Juniper Green 300

The background

2007 saw the 300th anniversary of the village of Juniper Green on the outskirts of Edinburgh. To celebrate, Sylvia Campbell, a teacher at Juniper Green PS, headteacher Karen Noble and depute Paul Ewing developed a whole-school cross-curricular project with strong links to the community - a good example of the interdisciplinary learning advocated by A Curriculum for Excellence. They invited writer Allan Burnett, dramatist Liam Hurley and songwriter and musician Gill Bowman to work across the age groups in the school to develop a rich, cross-curricular, cultural experience that would allow the children to celebrate their heritage in a variety of creative and stimulating ways.

The project came about as the result of an open request from Literature in Learning for a non-fiction project involving a writer, to add to our portfolio of case studies. Sylvia rose to the challenge and suggested the idea to her school. The school bid for funding from Live Literature Scotland (Scottish Book Trust) and Awards for All (see Finding Funding to learn more).

Juni Through Time: A collaborative children's history book

Preparing the ground: The book began with an inspiring assembly led by Allan Burnett, journalist and writer of history books for children. Allan talked to them about being a writer, and about writing history books in particular. The children contributed ideas and created mind maps of JG300, which gave the basis for the work. Allan set tasks for each class including 100 word essays and the creation of fantastic facts sheets, and they researched different periods in local history from the Bronze Age onwards. Members of the local history group (fondly known as the "Diggers") helped the children with their research. Allan honed the children’s writing skills and drew it together with their illustrations into a professionally published whole-school book.

An editorial team: Allan worked with an editorial team made up of children from every year group in the school and met regularly with them to discuss the process of crafting the book. These children then reported back to their classes, taking their role very seriously. They gathered ideas and suggestions for each meeting and readily shared and discussed these, working towards a consensus as a team.

Literature in Learning eavesdropped on one such meeting and found that the children were seriously engaged in important decisions about the final product, making thoughtful contributions, listening carefully to one another and taking copious notes so they could report back to their classes - even the tiniest ones who could barely write. They discussed the title, the contents page, the acknowledgements, the blurb, an introduction, the front cover, ways to link to the music CD and the inclusion of a quiz or some questions.

Realising the vision: When all the research, writing, drawing and discussing had been done, Allan disappeared to face the enormous editorial task of moulding all the children's contributions into a coherent and enjoyable book, true to the children's words and vision and then sending all the text and pictures to a designer so that they could be turned into a professionally published book.

Reflecting on the process: Following the publication of the book, Allan gave an assembly each to the junior and senior school, which was a recap and a summary of all they had done together, with Q&A. He says:

"We summarised that we had achieved three things. 1: PUT IDEAS IN ACTION - We wanted to create a book that incorporated a number of different ideas, themes and topics, and we achieved this goal. 2: FOUND THE FACTS - We wanted to pack the book with interesting and important facts, and through structured internet, interview and library research we achieved this goal. 3: WROTE IT UP - We wanted to write the book up (and illustrate it) in a way that was funny, interesting and educational, and we achieved this goal."

An amazing end product: They had indeed achieved a great deal, the end result is an editorial masterpiece! The children have contributed to the making of an inspiring resource of which they can be duly proud for years to come.

The blurb says: "How did Juniper Green get its name? What are the secrets of the skull dug up in one of its gardens? And why did Bonnie Prince Charlie pass through here? Find out the answers to these and other questions in Juni Through Time, presented to you by the pupils of Juniper Green Primary School." Parents, children and the wider community alike have thoroughly enjoyed reading on to find the children's answers to these questions.

The River Flows On: A dramatic pageant

Dramatist Liam Hurley worked with each year group to dramatise episodes from the community's history, including the games our grannies played, the story of the local mills and the lives of the Bronze Age farmers. The scenes were woven together with music and the flowing theme of the Water of Leith to produce a stunning whole school pageant which was shared with families and community members in June.

The River Flows On
Time and the Water of Leith flow on forever through Juniper Green, bringing beginnings, endings and change. For four evenings in June, the hall of Juniper Green PS became that river and showed how time had flowed and left its mark on the community.

The show opened with the the uplifting song "Our School" performed by the choir and music group, with original and lyrics and music created by P6 in collaboration with musician Gill Bowman, just the first of several original songs in the show and captured on the school CD, "Juni Through Time, The Songs".

