Running alongside the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) archaeology 'discover' programme on East Marsh for much of July were some health and safety drama workshops in local primary schools. These were delivered across the five Host Boroughs (Newham, Hackney, Greenwich, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets).
 
The workshops highlighted the dangers of living and playing close to a building site and followed on from sessions we did with children and young people from Waterden Road earlier in the year. Teddy and Grace from a theatre company performed up to three workshops a day over a three week period. They did fantastically well to keep the sessions as fresh, bouncy and informative as they did and were a real pleasure to work with. 

The workshop warned children about the dangers of building sites:

Teddy and Grace provided me with a copy of their notes from each of the sessions from which to put together this blog:

'We visited 14 schools. The final count of the number of students to see the drama workshops was 1,164. Sessions started with a 20 minute performance that told the story of Daniel (acted by Teddy) and Anya (Grace). Daniel was enticed into a building site by Anya, who thought it would be fun and exciting. Daniel wasn’t keen but found himself giving in.

Teddy playing the role of Daniel:
 


'However, things took a turn for the worse when Daniel fell from some scaffolding and hurt his ankle so badly he couldn’t walk. Anya was left with the dilemma of going to get help but leaving Daniel, who sat in pain, and with a fear of big dogs patrolling the site.

'The students were asked to suggest an ending to the story, along with doing other activities such as naming things that are found on building sites and acting out sketches. The students particularly enjoyed performing the sketches to their schoolmates. This proved a very effective way of getting them to really think about what dangers are found where.

Teddy and Grace during the workshop:


'The sessions also stimulated some thinking about making decisions for yourself, and doing what you believe is right. One student spoke very candidly about how easy it is to end up in Daniel’s situation (injured and in danger) if you aren't strong enough to walk away from a dare. He emphasised how important it is to put your safety first. A question all students were asked was if they would rather be Daniel or Anya. Responses varied for a whole host of health and safety related reasons, not including one young man saying 'Anya. Because I don’t normally get to be a girl'!

'At the end of the session, we gave teachers a resource pack to assist follow-up exercises. Students were each given a certificate to take home and on which to write their name, and three promises to stay safe'.