Stapleford Granary – The Tin Forest

Linton Heights Year 4 pupils were invited to attend Stapleford Granary to take part in a 60-minute immersive musical and theatrical experience. The immersive theatre show was based on Helen Ward’s story ‘The Tin Forest’ with illustrations by Wayne Anderson, and was created by Kate Romano (CEO of the Granary) and Emma Mason (Music Subject Leader at Linton Heights) for the eleven primary schools in Anglian Learning multi-academy Trust.

Guided by an experienced team of artists and practitioners from Anglian Learning and Stapleford Granary, The Tin Forest encouraged pupils to step inside the story through movement, listening, sound, and song. From mechanical birds and human sound machines to body percussion and choral singing, pupils became part of the story itself.

All pupils who took part contributed beautifully to the unique showcase and should be proud of their creativity and collaboration with other primary schools from across Anglian Learning.

We are thankful to Kate Romano, CEO and Co-Artistic Director of Stapleford Granary, for providing our pupils with this aspirational opportunity, to Emma Mason, Music Subject Lead at Linton Heights Junior School (a Lead School for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Music Education Hub (MEH), for successfully leading the event and to all staff for helping to prepare pupils for their performances and supporting on the day.

You can read more about the immersive musical experience by visiting https:// anglianlearning.org/primary-schools-join-forces-with-stapleford-granary-for- inspire25/.

This project evolved from The Small Grains twinning project between Stapleford Community Primary School and Stapleford Granary. You can read more about this here: Small Grains Report | Insights from Stapleford Granary

Laura Rawlings

Deputy Director of Primary Education at Anglian Learning