A new partnership between Djanogly Strelley Academy and Lakeside Arts has sparked a global way of bringing creativity to the curriculum.
The Thingamabobas project has transported pupils physically and virtually beyond their school, in Hellston Drive, via the University of Nottingham and Lakeside Arts, to Sam Shui Natives Association Huen King Wing School in Hong Kong.
Workshops were held simultaneously across the globe with children working together to create mechanical sculptures. Pupils made cultural connections, learned how to visualise, plan and create automated, interactive objects, explore critical thinking and problem solving and collaborate as part of a team.
The project was led by Makers of Imaginary Worlds Co-Artistic Directors Roma Patel and Rachel Ramchurn who are resident at the University's Trust Automated System Hub (Robots and Automation systems) and Mixed Reality Lab.
They said: "Thingamabobas began life as an art installation that toured theatres – we call it a circus troupe of mechanical creations. Then through the British Council we developed workshops to work with two different years across the two continents. The workshops ranged from creating technical and moving creations and then looking at what pupils would like to exhibit themselves if they had an installation.
"Working creatively proved to be a developmental tool that could raise aspiration and present new ways of working. Working with quite flexible materials such as cardboard and paper meant that children had to adapt their designs, things fall off and have to be stuck back on, but that's all absolutely fine and part of the learning experience."
They worked with artists Zoie So and Agnes Pang who led the same workshop process in Hong Kong. The learnings were presented at SPARK Festival 2021 in Hong Kong and will be used to accompany future Thingamabobasinstallations nationally.
The children absolutely loved being part of the project and it was wonderful to see where their creativity took them over the course of the workshops. Not only did they develop their creative thinking, designing and making skills, they were also able to work collaboratively and build resilience through the trial and error process. All essential skills that they will take forward into their wider learning. We are all very excited about connecting with our new friends in Hong Kong and hope to develop this relationship further in the future.
Next month, the children will meet each other online to share and celebrate their achievements. This project marks the beginning of a relationship that is set to develop in the coming months and years, aligning to the University's Global Classrooms initiative.
To find out more visit https://makersofimaginaryworlds.co.uk/spark2021/