The Water of Leith was cleverly evoked through imaginative dance, music and flowing fabrics, and a little duck bobbed in and out through the course of the evening, making witty observations and helping to create a link between the different eras along the way. There was granny and her grandson, too, on stage throughout, asking questions and commenting on the changes over the years.

P1 children took to the stage and cleverly put actions to songs about rivers and grannies, ably supported by P7 buddies. Their face paints and clear voices added greatly to the impact of their performance and they brought the house down with granny's solemn advice, "Don't eat porridge with a fork!"

P2 explored the games their grannies once played,including hopscotch, skipping, clapping and choosing games, concentrating hard and giving very well-choreographed demonstrations, and P3 dabbled in some river games as folk have done since long ago.

A glacier scoured its way across the stage as the Pentland Hills were formed, and then an ancient skull was unearthed in a Juniper Green garden, a relic of the Bronze Age 4000 years before. Archaeologists came and scratched their heads and took it away for examination. Time slipped, and the P3 Beaker people began to trade in a series of carefully acted mimes and the reflective tones of "The Same Sun and the Same Moon" drifted across time, another of the original compositions created for the project, this time by P5.

As history flowed on again, Bonnie Prince Charlie and the P6 Jacobites staged dramatic scenes of intrigue in the hills nearby, culminating in the Stab and Die dance, which had the audience on the edge of their seats, holding their breath.

As the industrial revolution reached Juniper Green, snuff mills began to appear along the river and P5 entertained us with their take on the windmill song - about a family of mice living in a snuff mill, with actions and costumes and skilful clog dancing - and they even brought the machinery to life, too. Fascinating facts about snuff were shared ("snuff stuff"), including the amazing revelation that Napoleon got through three kilos of snuff a month!

With industrial progress came the trains, and a clever soundscape, performed by P4 with original notation, brought us the sound of the steam trains passing through the village along the Water of Leith. P4 created the Juniper train and we learned about the Victorian occupants, including ladies heading off to shop at Jenners and lunch with friends - ah, those were the days!

And then the war came, heralded by the rousing tones of a medley of period songs. P7 turned their extensive research and the fruits of their interviews with Juniper Green residents into a series of wartime vignettes, showing how hard life was when people had to be apart, and how ladies who couldn't get stockings improvised with tea leaves and eye-liner! One resident in particular had struck a chord, and as we listened to the extremely moving "Look What the War Did", we learned of the life of Jackie Flynn, scarred forever by his experience of war, his actions sensitively and very movingly portrayed by a P7 boy, sweeties, swimming goggles and all.

A grand finale sent everyone out in style - songs and music and wishes thrown into the audience written on leaves. One wish that fell in my lap said, "I wish that when I grow up I will be a librarian," and another, "I wish that my family will be healthy, safe and happy." I hope that all the Juniper Green wishes come true as they move on into their new school and the river flows quietly on beside them.

Songs of Juniper Green: A CD of original songs

	Musician and songwriter Gill Bowman collaborated with the children to compose words and music that capture the village story, drawing on information from the JG300 village web site. Each song began its life with a word storm, from which phrases and lines were developed and then a structure and tune began to grow, with refinements along the way. Gill describes it as being rather like cutting hair!
After some intense rehearsals with a specially auditioned choir and music group, the songs were recorded onto a CD as well as being performed as part of the pageant in June. You can read about the songs and listen to two of them in the account of the pageant. The CD has been published along with the book and sold by the school to the children and the community - a great buy!

A community affair

From the start the community was closely involved in this project.The local JG300 group worked with the school to make the history of the village accessible, and the community web site was a great source of information and inspiration for the children. Local residents came in the be quizzed and questioned by the children; they told stories, too, and showed old photographs of the village in times gone by. Community members came to the pageant, and the children joined in the local celebrations in June. The children also went out and about in the community, to see exhibitions created by residents and to visit local landmarks and see how the village had changed. The project was deeply rooted in the children's own lives, and this was one of the things that helped to make it so special for them.

Reflections: the staff

This was a big project, and very demanding. It required staff to move out of their comfort zones and put their trust in other professionals, working in ways that were not familiar and at times this was very stressful. But the end products were stunning on all counts. In the light of this, Sylvia reflected, "I would now be more open to new ideas, more confident, more willing to trust."

