Have created a very exciting blog, as part of the Quest project, so my webpages have been seriously quiet. See it all: www.westburyquest.blogspot.com

Now was the time I thought to bring both groups Quest 1 and 2 together, and so, in the previous session, they all looked at each other suspiciously across a large table in Heather's art room. How about sharing what you have been doing? OK, they admitted, they were curious. So, each watched the slideshows of the journeys undertaken, then had to give feedback as to "what was the story"???? A heated quick art critical review took place and things got more focused. Then all sixteen were let loose on technology. OMG I thought I was seeing double. Voice being recorded on my Zoom 4, a fleet of iMacs, IPads, drawings, cartoons, mapping of ideas. Blimey, I thought, is this what it is like to be a REAL teacher. I should have had an armful of lesson plans. Suddenly, in the flash of double vision, some of the lads were teaching others had to use the techno kit, others were sharing ideas, whilst stories were being Worded up, prof standard slideshows edited and fantastic cartoons penned. I calmed down. How the heck am I going to bring this together I thought, then next day, when muttering to dear friend and writer and fellow creative collaborator Hilds, she said get on Blogger, go local, regional, national and international. What if other schools did a Quest too? What would their mascot be? Suddenly, the vision was swimming again, but this time, quite pleasantly. And so it was one day of gluing myself to my own iMac, WestburyQuest was born and the art of blogging it awaits its launch. I can't wait to let the lads loose on its pages and allow its shiny virtual digital platform to bring together this amazing adventure and all the genius let loose into the wilds of Westbury.

Now was the time I thought to bring both groups Quest 1 and 2 together, and so, in the previous session, they all looked at each other suspiciously across a large table in Heather's art room. How about sharing what you have been doing? OK, they admitted, they were curious. So, each watched the slideshows of the journeys undertaken, then had to give feedback as to "what was the story"???? A heated quick art critical review took place and things got more focused. Then all sixteen were let loose on technology. OMG I thought I was seeing double. Voice being recorded on my Zoom 4, a fleet of iMacs, IPads, drawings, cartoons, mapping of ideas. Blimey, I thought, is this what it is like to be a REAL teacher. I should have had an armful of lesson plans. Suddenly, in the flash of double vision, some of the lads were teaching others had to use the techno kit, others were sharing ideas, whilst stories were being Worded up, prof standard slideshows edited and fantastic cartoons penned. I calmed down. How the heck am I going to bring this together I thought, then next day, when muttering to dear friend and writer and fellow creative collaborator Hilds, she said get on Blogger, go local, regional, national and international. What if other schools did a Quest too? What would their mascot be? Suddenly, the vision was swimming again, but this time, quite pleasantly. And so it was one day of gluing myself to my own iMac, WestburyQuest was born and the art of blogging it awaits its launch. I can't wait to let the lads loose on its pages and allow its shiny virtual digital platform to bring together this amazing adventure and all the genius let loose into the wilds of Westbury.

A beautiful afternoon and time out in nature, Quest 2 with 4 sheep and a whole bundle of ideas, about Stepping out into the Unknown. Destination - Westbury White Horse hill, with the blue sky and fields full of green grass, the sheep were on a mission. They found a style with a sign saying 'sheep grazing', and set up the video camera on a rather wonky tripod. One of the lads was camera man, which meant we were a sheep down. The other sheep grazed on the horizon against a brilliant blue sky. They wandered off aimlessly on another tussock only to find their cloaked leader pointing the way to a derelict cement factory. Resting, they grazed further amonst a flock of sheep (real) and returned tot he mini bus (a) very dirty with sheep's poo, pollen, mud, grass stains (b) stung by nettles. We stopped on the way back to take in the delights of a field of yellow rape seed. It was all rather beautiful and mysterious and they were brave in the face of adversity. There was mention of "The Goodies" (which no one had heard of...and The Beatles). A plan was made (a) to bring a video camera with battery in it (b) to bring some props. (c) to worry about what the mums would think when they returned home filthy. (d) to create a cult film and make music to go with it... (e) To do it all again, over and over and over.

