Creating Imaginary Nonsense Gardens
Hastings Thrives, an organisation that works with young people
in Hastings to overcome barriers to learning and celebrate their achievements, has been inviting children to re-imagine their gardens with drawings and songs.
You won’t be able to buy these plants in the shops, but they might tickle your imagination and lodge in your head. That’s because Silverdale Primary Academy and Christ Church Primary Academy have been exploring drawing and writing Nonsense Songs based on imagination and gardens as part of SongSeeds afterschool songwriting club and half-term bootcamp in collaboration with A Town Explores A Book 2021 festival.
Perhaps you’ll find the smilillium or hugolia tree – while you must know that the penatroska is a squaska – but we hope you haven’t put the candyfloss dragon next to the hot dog crocodiles, as they don’t get on.
Edward Lear wrote many songs which have been lost in time. “Hastings is the perfect place to re-imagine those songs,” says, Jenny Lozano, Project Manager for Hastings Thrives. Creating songs with children is a major part of the work done by Hastings Thrives. “We particularly like to work with collaborative songs, which are inclusive and build so many skills and friendships: they set children up for how to work together in imaginative and creative ways.” says Jenny.
And you can now watch some of the results: if you missed the 8th April performance on Isolation Station, catch up on www.facebook.com/isolation.station.hastings/videos/93727062702
0474. The show is hosted by Lily Kim, featuring Andrew Mersh from Silverdale Primary Academy, Claire Burford from Christ Church CE Primary Academy, Course Leader Anna Page and songs from Twinkle Ansar, Sharon Baverstock, Maia Doye, Clara Patroa Lomba, Ted McIntosh, Marina Rolfe, Eve Simmonds and Stan Thornton.
Jenny would like to thank everyone for the support, including Badger Inc, and SongSeeds funders Youth Music Charity with Arts England, Hastings Borough Council, Hastings Lions, Hastings Opportunity area and the Co-op Community Fund.
• For more information on the project visit hastingsthrives.org/songseeds/nonsense-gardens
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