Sylvia Campbell, who seeded the idea of the project and then watched it grow to be larger than life before her very eyes, commented that she would have liked more time, but not too much more - it kept everybody very focused!

One child had been given a particularly prominent role in the performance, in what Sylvia called "an inspired risk." This might be a good descriptor for the whole project!

Fiona Thornton, the P3 teacher, was surprised and impressed by the way the children rose to the challenge of quite demanding reading and writing tasks, but would have preferred a slower pace, with more sense of control and a clearer sense of the outcomes. Also, greater involvement in the choice of the topic for her class, although the children certainly gained much from the learning about the Beaker people and she was able to extend it into art and clay work, too, making jewellery and pots and weapon heads. Allan's enthusiasm was very motivating, and the children thoroughly enjoyed sharing their research discoveries with the class.

Reflections: the children

P3 and P7

Mrs Thornton's P3 class enjoyed lots of aspects of the project:
The concert
The research
Finding out about street names
The skull in the kist
The exhibition in the local kirk
Bringing in their own history books
Making a scrapbook at home
Learning about juniper berries - they were used to make medicine and to rub on your hands
Learning about Baberton House
Drawing the old buildings
The parade and the gala day

They said, "Allan set us hard tasks, but they were fun to do. We had to use highlighter pens to find the facts and write a 100 word essay."

Mrs Thornton said, "They were very, very enthusiastic!"

The P7 pupils explained what they had enjoyed:
Abigail: The songs and songwriting and making up our own words
Dayna: The acting
Maeva: How the show was made up
Elaine: The whole school being involved
Josh: All of it! Very lucky to be part of it
Adam: The fair and the parade, and the JG300 committee
Jack: How the book, the concert and the fair all came together, and the way the book was published

They reflected on how the specialists had helped them, the senior citizens who came to talk about their memories of the war, as well as Allan, Liam and Gill, and considered what they had learnt during the project:
Josh: I've learnt how to write, act and make up a song
Abigail: I feel more confident to stand on a stage and sing
Adam: I've learnt how to work as part of a team, acting together
Jack: I've learnt how to work in a group, and how to mime (Jack gave the memorable performance of Jackie Flynn during the song "Look What the War Did")
Dayna: I'm more confident with singing
Elaine: We all got a say in what happened in the book. We had a choice and were not made to do anything.

The children also considered how the project related to the concept of creativity:
Adam: We wrote a book and we had to work hard
Elaine: The way we learned was creative, we didn't use text books
Dayna: The songs were all made up and all the scenes had to be created
Jack: The way our project went into the show.

The only thing that they felt they would have done differently was to involve the nursery.

Reflections: the creative professionals

Gill Bowman Liam Hurley Allan Burnett

Gill reflects:
Overall: It was a well funded project and it's important that work of this kind is properly remunerated, given that it's a lot of work requiring huge amounts of commitment, energy, creativity and particular expertise. I also gained a lot of experience on working to a very tight deadline - no time to waste, so a different dynamic to what I've experienced when there's been less pressure and time to have more fun with the children and go off on tangents, diversify. Good to have such focus on the end product, though.

For the children: it was a crash course on taking information, stories and ideas and brainstorming them into songs. They were led from the front by me and took to it well, becoming enthused by the songs, the subject matter and the urgency of the project. I hope they learned about more experienced people making executive decisions but also about having their ideas embraced, incorporated and their input valued and about dealing with disappointment if their ideas were not used in the final song. I also hope they gained some level of self esteem regarding their musical abilities - especially those who didn't already sing in choirs or play instruments. The auditioning process was confidence boosting for many of them, even those who didn't end up in the singing group.

For the teachers: in such workshops teachers get a chance to become part of their own class, to view their pupils from a different perspective and see how they work with other tutors and respond to different methods of working. I hope they enjoyed the sessions - and many of them contributed much to the work.

The hardest thing? Keeping my own energy levels and enthusiasm high enough to carry the project to the finishing line. And keeping discipline in class whilst encouraging a high level of creativity and energy from the children.

The best thing? The end result - some great songs which were recorded for future enjoyment and will endure, I hope.

The worst thing? Knowing how much our work was causing various levels of difficulty for teachers with a lot to cope with.

Would you do anything differently? Nothing really. I knew it would be challenging, but being prepared helped.

