No Decisions About Us Without Us
With support from creative practitioners, Year 5 students used performance and various art methods to express their concerns to local decision-makers.
With support from creative practitioners Jess Ong and Adam Gaterell, Year 5 students from Barton Primary School asked local decision-makers to listen more to young people – in particular their concerns about issues including racism, human rights and the environment – with performance and art.
In ‘No Decisions About Us Without Us’, a 12 week literacy, oracy, and advocacy project, the students worked with the artists to learn about youth voice and explore different ways of getting their messages across.
They used various artistic methods — including poetry, protest posters, and T‑shirt design — to express their concerns, also performing the poetry and songs they had written in front of their friends, family, education leaders and local councillors. The artworks were then exhibited at Quay Arts.
The project has given our children a voice to express themselves and to know that their opinions and thoughts are heard and listened to. It has given them the chance to explore the positive ways in which they can share their messages and allowed them to showcase what is important to them. It has also been brilliant for us as teachers to see their enthusiasm for the project grow and produce such fantastic outcomes.
Impact
88% of the children said that the adults on the project listened to their views
85% were proud of their contribution and found the project fun
“It’s a long time since I was at school, and I have spent a lot of time with older people, and I wish now that I had spent more time with young people because we now live in their world on our planet, which I fear for sometimes. Some of the messages we heard today in both the poems and the songs are very important – I hope that councillors like me, and MPs across the country will listen to those things that have been said today.” – Councillor Geoff Brodie, responding to the children’s performance
The performance was amazing, meaningful and raised awareness, well done.