MADE Magazine Summer 2023

CREATIVE OLYMPICS When Georgina Francis, Subject Leader of Art & Queen of the Artsmark awards at RGS, suggested a day of collapsed timetable action where random subject areas mashed their creative pulp into tailored sessions for all students, from year 7-10, to get their teeth into, there were some dusty, dissenting voices suggesting she needed a rest for what was obviously some sort of enthusiastic break down. However, this was simply not so. The school is known for several world class talents, including Music, Sports, Art, Academic results and public speaking, but could we pull off a fully blown Creative Olympics! With Ms Francis as the captain of this particular crazy ship, there should never have been any doubt, but some of us do get stuck in our comfy little furrows within our departments and get nervous when being asked to step outside of our own particular field. However, the enthusiasm of several staff members, and the students, drove the paired subject projects forward and suggested unlikely, but wonderful, common ground. Who can deny that English and Sport was a match made in heaven over a live Quidditch tournament? Hitting on the competitive and creative talents of all the students, subject ambassadors, and staff involved. Everyone left beaming at the end of each session and praising the planning and running of their particular sessions. In Drama, we were working with German on the history and cultural influence of storytelling, enjoying a dig into the past work of the Brothers Grimm. By looking at their history and exploring the more recent work of Carol Ann Duffy, former Poet Laureate who has written her own reimagining ‘ Grim Tales ’ as plays. Students experimented with costumes, lights, physical theatre, scripted and unscripted ideas. Again, enthusiasm to take creative risks, using their physical and vocal talents, work in a different way in a collaborative space to create a piece of theatre was exciting and joyful. End results were mixed, but in this case, it was the taking park that really counted. Other unlikely pairings included: A mish-mash of Chemistry and Geography to produce erupting volcanoes Artistic skill meeting Spanish knowledge to make Day of the Dead masks Fusing learning about the Space Race & Cold War in History with principles from Physics to launch water-fuelled rockets on the school field As well as the creation of a marketable product for the 2024 Paris Olympics using skills gained from Business, Economics and Computer Science We all, staff and students, went home absolutely exhausted, but truly happy. What had seemed like the dotty plot of an over excited Subject Leader, had totally worked! Creating a buzz, entrenching students in a completely different way of working, and joining departments in ways they so rarely got to explore. The day was a screaming success and promises to be even better in future as more planning time is dedicated to it next year. Well done all. The RGS Creative Olympics lights an imaginative torch in the heart of the school