There But Not There
We worked with pupils from Didsbury CE Primary School and West Didsbury CE Primary School on this WW I commemoration project.
The outcomes were Dear Dad, a moving performance of letters from children to fathers on the front line, and Personal Effects, a short film looking at some of the ways in which the war affected families.
Dear Dad: At Didsbury CE, children in Year 5 wrote letters to their fathers on the front line and performed them to a packed audience at St James’ Church.
Personal Effects: Year 3 children at West Didsbury CE were given the opportunity to engage with and respond to World War 1 memorabilia, documents and artefacts. The result was a short film featuring their imaginative consideration of this material and the effects of the war on families at home.
You can watch Personal Effects here.
What Staff Said
Our 2018 There But Not There installation placed perspex images of deceased WW1 soldiers in the pews of our ancient church. Robert’s imaginative work with classes in both our Church Primary Schools was superb. It transformed it into a learning opportunity that none of the families crowding into St James for the last session will ever forget.
The Revd Canon Lisa Battye
Team Vicar, Parish of St James and Emmanuel, Didsbury
Robert Graham from Caterpillar came into both Didsbury CE and West Didsbury CE during October 2018 to work with our children in Year 5 and Year 3 respectively, on projects to support Remembrance and the There But Not There installation at St James Church. The work he did provided a wonderful stimulus for the children. The Dear Dad pieces were incredibly moving and powerful emotionally and the children thoroughly enjoyed performing them live during Remembrance celebrations at the church. Personal Effects was an evocative short film which really supported the children in developing their understanding of the cost of war. They were completely engaged with the project and loved watching the film!
Matt Whitehead
Executive Head
St James and Emmanuel Academy Trust | Didsbury CE | St Wilfrid’s CE | West Didsbury CE