“Changemakers”

Hillstone Primary is the lead school in an exciting project with 6 schools from Birmingham and six from India. It is called Commonwealth Connections and it is part of Birmingham’s celebration for the Commonwealth Games. The British Council has funded the project and we have applied for additional funding to further develop it. There are two elements to the project: sporting and arts. Each school will also form links with their partner school in India and develop a number of activities. At Hillstone Year 4 have been selected and they have already developed strong links with our partner school in New Dehli.

We have an athlete mentor, Jenny Wallwork, and each school has selected a number children to be “Changemakers”. Their role is to develop sports in their schools, put on extra sporting clubs, learn some traditional Indian sports and run a “Commonwealth Sports Day” in their own schools. They will also be involved in the Mela.

Developing strong international links

For the arts element we are working with our professional partner, Sampad, who will develop fusion dances (Asian and street genres) in each school. The schools will receive a series of 4 workshops to help them devise a dance using ideas from the children. The Indian schools, working with professionals, will also devise their own dances. The dances will be filmed and BOA will produce a complete film, containing all of the dances. There will also be a performance at The Ruddock Theatre in July.

The project will culminate with a “South Birmingham Mela” at Hillstone on 8th July. This will be a major festival involving dance and music performances. Surrounding the stage will be a number of sporting stations, run by the Changemakers, which will have sporting challenges. Also, local sports clubs will be invited to take part and promote their clubs. In addition, there will be the opportunity to sample a range of Asian food.

Hopefully, this project will be a springboard for Hillstone to develop strong international links.