A half-day theatre-in-education programme for KS1
on tour in Spring 2004

My name is Jackie. I live by the sea. I like the sea. The sea is huge. Sometimes it frightens me. My dad has a boat called Kittiwake. We use it to get food. When I grow up I will sail it. I use my net to catch things too. My dad says I am the Sea Child.

This participatory TIE programme brought the sounds and smells of the sea into the school hall. Sea Child tells the story of a fishing community and the struggle of generations to survive the changes around them through the eyes of a child, exploring the relationship between human beings and the sea, the tides of history and the changing environment.

You can download parts of the soundtrack from Resources

Read some feedback from teachers of students who participated:

Elaine Wood – Broadmeadow Infant School

At first I thought it was a difficult concept for the children, but I was surprised at how much they assimilated and how well they responded. They rose to the occasion and enjoyed it. They completely accepted the imaginary world and they described it as "real" although they knew it was fabric and an adult playing the part of the child. A- a child on the autistic spectrum – was with it all the way and didn’t notice that there was no break. We’ve done some extended writing about the sea and the children are proud of what they’ve done.

June Parry – Bells Farm Infant School

Brilliant – not seen them sit and listen for that long – they found it far less complicated than I did. We followed it up with the cave, fishes, and wishes and memories for the thinking space.
It wasn’t over with the day or even the week – it’s carried on. It wasn’t a ‘one-off’ and it was as much a training session for the staff as a great experience for the children.

Anita Twyman – Kings Norton Primary School

They took it all on board – even H, who takes everything literally usually. It caught her imagination and she was chatting away about it to a visitor to school. I can’t speak well enough of the performers – they were so supportive of the children and so well prepared. Since then we’ve been working on our own thinking space and the children have decided there has to be a part of it for thinking about loss – dead grandparents or even pets.