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Gosport Educational Cultural Project

Learning@TheGrange has launched a 3 year project in partnership with the Hampshire Cultural Education Partnership and Hampshire Music Service to bring together children and young people from across Gosport, to celebrate their heritage and culture through innovative cross arts engagement.

During Spring 2023, our ‘Pilot’ project has offered interactive workshops to five Gosport schools from primary to college. From creative writing to 3D art, jazz improvisation to rap, each school using local inspiration to create their own works.

Led by exceptional artistic facilitators, over 200 young people have examined their local heritage and in response developed ideas to create their own pieces which will exhibited at the Gosport Discovery Centre 1-11 April 2023.

The first series of workshops is currently underway, and will culmintate with an exhibition of the young people's creations at Gosort Discovery Centre in April.

Photos below are from workshops in February.

Jazz Improvisation workshop

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Bay House Students joined jazz musician Pete Letanka to devise their own piece inspired by famous local trumpeter Nat Gonella which they performed at St John's Church to an audience of family and friends.

Images: Musselwhite Photograpy

3D Visual Art project

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Gosport – or Gooseport was said to be named after flocks of Brent Geese who have over-winter in the area since the 12th Century

A Birds Aware Solent https://birdaware.orgranger introduced Year 7 and 9 students from Brune Park School to these magnificent birds who travel 3,500 miles from Siberia to live side by side with the residents of Gosport each year from October to March.

Led by artists Rhiannon Newman Brown https://www.rhiannonnewmanbrown.com with volunteers from Yellow Edge Gallery https://yellowedgegallery.com/ , the young people examined their own daily journeys around Gosport, how they interact with their feathered neighbours and in response created storyboards and 3D images.

Images: Musselwhite Photograpy

Creative Writing project

The Gosport Discovery Centre houses an archive of Aural Histories, created by Gosport residents since 1950s. Led by writer Hazel Gould, Year 4 children from Alver Valley Junior School listened to a story from Audrey who spoke about her adventures in their local mudflats in 1923. Taking inspiration from Audrey, the children considered their memories from their school lies and with Hazel’s guidance recorded their own stories as part of the next generation of Gosport’s Aural Histories.

Poetry and Rap project

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Children from Elson, Rowner and Gomer Junior Schoola discovered that they create poems from ‘lists’. Led by Ricky Tart who helped them to them create their own rap inspired sea shanties!

Images: Musselwhite Photograpy

Creative Facilitators

  • Hazel Gould Creative writing

  • Pete Letanka Jazz improvisation

  • Ricky Tart Poetry

  • Vanessa Rolf Textiles

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