Playing in the Classroom – True Heart Theatre

Newham College provides fun, fulfilling and life-changing experiences for its students who come from all different walks of life. The teachers handhold the students and help them realise their dreams and grasp the future. Their courses focuses on helping students feel confident in reading, writing and speaking English while the theatre workshop gives them a safe space to find their confidence, skills and independence. 

Check out this video by Newham London to see how the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford transformed in the lead up to the Olympic Games.

True Heart’s celebration of Newham Heritage Month would not have been complete without collaboration with Newham College. This was facilitated by our team member Anisha Pucadyil, and Roseliz Francis from Newham College.

As we put together our project bid, we wrote to Newham College in November asking if they would like to come on board to implement five workshops bringing heritage and theatre to the classroom.

Following a meeting with Galyna Galypchak and Roseliz we received confirmation to go ahead with the project and started finalising the dates in January.

With changing Covid protocols, we planned for the in-person courses. Roseliz played a crucial role in communicating to the students about the programme and persuading them to stay after college for the course.

Watch an interview with Dr. Roseliz Francis from Newham college here.

Experience of the facilitators 

Ferran enjoyed creating a space of play and exploration in the class, always keeping it simple and accessible for students. Andy conducted the induction and talked in the form of chorus, a Playback Theatre form, and found the students very receptive and engaged. Candy brought in rhythm and music, and Anisha brought her enthusiasm and curiosity to the classes. We were genuinely inspired by the students’ transformation and development in a short period and hope we can bring Playback Theatre to more communities and to the classroom. 

Experience of the students 

Students appreciated the opportunity to perform with their friends. Several of them observed how they felt more confident with the workshops and were very grateful for the time, effort and safe space created by the facilitators. One students said that he had no experience of theatre before the workshops, and they helped broaden his horizons.

To watch the Newham College course highlights click here.

Challenges and the future

One of the challenges for the students in attending the workshop is that they had to commit extra time outside of college hours. We wish we had more time with the students to incorporate a trip to the Archive, the Olympic Park and the Carpenter’s Estate for them to truly connect with stories of Newham and the Olympic opening games. We are confident about the positive impact these workshops will make on the students in time to come. We hope they have the opportunity to bring play into every area of their lives. 

Students exploring their feelings related to their associations with the Olympic games.