Quotes & Evaluation

Thanks for giving us a chance…..I had the best time of my life and I would love to do it again. Pupil

[My views on opera] have changed because I didn’t know that I could sing. Pupil

I did not know there would be so much work to do but I enjoyed it. Pupil

I wasn’t keen on drama before but in the end I thought our work was worthwhile. I think it’s a good idea to have special needs pupils do the project. They should be allowed to have the same experience we had. Pupil

I think the whole project was very well planned. The initial Teachers Workshop gave an immediate insight to exactly what the children would be doing and how they would feel. Throughout the project Jason kept us fully informed about everything and was also there to answer any queries we had. Teacher

Some of the children that have attended our “Nurture Group”, that have emotional needs, have blossomed into far more confident children with a higher level of self esteem. Thank you for giving our pupils the opportunity to participate in such an exciting project. Teacher

I believe the project to be a very valuable project. What a superb way to introduce children to live theatre. Our students, almost exclusively, come from households very unlikely to visit the theatre… I thoroughly enjoyed the project and felt a real reward after seeing the performance. It was one of the best moments in my career so far. Teacher

I have no doubt in saying that our children’s self esteem has risen and those that were keen to take part were surprised by how much they enjoyed it. Very successful for the pupils and the self belief of the school. Teacher

Keep up the excellent work! It’s absolutely worthwhile and an excellent way to introduce children to opera/music/theatre. I really, really ENJOYED it! Thank you very much!! Teacher

This project has enabled a group of children from a class group of 74% with behavioural difficulties to raise their standards sufficiently to sit through the whole performance (Glyndebourne’s Fidelio) without fault. Teacher

I was amazed, truly. I had seen the scenes in their infancy and to see what they had become after the children’s hard work was fantastic. I was very proud of them and al they had achieved. They are not ‘professional’ artists and many are quiet, shy and undemonstrative normally…. I don’t think they could believe how good they had been. They felt proud to do so well in front of their families and friends. Teacher

Q. When your child returned home after the workshops did they seem excited and full of news? Excited is probably an overstatement as he does not ‘do’ excited. It is very rare for him to volunteer any information unless on a rack with thumb screws applied!! But he has mentioned several times this project with obvious enthusiasm, if not much detail and he is very keen to take part. Which for one who is reluctant even to hold up a picture in school assembly is nothing short of miraculous. Parent

I enjoyed watching the children’s performance; I am pleased my daughter had this opportunity. I was surprised by her positive reaction to the project .I am looking forward to taking her to the theatre in the future, and I believe because of this experience, she will want to go and she will enjoy it. Thank you. Parent

EVALUATION

The project has been evaluated since it’s beginning by our own series of questionnaires sent to pupils, teachers and parents for each project. The results of these evaluations have highlighted how important it is for this project to continue as we notice the important distinction from the pre - project answers with those from the post – project questionairres.

With our evaluation we wish to examine:

• The artistic quality of the overall project
• The design of the project
• Project planning
• Project management
• Relationship between amateurs and teachers
• Relationship between amateurs and children
• An assessment of the children’s input into the devising process
• An assessment of the teachers’ input into the devising process
• The quality and cohesion of the final performance
• Value for money
• Parents’ reactions to their children’s participation of the project
• Parents’ relationship to the Theatre Royal as patrons

METHODOLOGY

Teachers Workshop

• Observation at teachers’ workshop
• Questionnaires sent to all participants
• Photographs

Pupils’ Workshops

• Observation of workshops
• Questionnaire sent to all participating pupils, parents and teachers prior to the workshops commencement
• Post-project interview with Lead Teachers from participating schools
• Photographs and recorded DVD

Project management

• Pre-performance and Post-Performance assessment of work carried out and effectiveness of systems
• Questionnaires sent to participating schools

Performance

• Observation of performance
• Questionnaire sent to pupils, parents and teachers following the performance at the Theatre Royal
• Photographs and recorded DVD

Practitioners

• Pre-project meeting
• Post-project meeting

A typical evaluation would be the findings after the Petrushka 2009 project can be seen as follows:

• In terms of the effect on pupils’ personality there was a notable increase in the percentage of children who felt confident following the project compared to beforehand (57% - 74%), also those who felt creative (57% - 63%), musical (42% - 50.5%), theatrical (25.5% - 45%) and focussed (44.5% - 57.5%).
• In terms of parents’ views, 73% said that it had been a valuable experience for their child leading to increased confidence, 59.5% stated that the project had positively changed their child’s views regarding opera and theatre leaving him/her keen to learn more and 89% felt their whole family had been affected in a positive way by the project.
• All the teachers noted positive changes in their classes after the project, particularly in terms of increased confidence and teamwork between children.

The project will continue to be evaluated through a series of questionnaires, the results of which are discussed by a Steering Group. This comprises the artistic team, Norwich Theatre Royal’s Education & Training Manager, Marketing Director and Chief Executive. Any issues raised are discussed and fed back into the planning process of future projects.

Copies of the full evaluation as well as summaries of the evaluation are available upon request from the Education Department:

• Spring 2001 TANTALUS
• Autumn 2001 FIDELIO
• Spring 2002 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
• Autumn 2002 CARMEN
• Spring 2003 NUTCRACKER!
• Autumn 2003 LA TRAVIATA
• Spring 2004 THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
• Autumn 2004 THE MAGIC FLUTE
• Spring 2005 LA BAYADERE
• Autumn 2005 LA CENERENTOLA
• Spring 2006 THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
• Autumn 2006 COSI FAN TUTTE
• Spring 2007 THE THREE MUSKETEERS
• Autumn 2007 MACBETH
• Spring 2008 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
• Autumn 2008 CARMEN
• Spring 2009 PETRUSHKA
• AUTUMN 2009 FALSTAFF

Click here to view details of future projects.

To receive either a summary or the full evaluation of any of the Norfolk Schools Projects stated above please contact the Education Department, Norwich Theatre Royal, Theatre Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1RL
or
Call 01603 598523
or
Email j.raper@theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk