Colton Hills speak up!

Mrs Daniels, Curriculum Lead for Colton Hills Community School, shares:

“Colton Hills Community School has been working with the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre for several years. Our most recent project has been Speak up: a three-year partnership programme with the National Theatre aimed at secondary schools that allows young people to access high quality arts, work with local artists and organisations, giving them the opportunity to speak up about a topic they feel passionate about through an art form of their choosing. 

We’ve been working with an artist named Tristan Jones-Smith for over a year now. The students have built a core relationship him based on trust, play and honesty, which has allowed them to voice their opinions on social and political issues that have meaning to their generation.

Students who attend Speak Up are empowered to think outside the box, reflect on the status of society and develop their own creative voice through games, play and becoming responsible artists who draw on their own experiences, research and understand the perspectives of others.

Over the course of the last year, students have also devised a short film with professional videographers, participated in Samba workshops with professional musicians and will soon be visiting theatre to experience production roles in theatre. Topics students have explored include LGBTQ+ prejudice, bullying, pink tax and ambitions versus pressures.

Colton Hills students continue to enjoy and thrive from their relationship with the Grand Theatre and participation in the National Speak Up project. Being part of this opportunity continues to give our students opportunities above and beyond the curriculum and expose our students to the breath of arts-based opportunities.”

Here’s what their students have to say about these brilliant opportunities.