And finally . . . It was wonderful working with Liam and knowing that we were facing similar challenges but were very much on the same wavelength. The school was very supportive of the chaos we came in and caused - without that it would have maybe been impossible.

Allan reflects:
For me, a few things stand out from the children's responses to their work on Juni Through Time, which I learned today from a short discussion with Hayley from P5B and Ross from P4B:

Intellectual development: They have an understanding of historical time - the big stages of human cultural, social and technical evolution - that they simply didn't have before. No longer is granny's childhood the furthest back in time that they can coherently imagine. Ross and Hayley both felt strongly about this, and pointed out that the chapter structure of the book was a good way of showing how the stages of history followed on from one another. R was particularly taken by the introduction to the first chapter, and talked at length about how much he enjoyed the fact that the skull dug up in a village garden took us all the way back to the Bronze Age - "the beginning of the story". In my opinion, this kind of deep understanding is fundamental to advancing children's intellectual development.

Transferable skills: Hayley, in particular, recognised the broad value of what she had contributed to and learned from the book project. In her words, in any job you need to know how to write well, and you need to be able to make good notes - and you often need to do it to a deadline. She found memorising facts in order to write them up in her own words difficult, but felt a real sense of achievement in doing it. Both children drew attention to how the project focused their minds on using the internet as a tool, for example, and the value of discussing things in a group meeting in order to decide on things and then get them done.

Producing results: Ross gave me specific examples of how research, such as going on a field trip to the water of Leith or finding out things about the Bronze Age on the internet, had found their way into the book, and that this pleased him. He felt a great sense of achievement that these activities had a tangible and coherent outcome. Hayley enjoyed the medieval section because it was more challenging in terms of research. There was less information on the local-history website, which meant she had to think further afield to different kinds of sources in order to find the information she needed. Both R and H recognised and were impressed by the fact that a large amount of information from many different sources had been distilled and processed into a small and easy-to-read product.

Critical evaluation: Both children pointed out mistakes with the finished book, such as the tracklisting for the songs not being quite right, or the cover having some flaws. This honest criticism and reflection is an important stage in itself. Perhaps more significant, in terms of forming balanced judgements and having a mature understanding of what was achieved, in Hayley's words, "the book was still amazing". So the book isn't perfect, but knowing all the hard work and skill that went into it, and the limits that were imposed upon us, it was still a great achievement. The children went on to discuss the use of pictures, with R stating that he would have preferred more information, less pictures - while Hayley reflected that the pictures made the book easy to take in, and helped those who can't read quite as well.

Emotional development: R and H repeatedly said how proud they were of the book and the CD. I think this is where having a tangible, lasting end product comes into its own - whether a book, or as we also saw, a concert and drama performance that lingers in the memory. Both R and H emphasised how proud their parents were of them - and mentioned mum settling down with a cup of tea and a biscuit to read the book, for example. Perhaps most significant was the emphasis both children put on the fact that the whole school had been involved, not just the senior school. They both suggested this was a good and worthwhile aspect to the project.

Any changes? Literature in Learning asked Allan if, on refection, he would have done anything differently and he replied that he would like the chance to work intensively with a small group of talented writers and look at the mechanics of research. He could also see the 100 word essays being developed into imaginative writing based on fact - "A day in the life of a snuff mill worker" or "A day in the life of a Beaker person." He would have liked to give more support to the teachers, but the nature and size of the project meant that this was not possible. But, there are already plans afoot for Allan to continue to work with the school to develop research and writing skills, so some important seeds have been sown.

Reflections: Literature in Learning

Overview and Considerations for the future

Overview
Literature in Learning was made very welcome by the school and the creative professionals, and very much appreciated being allowed to visit workshops, classes, meetings and performances over the spring and summer terms. This was a big and complex project, involving a lot of people doing a lot of different things in a short space of time, so it was bound to cause pressures and stresses, but the outcomes were extremely rich, and the ways the different threads and themes of this project were woven together was admirable. There was much to be gained along the way, as the children's comments clearly show.

The teachers were less comfortable with the experience. The quote of the project has to come from Liam; he was talking about the creative process at a rather tense staff meeting: "It's a necessarily insecure process!" he declared, in a reassuringly optimistic tone. As they look back on the outcomes, and the deeply positive impact on the children, they will surely agree that it was an "inspired risk", and one well worth taking.

