Forthview Primary School celebrated the culmination of the year-long ‘Forth Views, Pilton People’ project with a film launch and photo exhibition at the school on 12 March.
The Friends of Forthview parents group received Lottery funding last year to ‘create new opportunities for local children and their families to acquire new skills and develop confidence and self-esteem through participation in exciting and innovative creative activities’. Since then, groups have been working hard on three different elements – and last week’s event was the perfect opportunity to showcase all that they’ve achieved.
Forthview Family Support Worker Tracey Berry (pictured below), who has worked with the group throughout the project, explained: “We carried out three projects which were geared towards the development of a caring tolerant and creative school and community. Adults and children worked together in an intergenerational and multicultural context to explore cultural similarities and differences with a focus on equality. The three projects were:-
Family Storytelling – We had two groups – one group for dads and their children, the other mums and their children. Each group worked to create a story book which can be used as a resource in our school. The adults and children were extremely enthusiastic and have produced three fabulous story books, with amazing themes – children shrinking the dads, children being rescued by mums from Volcano Island and Fairyland! An award from Radio Forth’s “Cash for Kids” allowed us to print many copies of each book.
Family Photography – Carers & children worked together to produce fun and unusual family portraits.
Film Making – This part of the project introduced carers to using digital media as a means of expression. The result was the production of the “Pathways to Pilton” film, which follows the diverse roads our children & their carers have travelled to reach Forthview School.”
It’s been a lot of hard work, but it was worth it and Forthview’s 12 March event proved to be a huge success, with participants joined by friends and family and the wider community too. Forthview’s new school choir got proceedings off to an upbeat start and this was followed by presentations by participants, who talked about what they had learned during the project and what it had meant to them. The premiere screening of the excellent ‘Pathways to Pilton’ film followed and the event was rounded off with an opportunity to visit an exhibition of work carried out during the year-long project and to meet and chat to participants.
There have been many paths to Forthview – no less than 28 different nationalities make up the school community, and others have made their way there following the closures of Inchview, Craigmuir and, more recently, Royston schools. It’s a fascinating story, and one man who has travelled further – and longer – than most is 102 year old Sam Martinez (pictured below), one of the stars of the film. Sam came to the UK from what was formerly British Honduras seventy years ago to help with the war effort – and he’s been here ever since!
The retired forestry worker was joined at the event by granddaughter Stacey and her son Sam, who is a P5 pupil at Forthview (youngest son Jack attends the school’s nursery). Sam’s never had any regrets about leaving home to come to Edinburgh. “The road has been open and smooth – no obstructions. This is a wonderful place”, he said.
North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz attended the celebration event. “This has really been a tremendous occasion. The film was very impressive and the exhibition is fascinating. Congratulations to everyone at Forthview – you should be very proud indeed”.
24
0
20