Session 3 with Quest 1, 8 lads (Charlie visiting the pyramids in Egypt), the day after Easter holidays - the boys were all bobbing around unsettled and unfocused, incensed at having two weeks off prior to the Easter weekend and then having to return straight to school next day. Regretfully, I feel they had a good point and the fact was that their veins were full of chocolate. We briefly discussed structured classes, what do you enjoy, PE, history... "boring", what are you thinking about this project "fun" was the most used word. I asked them what they wanted to plan, how many cameras, who was to use them, what documentary role they would take. We reviewed the previous session, the lads came up with the idea of role play, with narrator and actors telling the story of getting the parking ticket and the angry Australian woman. We then did blind left hand scribble drawing mapping the journey we took on the previous session. Let's go to the chemist, the church, the butchers, the library. And so we did. There was a funeral at the church, but we discovered the butcher's shop next, and the man was very friendly and brought out a huge cut of beef, a pig's head and a section of lamb. He placed rabbit in comprising positions with the meat in a sort of tableaux on his slab and although he had been reluctant to be photographed initially, he seemed really happy to take a meat cleaver to rabbits throat. When asked how long it took to train to be a butcher, he said, he was sixteen when he started and he is 40 now, he whipped round and gourged out pig's eye and flicked it against the wall. You can drop the eyeball in a pint of beer (apparently) and it will sink to the botttom and rise again. We left, the boys happy. In the library, clown did a storytelling session, whilst outside the pair clown and rabbit looked on the memorial plaque to see if they knew anyone. At the chemist's the pharmacist gave rabbit a prescription - "It's not Viagra" , she said knowledgeably to the boys. She then pointed us to the sign for pharmacy and her yellowing certificate of certification. She went on to say she was at college with the wife of the guy who invented the atom, or divided it or something (Google it, she said). We left all the wiser and visited the car showroom along the way, and found that the car salesman would not exchange the lads Easter pocket money and a pile of easter eggs for a rather swish cabriolet. However, with rabbit in the drivers seat and rabbit leaning out the window, we did learn that over 1,000 people were involved in the making of the car, and that the tsunami in Japan had swept away the pigment that was used to create the paint of the other car. The showroom guy proudly talked of his working history, his girls being at university, "you only get once chance" he urged the boys. The line along the side of the car was called a Tornado, I tried to convince the boys to buy me the vehicle and thought it could feature in a Thelma and Louise getaway scene in a natty film.

In the afternoon of the second session, Quest 2, four lads come together and we enter an amazing mind altering brain storming session, with discussions around clowning around, talks of archetypal characters, mythical creatures, wizardry and alchemy, dreams of what we could become, books read and board games played. "Look into my eyes, look into my eyes" I said, as we entered the landscape of our minds to see what potential could be revealed and mapped. It was agreed that six totemic would be taken on a performative journey, THE JOURNEY, followed by a time out in nature to explore altered perspectives. No more can be written about a mystery, just to say it is about to unfold. Watch this space.

Interesting morning, nine lads, Quest 1, an artist and a teacher's assistant with a giant rabbit and a clown set off round Westbury town centre to meet some more interesting characters at work along the way. A vegetable seller, optician, estate agent, a dry cleaner, hairdresser, pet shop owner, and a biker gentleman at leisure with friends having a morning coffee with a huge mastiff dog. Our merry group was introduced and entry to the different work environs introduced and negotiated bravely by a Terence and then the rest of the group would enter. The lady waiting in the opticians looked as though she couldnt believe her eyes when the Opthalmamist checked the carrot coloured poorly sighted creature, whilst nine bespectacled Terence's looked on. It was getting late and there was an urgent cry to get back to the carpark and creatively parked mini bus. Oh no, we cry, as a rather stern looking gent in glowing yellow jacket and a peaked cap slapped a parking ticket on the waiting white bus. "We've broken the law" I cried. "No, said yellow jacketed man, "not technically, its a civil matter". Well, it wasn't very civil when suddenly a smart looking English lady on holiday from Australia burst out and aired abuse at the yellow jacket officer for getting a parking ticket for being 3 mins over time. Phew, we jumped in the bus and did the math. "Well, that's money out of the project fund" I said. Phew, I had been worrying about what people would think about public money being spent on a giant toy and a bunch of lads going on a journey here and there around the community and missing science and maths. Well, as the lady in the cleaners said (when offering sound advice on how the rabbit could be cleaned), "Its a bit of a skive, isn't it"... Off we went and the Terence's requested to take the creature to the vets. Here we met a very efficient receptionist, and a kind veterinary called Simon. Rabbit was duly taken into the treatment room and diagnosis discussed, heart, teeth and anus checked (for worms). We photographed, filmed and interviewed the vet and asked how many years it takes to become one, and what attributes do you need, "to like people" he said. "what is the trickiest customer (animal type) he said, a large dog which got his head in his jaws and scarred him "I was a bit naive" he said..."didn't see it coming". Then Simon suggested an operation was required and told the group that not everyone could come into the operating theatre, but those of us who nervously went through, saw the nurse gown up the reclining Rabbit, and the scalpel go in....Gulp. Afterwards, I said the operating theatre might need a clean down and the nurse kindly advised Daz and Fabreeze. Well, we learnt so much from the visit and more maths, by finding out it would cost £100 for a rabbit castration, £150 for a teeth job and £1,000 for limbs. The Terences swiftly discussed matters and decided to take a Careplan to avoid such concerns in the future.