Paul and Sylvia did an amazing job of securing funding from more than one source for the project, enabling them to engage three creative professionals and cover the costs of the book and the CD. This is worthwhile tactic for other schools to think about - it gave them greater flexibility - but a greater workload, too!

The creative professionals involved gave a huge commitment to this project, over and above the time they were directly paid for, which was greatly appreciated by all concerned. They provided an amazingly rich set of experiences for the children, and the teachers and wider community all benefited along the way.

The project had a major impact on the children. It produced fabulous, tangible end-products, and it turned out to be a very important and valuable celebration of local heritage and identity, helping to create the confident individuals and responsible citizens championed by A Curriculum for Excellence. It clearly demonstrates that there is much to be gained from working with creative professionals, and with a whole-school approach that connects across the curriculum.

Considerations for the future
This was a large project, involving a lot of adults and children in a relatively short space of time; essentially, the project was extremely successful, but there are still some matters that it is worth reflecting on, to inform future development or to help refine any similar projects that might be undertaken:
Communication and ownership: Communication and a clear sense of ownership for all the staff are vital pieces of the puzzle that must be given careful consideration by project managers, especially when a project becomes so big so quickly.
Planning time: Perhaps slightly longer time to plan and discuss, with the creative professionals as well as in staff teams, would have eased some of the staff discomfort.
Implications for funding: If good will is not to be trespassed upon too heavily, funding bodies must give greater thought to the importance of funding sufficient planning and preparation sessions, as well as the direct contact time for creative professionals. Many hours are essentially given for free.
Taking creative risks: Giving up control is scary for teachers, but can pay great rewards - the children recognised this, too! So maybe further opportunities to take creative, open-ended risks should be on the education agenda, with time for professional reflection on the process and the benefits that can ensue.
Staff development: Developing the "teacher as apprentice" role is a valuable opportunity to take when a creative professional is working with a class. The timescale and the methodologies of this project did not always allow for this. The school might also consider bringing Allan back to run some CPD sessions looking at the "research into writing" process, to shed light on the hugely skilful job he undertook in creating the book so that staff can continue to build on his contributions in the months to come; similarly, sessions with Liam could explore some of the dramatic processes in more detail to help build staff confidence in developing and expressing ideas through the medium of drama.
Children as writers: Allan is returning to work directly with the children, and this would complement the CPD suggestions above and well as providing some of the children with further important insights into the craft of the writer.
Sustainability: One of Literature in Learning's considerations is sustainability; it is not immediately clear where the legacy of such a complex project will lie and what aspects will become embedded in the school's practice, although the children have been greatly enriched in the short term by the many engaging facets. It will be of interest to see what lasting impact the project has in the months to come, and what form this impact takes.

More about the JG300 creative professionals

Allan Burnett is a writer and historian. As a children's author, he has worked with schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow. His first four books - on William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 'And All That' series - were published in September by Birlinn. Following their success, Allan's next four 'And All Thats' will be published this September and he has begun work on two Irish titles. Born in Uist in the Western Isles, Allan went to Edinburgh to attend university by day and tell ghost stories to tourists and schools by night. He is former Deputy Foreign Editor of the Sunday Herald and now a regular freelance contributor. He likes old films, long walks and cooking.

You can e-mail Allan at: allan.burnett@gmail.com

Liam Hurley is an experienced community dramatist. He believes in working collaboratively, facilitating what the children bring, helping them to shape and structure their stories and find ways to interpret them beyond dialogue. In this project he wanted to help the children connect with their sense of place, with each other and with their community, enabling them to become part of their own history, enriching their self-esteem through the creation of something thrilling.

You can e-mail Liam at: liam.hurley@aol.com

Gill Bowman is a singer-songwriter with several solo albums to her name. As a collaborative songwriter she has worked with many Scottish communities from Orkney to Arran, Glasgow, Fife and the Lothians. She mostly works with children and blends her own songwriter's expertise with the fresh ideas and experiences of life that the children bring to these workshops - often tying in with themes the class are working on or local tales or characters particular to their area. The distilling process of trying to tell a complex story or convey strong emotions with just a few verses - the creation of a song - can be a very empowering experience for young people which Gill hopes will encourage them to write songs of their own.

You can e-mail Gill at: stockbridgemusic@blueyonder.co.uk