy from East Lothian’s arts service.
Who paid? The authority, the school fund and we asked for small parental contributions.
What was so good about the visit? It was so moving that I almost had difficulty standing up to thank them. It was about friendship, trust and personal transformation. It was gentle, humorous and intimate, and the children could see everything so well, because they were very close. The set was wonderful, a wooden cottage with smoke rising from the chimney and sounds of sea and seagulls.
How relevant was it to the curriculum? We do drama from P1 on, so it related to that and to personal and social development. It also helped them to relate their own stories using imagination and understanding.
To contact the Catherine Wheels group call Gill Robertson on 01620 829697
