Enhancing Pembrokeshire Fund Brings Joy to School Children

The Enhancing Pembrokeshire Fund project, with the support from Pembrokeshire County Council’s regeneration programme, has been hailed a huge success by the school children of Milford Haven Community Primary School. An 11-week course, with the Torch Theatre at the helm, saw arts experts deliver a term of expressive arts sessions concluding with the young people sharing their hard work in a performance in the Torch’s studio theatre.

The Torch Theatre’s professional team worked with the school’s year 5 pupils on a playwriting and theatre design project in the company of playwright, Katie Elin Salt and theatre designer, Ruth Stringer. The creative activity was designed to support the school in the development of young people’s languages, literacy and communication skills.

The children created an epic play called Famous Authors which allowed each class to explore different aspects of a chosen favourite author’s life. Full of dramatic twists and featuring spectacular handmade props and costumes, all created by the young people themselves, the project opened doors to many.

Three quarters of the children said they would recommend the project to other year groups in the school as Tim Howe, Senior Manager for Youth and Community at the Torch explains:

“We're so pleased the project was a success. Over three quarters of the children in this project indicated that they were more likely to write more stories after having completed the project; over half the children described their writing skills as excellent or good as a result of this project and almost half the children described their presentation skills as excellent or good."

Rhian Johnson Year Leader for Year 5 and Expressive Arts Lead at Milford Haven Community Primary School said: “I’m so proud of the creative journey our students have been on. Over the Autumn term, they had dived into scriptwriting and prop making, building key skills in literacy, design, and collaboration. Working with creative professionals inspired them and opened their eyes to the possibilities of theatre. The culmination of their hard work, showcased on the Torch Theatre stage, was a true reflection of their creativity and determination. This experience has not only enriched their learning but also helped them develop critical thinking and teamwork—skills they'll carry forward."

One of the pupils undertaking the project said: “I have really enjoyed working with the Torch Theatre this term as the Torch has helped me understand how a play is put together.”

The children were asked the open question “Tell me what you learned from the Torch Theatre project.” Approximately a quarter of the young people spoke about how brave it made them feel or the courage it gave them to speak in front of people. A similar number of young people spoke about the importance of creativity and imagination and 20% of them spoke about teamwork and working with other people.

Tim added: “They were incredibly analytical in this with some talking about positives, and others discussing how they overcame issues presented by working in a team.

“We know that providing this opportunity for the children and staff has had a meaningful and lasting impact. Not only did our young people improve their literacy skills, but we also hope it gave them aspirations to be part of the creative sector. We know that maybe one day they will be writing plays for the Torch Theatre.”