A film produced by Swing Bridge Video for the Stanhope Street Area Action Centre to provide residents of the Arthur’s Hill area of Newcastle information relating to plans for a new community school in the area to open in September 1983 as part of the areas re-development plan. What is a community school, how will it work and how will the community be involved? A child at home playing an organ changes to a morning assembly in a school with pupils and teachers singing a hymn. Title: A School...

A film produced by Swing Bridge Video for the Stanhope Street Area Action Centre to provide residents of the Arthur’s Hill area of Newcastle information relating to plans for a new community school in the area to open in September 1983 as part of the areas re-development plan. What is a community school, how will it work and how will the community be involved? A child at home playing an organ changes to a morning assembly in a school with pupils and teachers singing a hymn. Title: A School for the Community An aerial of the Arthur’s Hill area of Newcastle with an area of development in the far distance changes to children and parents leaving a primary school. In a classroom two mothers sit at a table helps two of its pupils, around them other children learning. Using a series of pen and ink drawings and archival photographs the history and development of education from the mid-19th century through to the middle of the 20th century. Exteriors of several schools in the area are also used as part of this story including Snow Street School, Todds Nook School and Westgate Hill School. A modern photograph of a young boy sitting in waste grounds features when discussing the Plowden Report of 1967 which introduced the idea of positive discrimination and the development of community schools. Over more images details are given of what is a community school, how they were developed and how the local population can have more of a say in decision making through neighbourhood or community councils. A poster for the ‘Newcastle Neighbourhood Project’ which worked in Arthur’s Hill and three people standing outside what was once a corner shop and is now the offices of the Stanhope Street Area Action Committee (SSAAC). Aerial images of the Arthur’s Hill area and other posters and images used to illustrate the work by local people to help develop new houses and community facilities through the mid to late 1970s as part of the Tyne and Wear Structure Plan. Photographs of terraced streets being demolished and modern housing blocks where residents were moved on a temporary basis are shown as details are given on the work to clean and re-built the Arthur’s Hill area. A poster to save Walter Terrace, the only traditional terraced street in the area to be saved from clearance as well as images of new housing developments by Wimpey and Derek Crouch construction. Around Arthur’s Hill a couple walking along a road, a group standing at a bus stop and an older man putting out his washing on a washing line. The SSAAC Advise Centre above a shop changes to a woman pushing a pushchair along a path across an areas of open ground, possibly to be used for the building of new houses. Title: Parents in School A male teacher or headteacher talks about the importance of parental and community involvement in education. This is a new idea, he believes a child can’t be educated without the involvement of the parent, the home and the community as it is all one thing. A sign near the entrance of the school that reads ‘We Welcome All Visitors to our School’. As he continues to talk about welcoming parents into the classroom two mothers help in a class sitting around a table working with the children on an arts project. As they continue to interact with the children, other teachers at the school talk about the positive impact parents have in the classroom, helping teach children about life and bringing skills some of the teachers don’t have. Sitting on a sofa four parents, three women and one man, talk about their experiences of being at the school and dealing not just with the children but also the teachers. A teacher in a classroom talks about what she sees the parents get from the experience. Title: Learning to Read Sitting on a sofa a mother assists her daughter in reading a book, in voiceover a teacher provides details of using a Work Form for the parent to identify problem words or issues of their which can be passed to the teacher and discussed. The mother talks about how they system works. Back in the school the teacher talks about the room they are in which is the schools Reading Room where any child can come and select a book to read. They are trying to encourage the child to enjoy reading and want to do more. In six months, she has seen a significant difference with both the parent and child. A father speaks about his experience of reading with his child, back in the school the teacher talks about the importance and hard work done by the Community Teacher who goes out to visit parents in their home to discuss their child issues. In the Parents Room at the school one mother talks about her improving her own spelling at the school which has helped raise her confidence. Around her other women, the classroom teacher talk about the work she does with the women and overcoming problems. The male teacher seen previously suggests where schools have unused capacity, he doesn’t see an issue turning these rooms over for parental and community use. He would like to see unemployed teachers working as Community Teachers with closer interaction between school and with parents. He concludes by saying the definition of teaching needs to change especially in areas of deprivation like Arthur’s Hill to become more synonyms with success. Title: Using the School One of the four parents seen previously sitting on a sofa talk about how parents can use the facilities in the school and how she and other parents have adjusted. Title: Understanding Mathematics In a classroom a parental workshop session in maths with two women working with coloured shapes on the floor. Nearby a teacher goes through a maths workbook with a man sitting at a desk. Around the class other parents working on different areas mathematics. In voiceover the male teacher talks about the importance of these sessions as being a way of helping the parent understand what is going on in the class and how their child is being taught and thus help them support their child. In a nursery children working with similar shapes seen previously being used by parents. The male teacher talks about the need for a broadening out of education as he has seen that if a child is not academically able then education as nothing to offer the child. However, in his near forty years’ experience as a teacher in Newcastle he has seen a revolution in education not only in methods but attitudes towards parents and the community. Title: Parent Governors A woman who is a Parent Governor is asked about what she does. She attends meetings about how the school is run. It is interesting but would be better if more parents were involved. She doesn’t feel that she has much power or influence over what happens in the meetings. She is somewhat intimidated by those around her. Outside Westgate Hill School on Wesgate Hill Road a South Asian woman walks past pushing a child’s buggy, other parents come out of the school gates. General views of the Arthur’s Hill areas including both Snow Street and Todds Nook Schools. A group of workmen working along a road of terraced houses, two local corner shops in the areas with people coming and going. Several children’s pictures hanging on a classroom wall relating to both the Jewish and Chinese New Year. More general views of the area featuring several community facilities and an older woman in a temporary library selecting books. Back in the school a group of school children come into their library and begins to pick out books. In the school playground boys playing a game of football changes to a father and son working in their garden along a street of modern terraced houses. A second man stands beside the fence chatting with the father. The film ends as it begun with an aerial of the Arthur’s Hill area of Newcastle with an area of development in the far distance changes to children and parents leaving a primary school. Title: Thanks to parents and teachers at Ashfield Nursery School, Montagu Junior and Infant Schools, Snow Street Primary School, Todds Nook Primary School, Welbeck Junior and Infant Schools, Westgate Hill Infants School Title: Also thanks to Des Walton, Elswick Library, Murry House Community Centre Title: We would like to thank all the people who gave their help and advise in the preparation of this tape Credit: Researched and produced by Sarah McCarthy and Hugh Kelly End credit © Sarah McCartney and Hugh Kelly 1982