Family Arts Explorers

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Good morning! Tizi came in thinking it was going to be boring but in the end he actually loved the experience and found it so interesting!

All the kids had a brilliant time the bits they loved the most were the dress circle seats, the crafts and being with their friends! 

Mine said it would of been better especially for the little ones if they could of pretended to put on a show but they loved seeing back stage where they are not allowed and learning about the Latin words.

The kids liked the theatre but they said mummy we loved the bit of colouring and snacks but it was a little bit boring (sorry😁) because it was no show, no toys.

For me was very good experience,  I learned a lot about the theatre how it works, I would like watch show there. 

Lots of fun this morning! Thanks for having us 

What were your highlights from the day? Henry with the Henry Hoover; lots of really good questions, with children and adults asking questions about little details they were seeing round the building.  It showed that they were interested and curious, which is very satisfying; often being too office and admin based it was just great to spend the day being engaged with the families; it also endorsed our TRCH learning brief of placing a lot of emphasis on heritage learning and working with young people – still a work in progress, but I was very pleased to the response and level of engagement.

Did you learn anything from the experience? First time that we had engaged this level of heritage work and adapting Georgina’s school work for families, which was really useful and now provides a useful template for future work. 

Do you think you’ll share anything with your team, or do anything differently to inform future planning in terms of family access to the Theatre Royal, as a result of the programme? I think it would be useful for them to see their pictures and comments about their time with us.  We do need to co-ordinate about seeing shows with these families, to give them access to the wider programme.

"It is amazing families will have the chance to visit different cultural organisations over the summer and we really enjoyed welcoming everyone to the theatre." 

What were your highlights from the day? Seeing the children and adults enjoy accessing the different spaces of the theatre (especially the stage/ dressing up) and hearing many had never been to the venue before or maybe once to a pantomime but were excited to be able to see all the different spaces and access areas only performers and staff get to see.  

Did you learn anything from the experience? That it is really important to create opportunities for families to visit and offer a relaxed setting to enjoy spending time in the theatre spaces. 

Do you think you’ll share anything with your team, or do anything differently to inform future planning in terms of family access to the Theatre Royal, as a result of the programme? We would love to do this on a more regular basis and being part of this wider programme and working in partnership has supported us to allow families to access the theatre this summer who may have not been to the theatre before. 

From the Parents

Today I learnt more about my daughters interests and I was so engrossed in the knowledge she had about the artists and how they created what they had and how difficult the techniques would be.I cannot believe this has been here all along.I would of never known hadn’t I signed up to this!! Furthermore, the lovley tram journey and tour around the lakeside arts has well and truly out done my children.They are now sleeping. WINNER!!  Fabulous day! Could not of changed my experience at all.  Karmel.

I have always taken my children here and used the mini golf, park and enjoyed the walk however, I never realised that this was a gallery that I could take my children to visit. I will be visiting again it is a lovely experience and amazing that my child received the deeper thinking surrounding art. Loved it!

What did you enjoy about visiting Lakeside arts?
I liked going on the tram because we always go in the car. I really liked making the art and creating with paints and paper. Looking at other peoples art because I like art and it gives me ideas what to make and draw. It was peaceful in the gallery and I could think about what I was doing when I was making the material art too even though Avah was making noise.  

What were your highlights from the day?

Hearing the children (and parents) express how they felt about the artworks they felt connected to in the gallery and having the confidence to share those thoughts with us all was magical. Just seeing everyone working together in their groups was amazing too, their fabric art recreations were very special. 

Did you learn anything from the experience?

Perhaps there could be more, ideally free, family learning opportunities at Lakeside? The gallery can seem like a quiet and remote place but it needn't be. Families talking about art should be celebrated and it would be lovely whenever possible to have some free activities for people to do to connect to the exhibition. We're not in charge of that side of things though. It was really interesting to hear how many had travelled to the park multiple times but not been in any of the galleries or museum. 

Do you think you’ll do anything differently  as a result of the programme? 