What does one do when an artist is faced with 19 young lads (13 yrs of age) in a drama room, without shoes and ready for me to tell them exactly what to do, and what it was all about.... When in fact, there was no Great Plan! I had no idea what that plan might be, but I had brought along collections of objects gifted to me, an old trunk (marked Paris), a collection of toys, which included a giant carrot coloured rabbit, a roadside mirror, a red curtain and a bag of something else yet to be revealed. How did it all start? I invited the lads to sit in a circle and asked them to say their name and a favourite object, we then went round as though they were giant memory tray, weaving names, objects and associations which told us something about each other. My name is xxxx and my object is a bed, a garden, a set of drums, a dog, an x-box, a collection of soldiers, and so on, and oh yes, a fridge full of chocolate yoghurts. At the end of the recalling names and objects, we created in the centre of the room, a virtual installation, the students decided what went where, the country of Jordan was the first thing, with a garden inside it, the fridge filled with the yoghurts, a dead guinea pig, a pink telly on the top, with the x-box games, the dog etc etc. It was fun. Then we looked at some of my photographs featuring people with objects. The nerve shattering bell rang and it was time to open the box (I mean suitcase). One of the boys, said "I am really scared, what's inside"....as another focused the lights, others photo documented the opening, and another wrote the actions on an i-Pad. Inside they found a series of giant toys once owned by a lady (Aunty Rene) who dreamed of being on the stage, but only got as far as working in the box offices of London. They responded to the characters and the suitcase, in a flash when my back was turned they discovered the giant poodle had a zip in its gusset which they managed to get the clown to interact with...."Oh hoh, I said, "A vets scenario". On the other table under the red cloth (curtain) was the giant mirror. "Oh we could be at a magician's table" they cried. Later one of the lads held the mirror and we staged a 'scene'. Their attention was brilliant, then one bright spark said "I still don't know what we are supposed to be doing" ...."Neither do I"...I replied. So, in the third lesson, we made a plan. Group A decided to take the rabbit on a journey...entitled 'Rabbit finds it's way back home'© (yes, they decided to copyright the idea). Scenes, scenarios and possibilities were discussed. The idea being to explore the idea that an object can tell a story in different ways. "Do your parents work anywhere interesting?" I asked. "Yes, they said...."Prison, courts, county hall, the chip shop...mine has a plane".... So, it was staging happenings in the school, endorsing the spirit of Much Ado about Nothing, exploring the nature of The Quest, the art of documenting and journals were created. Lets each call ourselves Terence they decided. I told them that they were privileged and had to respect other people's property and involvement. That their journals had no right or wrong attached, but anyone who didn't stick to the rules we all agreed, then they would have to drop out....that I think you can learn lots from fun stuff, but expected excellence. That the rabbit ("It's a bit smelly"...) was once a treasured belonging and that they had to be guardians. It was agreed that it would be cared for by Bev in the art dept (in a special cupboard) and each would take turns to take make happen the home and away scenes. The only thing is I woke this morning and thought, how much I enjoyed working with the lads, the potential for them to think creatively is brilliant. Then I thought, heck, what happened to the mirror. Oh, no, that wasn't in the plan. I"ve left it behind. Of all the things that had an element of RISK, it was a glass object. Flip. Oh, well, maybe that can be part of the mystery of certain objects needing to be found. Perhaps Group B will have to find it!

Tags: Matravers School Project