A popular feature of
John’s work in schools is his writing and recording
project. After the participating group has created its own
material, John records this and then, either with the group
or in his home studio, edits the recordings, adding effects
where necessary, before giving the school a CD of the
resulting material. John can also provide a CD for each
participant as a souvenir of their participation in the
project. Some schools have also used recordings for their
own podcasts.
Examples of resulting work have included:
Students in a secondary school creating their own PSHE
materials.
Infant students creating dramatised versions of popular
folk tales.
Junior students creating original plays and ballads
celebrating the history of the Black Country.
Secondary school students making their own radio plays.
Secondary school media students creating short radio shows.
Secondary and primary students making up their own folk
tales and sending CDs of their work to partner schools in
other parts of the world.
An original musical created with Year 2 students:
Florence -
The Musical, telling the story of
Florence Nightingale.
Original songs, scripts and soundtracks for school
productions.
In the wider community,
John has also recorded, edited and produced two CDs for
Wolverhampton City Libraries: I’m A Storyteller, Get
Me Out Of Here, an anthology of young
people’s stories, and City Voices Live at
the City Bar, a live recording of
local writers performing their own material. Most recently,
he produced a CD for Pro-Actors Ltd of a production of
John’s original script bringing older and younger
performers together, Crossing the
Bridge.
John uses his own (Mac-based) recording and editing
equipment, and can also offer inset training on how to use
recording in the classroom.