The layout of the buildings is a bit confusing to first time visitors to Lakeside and the gallery/museum/recital hall block does can feel like a completely different organisation and as some of the families said 'part of the university and not somewhere for them to go'. Better signage might help? Something that tells you all the things you can do as you enter the gates to the park and where to find them? Or at the tram stop?

What were your highlights from the day?

The afternoon group - their openness and engagement in the gallery and all the activities. My particular favourite or the thing I was most moved by was the family who created the tableau. The mum's idea and the children's intense positions as they physically recreated their chosen painting, beautiful. 

Did you learn anything from the experience?

My work has been very children based over the last 6 months and it reminded me how much I enjoy family and community work and how I love meeting people :) 

Do you think you’ll share anything with your team, or do anything differently to inform future planning for access to Lakeside Arts as a result of the programme? 

How we can make Lakeside more open and welcoming to all families from across Nottingham but particularly those who come to Highfields park and are reluctant to come in to the buildings, how can we break down this barrier?

Feedback from the Parents

Olwyn: 'Curious' before arriving and 'Inspired' after the visit. "Everything was interesting". Hadn't been before and would go again. Cost of travel would be an issue. 

Jackie and Arron: "Everything went perfectly". Hadn't been before and would go again; lower cost of public transport would support future family trips. 

Natasha: "I enjoyed the Prop room"

Rebecca: surprised that there are two seamstresses to make all the garments; how hot it was and no air con! 

What could have improved the experience today? More for kids - allowed on stage; or allowed to try things on or make (pretend) costumes.  

Children's Feedback (it was a v hot day!)

What would you change to make this even better for other children visiting here?
"The smell in the corridors - no air con".
"Go to more areas, do things faster"
"More time to do other things to make it more fun and exciting as well."
"Make your own play".
"Aircon and the activities, also invest in windows".

What do you think you'll remember most about today?
"Doing drama activities" 
"The drama exercises. When we went all around the building and over all of the questions". 
"The story of the sky mirror".
"I think it was a bit boring, there was lots of things we could have done and it was sooo hot but I did like the prop place, that was my fav bit."
"The backstage tour"

What were your highlights from the day? 

Seeing/experiencing the group cohesion and dynamic from start to the end of the session - the rise in overall confidence and getting to know new people. When adults joined in with the games and encouraged children to take part - supportive and kind environment.

Everyone was open to trying new things - a variety of levels of experience - some had done drama before and some hadn't - everyone got stuck in! 

Did you learn anything from the experience?
A larger age range if parents and guardians are present - having more support staff in the room can work really successfully and provide meaningful opportunities for learning and play. 

Specifically, young ones encourage a sense of play / silliness and older ones take a responsible role of imparting knowledge to younger ones which can be great for self-esteem. 

Do you think you’ll do anything differently  as a result of the programme?  

Continue to include a budget for travel, where possible, for all participants - develop a robust process to ensure that those who face travel barriers are reached out to early in a recruitment process. 

What were your highlights from the day? Meeting a genuinely new cohort of visitors to the Playhouse. Seeing many of the parents get as much out of the day, if not more, than the young people. Seeing our practitioners learn 'in the moment' new ways to engage and adapt. 

Did you learn anything from the experience? 

Not learn so much as have various hunches confirmed.  Some peoples' lives present enormous challenges and engaging in arts and culture is therefore understandably some way down their list of priorities.

I suppose we knew this already, but it was fascinating to see people of all ages engaging with art in a range of different ways according to their own interests and needs, whether that be visual arts, movement, games or even just supporting others. 

Do you think you’ll share anything with your team, or do anything differently to inform future planning for access to Nottingham Playhouses as a result of the programme?  

It's perhaps a little early to say, but certainly we are already reflecting as a team on how this work might inform our engagement going forward.  We know of course that costs of travel are an issue for access, but actually the right kind of bespoke welcome, session content and session structure was very evidently just as vital. Getting people to the venues is a challenge, but it is equally important that they have a fantastic time on THEIR terms.