Thanks to Heritage Lottery Funding and Arts Council England, PaddleBoat will be working with different schools in Devon over the period of two years to educate students about Clare Hollingworth and explore their local WWII history. We will be creating a family production to celebrate the life and work of Clare Hollingworth which will tour in 2019 in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of the start of WWII.
Clare Hollingworth died in January 2017, she was the first journalist to report on the outbreak of WWII - the ‘scoop of the century’. Hollingworth was fearless and was awarded an OBE for services to journalism in 1982. Hollingworth’s life story, her character and profession inspired PaddleBoat to create a performance to share her legacy with families in the South West.
To create our production we will be working creatively with mainstream and special schools in Devon throughout the Spring term 2018. Students from schools in Devon will inform the creation of our professional production. We are currently working in residency with schools, delivering weekly drama workshops that explore Clare’s story. We are working with Rydon Primary School, Exeter Deaf Academy, Southbrook School, Clyst St Mary Primary, and St Sidwells Primary.
PaddleBoat’s Hattie Brown and Katy Dash have been visiting the University of Exeter’s Special Collections Library to read Hollingworth’s memoirs’ ‘Front Line’ originally published in 1990. The book is a fascinating read that paints a picture of Clare’s life, her work, her relationships and the politics of the time.
“ ‘Hmm you’re a peculiar woman, Miss Hollingworth. What are you doing running about in the middle of all this? Love of excitement I suppose.’ ‘I’m a journalist Sir Howard. This is how I earn my living.’ ”
This research has helped inform PaddleBoat’s sessions in schools. There has been one stand-out workshop for us so far, using artefacts and extracts from ‘Front Line’ to encourage students to become journalists themselves to interrogate Hollingworth’s life. From these workshops we understand what interests students about Clare’s story and what knowledge of WWII they already have.
Students enjoy playing at journalists and this half term Year 2s at Rydon Primary have been given notepads and tasked with decoding messages. Here is one for you to figure out before our next post on the 1st April...
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Thanks for reading!