Getting creative with Improvisation at Southlands High School

Waking up in a morning is hard work for a 13-14 year old. Arriving at school every day can be daunting. Hormones, the fact that they are in between years. Not the eldest or the youngest - not really in a position. These are the everyday stresses that the young people go through and on top of that looking cool and having friends is another big ask. For some, confidence starts to decrease because these young people start to self- doubt. This is a huge problem across Lancashire, the north west, the UK and even the world. In fact, most young people of this age struggle so development at this stage of their life is key.UDevelop recently worked with a group of young people at Southlands High School. Some of these year 9’s really didn’t want to be part of a chosen group because again it is the fear of the unknown. Once we had explained the programme that we were going to deliver the group started to relax and realise that they were going to be alright. The programme that was being delivered focussed on improvisation techniques. These young people on top of their normal education had never experienced improvisation and have only ever taken part in a few drama workshops when they were 11-12 years old. This was a fresh approach for them to explore their inner creativity.After breaking the ice and running an introduction which again to a 13-14 year old is daunting. We started to run some warm up exercises which concentrated on the groups focus and concentration skills. The group at points showed maturity but still giggled at working together in a group exercise. The groups inhibitions were starting to show and be very clear. We continued to run some of the warm ups until the group completely relaxed and started to focus better as a group.We changed the dynamic and made smaller groups which again can disturb a young person’s comfortability. Again, the fear of the unknown and working with people they have never worked with before can stun a young person. After the groups realised that they were going to have to work with each other to get a finished result, we introduced the programme.Each group picked out 4 everyday objects and had to develop an improvised narrative story using the objects. The groups channelled their energy working together in their groups. Showing great team working ability the groups ploughed on with their development work to make their very best improvisation. Everyone in the group had to be included and all had to speak. This for the groups was a daunting task as the whole group would hear them speak in front of each other and they would feel, no doubt, very nervous.Once the groups had produced their improvisation we wanted to see it in front of the whole class. We made up a stage and got the groups to perform their finished pieces. After a few people saying that they couldn’t do it and didn’t want to do it, they overcame this hurdle which for the teacher responsible was a turning point to see the young people developing a slight maturity and getting up and doing the job in hand. EVERYONE got up and produced a fantastic piece of work and they all developed so many new skills just from that one activity. Confidence, time management, team building, communication skills were just some of their transferable life skills that they enhanced and none of them had to become an actor to do this. They just had to ride the wave of the fear of the unknown and take the plunge into a new area of their development.