World Focus Day Programme
Introductions and Greetings (five minutes)
The teacher will introduce the artists to the children by name and the artists will then move around the circle greeting the children in the manner traditional to their country (or handshakes if there is none). This will give the children an opportunity to see at close hand the costume that they are wearing.
The artists will then jointly describe the country of their birth
- where it is located (how far away it is)
- its climate
- its principle industries
- the practiced religions
- whether it is a predominately rural or urban economy
They will tell
- why and when they came to live in the UK
- where their families live now
- and how often they return to their country of birth (if at all).
Costume (15 minutes)
The artists will bring with them a selection of articles of clothing (male and female) to talk about. They will explain who wears them, when they wear them, whether they wear them all the time and what they are made of. The garments will be passed around (together with a few hand mirrors so that the children can see what they look like). The artists will move around showing the children how the garments are worn/draped/fastened and, if there are children in the group who know how to do these things, they will be invited to assist by showing the other children what to do as well.
The Family & Community (15 minutes)
In this section the artists (jointly) will talk about
- where they lived
- their parents and siblings
- how their parents supported the family
- what their parents’ values were and what was important to them
- their extended families and what part they played in their lives as children and to this day
- where and how they were educated and what they were taught
- special occasions/celebrations (the birth of siblings, marriages, funerals)
- local festivals, religious days and other celebrations
- family pastimes and entertainment (excluding play and toys)
- what food they ate, where the food came from and how it was cooked
As they do so they will pass objects out to be looked at and handled by the children. The range of objectives will vary but may include
- pictures of the house they lived in or a photograph of a street in the town or an appropriate picture downloaded from the internet (copies)
- pictures of their parent(s) and sibling(s) if they have them (copies)
- pictures of family gatherings showing the extended family together if they have them
- a picture of a school similar to the one they went to and children at school
- pictures of weddings, funerals, coming of age ceremonies (personal or downloaded from the internet)
- pictures of artefacts relating to religious activities (if a significant aspect of their childhood)
- a selection of foodstuffs (packaged) and some pictures of national dishes
- one or two pieces of folk art to illustrate what one finds as decoration in homes
- cooking implements (if country or culture specific)
Culture – Both Artists (10 minutes)
Each artist will select and deliver one of the following
- a demonstration of the elements of a traditional folk dance
- play a tune on a traditional instrument
- demonstrate a traditional craft or art form
- tell a traditional story
Once again they will bring object to pass around. For example, pieces of folk art or musical instruments.
Play – Both Artists – (10 -15 minutes)
Both artists will teach the children games which they enjoyed themselves as children and, where possible, will bring with them toys which are popular with the children of the country featured.
The artists will leave with the children a list of the games popular in their country of origin and brief instructions as to how to play them. If appropriate - and not too costly - they will leave behind some of the toys/games the children will have played with.
Final session (20- 25 minutes)
This final session will open with the two artists describing how each came to live in this country, how old they were, how they felt, what they found familiar, what they found difficult to adjust to. (10 minutes).
The final session will then be thrown open to questions and observations from the children. They will also be given the opportunity to come forward and look at any of the objects/artefacts which they missed first time around.