9:20pm Tuesday 30th June 2009
By Claire Borley
EVERY youngster has a talent - and now is their chance to let it shine.
Whether it’s success in sport, the arts, technology or working in the community, young people in south Essex are preparing to join around a million others in a nationwide talent showcase.
Schools and community groups are being urged to join more than 100 others already registered in the east of England and sign up to next month’s Shine Week celebration.
The festival, which runs from July 6 to July 10, will shine a light on the unique achievements of thousands of youngsters from across the county.
Among the schools in south Essex taking part are: l Montgomerie Infant School, in Thundersley, where a week-long series of events includes a scrapheap challenge to make a go-kart and a sports day l Deneholm Primary School, in Little Thurrock, which is staging a special gifted and talented assembly l Friars Primary School, Shoebury, where all 400 children are taking part in a music and dance extravaganza at the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff Last year, more than 2,500 schools and organisations nationwide participated in the first Shine Week, giving them a chance to highlight around a million young people, thousands of them in Essex.
Carol Alevroyianni, development director of Shine, says: “Shine Week aims to celebrate every talent in every young person. Everyone has their own special spark, something that makes them unique and enriches our society as a whole.
“Shine Week is all about recognising this individuality and showing young people that every talent, no matter how small it may seem, is something worth celebrating.”
Cliffs stage show helps pupils raise confidence
DANCE and drama is being used to help boost learning in the classroom.
Primary school children have been in training to perform as part of a project at a Shoebury school.
After months of rehearsals, nearly 400 children from Friars Primary School put on the performance yesterday at the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff, for parents and friends.
The performance coincided with Shine, a national festival aimed at getting young people to show off their talents.
Deputy headteacher Louise Coates began using drama to boost pupil’s confidence in a project, called Treading the Boards, she started last year.
She said: “It was all about raising the ambitions of young people. When it first started we targeted children who were not achieving as well as they could and tried to encourage them and raise their aspirations through drama. We found that it helped to raise their self-esteem.
“It has grown from there. We wanted to take it to the next level and involve the whole school.
“We wanted to show the pupils their performances were worthy of being put on a professional stage, to show them the products they were putting on were professional.”
WIth the success of Treading the Boards, Mrs Coates decided to get the whole school involved with 390 children taking part yesterday.
She added: “When you engage children in this way you are developing their life and learning skills. And it is about celebrating the talent of these young people.”
Last year the school auctioned off art work which had been produced by pupils for the debut Shine festival.
The children have been having dance lessons with Steps Ahead dance school based in Shoebury.
Manager Stuart Cox, who runs the dance studio with partner Laura Boswell, said: “We have worked with the school a few times over the past few years on various projects.
“As part of Shine the school wanted to do something. As they don’t have a stage they decided to hire the Cliffs Pavilion, which I don’t think any other school has done by themselves.
“Some of the kids have never even been to a proper theatre, let alone perform at one so this is a really massive, special event.
“What’s amazing about it is we are talking about children who are not performers. They’re not stage school kids and some of them are very young, so it’s a really brave thing for them to do and it’ll be a real achievement.”
For details about Shine see www.shineweek.co.uk
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