Writing the Outdoors: Cardinal Hume's Emerald Explorers

Working collaboratively with schools is one of the main focuses of the Emerald Explorers programme, with six schools across the borough being involved for 18 months. During that time they've worked intensively with an artist, visited local green spaces and celebrated their own creativity. 

We caught up Cardinal Hume Catholic School in Wrekenton, where writer Danielle Slade has been working with teacher Jenny Holywell and some brilliant Year 8 pupils. 

Danielle is a playwright, specialising in work for young people that has a mental health focus. Her approach to the Emerald Explorers programme was very sensory based, asking the pupils to notice the small details of the outside world and then use them as writing prompts. The pupils were asked which local green space they would like to explore; they chose Saltwell Park. Danielle has shared a couple of her exercises that you might like to repeat in your own school grounds or local green space. 

Sound Map is a lovely way to get your students to be really present in a new place. You'll need notebooks or paper on clipboards, and a pen or pencil. 

Start by putting an X in middle of map which is you. Then write down the sensory details and plot them on the map: 

5 things you can hear 

4 things you can see 

3 things you can touch 

2 things you can smell 

1 thing that you can taste 

Then do 3 minutes of free writing/journalling using the following prompt: 

'Right in this moment I am...' 

Remind your pupils to try writing whatever comes into their head in one continuous flow, rather than trying to compose the perfect paragraph - reassure them that you're not going to be checking SPaG this time! 

For younger children you could ask them to draw as well as write in the map activity. Instead of free-writing they can tell you what they can hear, see, smell and what it reminds them of. 

Here's another exercise that Danielle used and that works for all ages: 

"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain." ―Henry David Thoreau 

Find something small, go up close and inspect it...tree bark, leaves, tiny spiders. 

Really look at it. Write about how amazing it is. What questions do you have for it or about it? Think about colours, shapes, textures, the object's purpose. 

Write a short piece of poetry/prose about one of the items. 

This task works well as a scavenger hunt for younger children in which they can collect things to stick in their books and write about later. 

It also works brilliantly for adults, just imagine you are a child and that you're seeing these things for the first time!

Jenny Holywell teaches English at Cardinal Hume and is also one of the GCEP's Cultural Ambassadors. Jenny has been delighted by how her pupils responded to the creative tasks and also found it inspiring herself, I asked her if there was anything she felt she could recreate in the classroom: 

"I have been personally inspired by blackout poetry - I love how simple it is for pupils to be creative. My favourite sessions were in Saltwell Park. The haiku was beautiful, but the sensory task [sound map] was amazing and I will incorporate into my teaching of descriptive writing. I always leave the sessions uplifted - as do the pupils!" 

Twinkl (opens new window) have some great ideas here if you'd like to try blackout poetry for yourself.

What would Jenny's advice be for teachers who want to incorporate more creative activities in their work? 

"My advice would honestly be to look towards the value of the creative process rather than 'doing'. Taking time out of ploughing through content to explore how we develop our ideas is so important. Also, can I say share with networks, look about for wonderful projects like this - It's been a rare and special project that has so much value. " 

Here's a snapshot of what the pupils themselves said about their experiences and how this project fits into a wider conversation about the importance of arts and culture: 

"Arts and culture helps us understand the world around us. It, we also can appreciate the culture of the world and how people are different." 

"I write scripts for videos and make videos for fun and I think this will be really be able to help us just see does that fit in, does this fit in?" 

"Speaking in front of people, I think I've just really advanced my confidence here." 

"[Creativity] really just advances humanity in just a way that nothing else really could." 

We can't say better than that!  Happy writing.