Scriptwriting

at Norton School

Norton is a secondary school is based in Stockton on Tees. It serves a particularly deprived catchment area. This was the first time they had hosted a writer in their school. Playwright Fiona Evans worked with a total of 19 pupils from year 9 who had volunteered for the project over a 9 week period.

The group was split into two, and Fiona worked with one group in the morning and the other in the afternoon over nine days. During a planning meeting with the Head of English and two teaching assistants, the writer and New Writing North we identified that the school would like to develop a project which would link in with a partnership they have with an African school.

The pupils would write a radio play which would reflect their every day lives. It would be shared with pupils in Africa who would gain an understanding of what it is to be a young person living in Stockton. It would also encourage them to look more closely at their own lives and help to raise their aspirations. They would also be writing for an audience which would encourage their motivation.

This was a large secondary school which was not used to working with artists, there were initial difficulties with identifying a schedule for the project which did not disrupt other lessons. A schedule which caused minimal disruption was finally agreed on, helped by the headteacher’s support of the initiative.

There was always a teacher based in the classroom with the writer often the Head of English, which helped to embed the project in the school.

The Project

The project began with the pupils listening to and analysing a series of plays and sketches for radio, for many, this was the first time they had listened to a radio play. They then worked in groups following this to write their own sketch, including stage directions, sound effects etc.

Fiona then asked them to focus in on one character from their sketches, and working individually they wrote diary entries for that character. Fiona found that this group were easily distracted and this directed, individual way of working led to them to focus more, and produce better results. They recorded their sketches for radio and then analysed what worked and what didn’t, following this they went back to edit their work.

This was a useful basis to develop their group play. They started off generating ideas through storytelling games in a group. They then worked with Fiona to storyboard the play and again got into (small) group to write their own scene. The final play was edited and put together by Fiona. The group then went to a local theatre to use their recording equipment where they performed in and record their radio own play.

Conclusions

Although at times the group was rather distracted, the project was a positive experience for both the participants and the teachers.

[The pupils have learnt….] ‘that writers are real people and that we all have a story to tell. Everyone has a voice which ought to be listened to and the need to be able to tolerate a range of views, even if you don’t agree with them. The pupils were challenged about their opinions during this project, both by the writer and by each other. They’ve also had to consider the appropriateness of their writing for a public audience, both in terms of style and content.’ Head of English

Educational Attainment

[In terms of educational attainment…] ‘its bound to impact of their writing skills, crafting a piece of text for a particular purpose and audience. It excellent work to help support them with their own writing in the KS3 writing SAT exam.’ Head of English

‘I learnt how to make and describe a character and their surroundings, I also learnt how to write a script’ Participant

Enthusiasm
The pupils are more enthusiastic about writing following this project…’because it’s for a specific purpose and audience, anchored in their worlds, drawing on their experiences’ Head of English

They’ve been introduced to a range of material to help them to develop their own ideas
Head of English

‘Sometimes it was really irritating when you couldn’t think of a play and you couldn’t be bothered, and then sometimes it was cool when you did a really good play and you could show others’ Participant

Teaching Teachers
The Head of English felt she had benefited professionally from her involvement in the project.

‘I’ve picked up skills and knowledge about approaching writing script with youngsters, which I can now share with other youngsters and adults in my future work’ Head of English

The writer
Both pupils and teachers were very happy with Fiona’s input, the participants commented that she was fun and the teachers felt she could relate well to the young people.

‘The input of the writer on this project was excellent, it couldn’t have been better. The pupils engaged from the very beginning, Fiona had the right manner and approach with them and they all enjoyed it ‘
Head of English

‘We would be absolutely happy to host a similar project in future. We had the “right” person work with our youngsters in our school and feel privileged to have been invited to take part in this opportunity.’ Head of English

‘It was really fun and Fiona was an inspiration’ Participant

The feedback from participants and teachers was universally positive, consistent themes were:

Fiona was fun
They enjoyed working in groups
They enjoyed hearing each other’s idea
They learnt how to write scripts
They all said they would like to do a similar project in future

This was a success in that the teachers felt the pupils had applied themselves to the project. They became involved in group discussions about each others work and this led to a range of discussions about issues they may not usually tackle. The school was very supportive of the writer, and although residencies in larger secondary schools are often complicated, the support of the school, and the Head of English’s close involvement led to a well-organised, positive experience for the writer. The writer did feel the group got easily distracted, and found it difficult to focus. She learnt to give them more directed tasks to do, which led to a more disciplined approach. It is interesting that many of the individual feedback from the participants comment on ‘people messing about’ as the most negative thing about the project, a positive reflection on a successful project.