Puppetry as an educational tool

Representatives of partner schools from Italy, England and the Czech Republic earlier this year joined Karmen Tedesco, head of our school, George Schinas Primary C, Luqa, and myself for the second project meeting of our school language project "People, Puppets, and Learning" in Madeira.

The aims of this project are to use puppetry to convey and share messages relating to aspects of citizenship and traditions across partner countries; to create cross curriculum opportunities in the mother tongue and the language of partners; and to use puppetry and animation to explore and develop storytelling traditions.

Each partner shared the works done with pupils in their respective school, which included working with a common set of puppets and exploring a traditional story from a partner school. Our school had worked with a story from Madeira, "The monkey without a tail". A whole school approach was taken, with parents and children collaborating to research and explore the story. Children in Year 5 and Year 6, for whom English is a priority, worked with the story in English and developed a script for a puppet play.

Workshops were held throughout the school, and a wide range of puppets were designed and made by the pupils. Maltese songs and music were used to supplement the text and scripts. Many children were involved in the production.

Kindergarten pupils worked with the common set of puppets, using them as models for their own paper, jointed puppets. Year 1 and 2 pupils composed a story using tunes and songs from the English language scheme "Happy House". Years 3 and 4 composed a story and play script using the same puppets and produced "Princess Katrina and the Halloween Mix-Up".

The pupils were also involved in preparing for the meeting in Madeira, locating the island on maps and atlases, researching through the Internet and even making a Madeira cake. All members of staff found great benefits in working on a common project, with new patterns of collaboration established through the school, and high quality work produced. The involvement and response of pupils with special needs was particularly noted. The performances of the puppet plays formed part of the school's prize-giving ceremony. The activities were recorded on a video and DVD and many parents wanted to get a copy of them.

The school administration at Ribiera Domingos Dias gave us a warm welcome along with a three-day programme for us to follow. On the first day we visited all the classes and met all the members of staff. We were served both breakfast and lunch on the school premises. A group of children performed a traditional dance followed by another group who played their recorders. Finally, we saw the puppet production they created.

During our visit we were honoured to meet the Madeira government's Education Secretary (Regional Director) with whom we discussed our normal school days and habits. Afterwards we met the mayor and his wife in Funchal Town Hall.

Later we visited the Maritimo Sport Team Museum and the Electricity Museum which had interesting history. In the evening, the parish council president, Adelino Rodrigues, hosted us to dinner.

On Saturday, the last day, all partner members had the opportunity to tour the island accompanied by members of the school staff. This was hosted by Funchal town council.

All members are very enthusiastic about the project and will meet again at the end of this year in Kladno in the Czech Republic.

Ms Camilleri is a Year 1 teacher at Luqa Primary School C.