Year Group:
What did we do?
One of the ways Growtheatre loves to work with young people is through offering opportunities for volunteering and work experience. We have always offered high-quality work placements for degree-level students within our youth theatre and some of those young people have also gone on to work with us in some capacity. Growtheatre also offers work experience for degree level students and post graduate students linked to project work.
We draw our placements from Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield. Whilst most work experience placements come from performance or drama focused courses, some students study Childhood Studies and Psychology. We have also worked with groups of undergraduate and postgraduate students whose studies focused on archaeology and explaining local history.
Most recently, in our An Even Better Arbourthorne project, we worked with student architects to develop plans for outdoor spaces in the school.
We often invite members of our senior youth theatre to volunteer with the youngest youth theatre groups. Often, but not always, this links to them doing Duke of Edinburgh Award or Arts Award.
What impact did the project have?
GEORGIA’s story: university placement
Georgia came on placement with Growtheatre from Sheffield Hallam University as her 3rd year placement on her Childhood Studies BA. This placement was to pursue her research project which focused on the benefits and challenges of involvement in youth arts on the wellbeing and resilience of 12- to 17-year-olds.
As part of her research project, the young people in the youth theatre’s senior group were asked to fill in questionnaires for Georgia and she carried out semi-structured interviews with staff members. Also, as part of her placement, she had the opportunity to lead games and gain experience in a setting that was completely new to her.
“This placement gave me the opportunity to work with a group of young people that were different to my previous placements, as these were both in a primary school setting.
I was very new to theatre, and this was a new experience for me, so it helped my confidence massively. Everyone made me feel so welcome. Thank you for the opportunity! Growtheatre is an amazing group/ concept and any parents / children / young people who are considering joining, I’d definitely recommend.”
PAIGE’s story: University placement and employment
Paige worked with Growtheatre for nearly 5 years. She started out as a volunteer and then secured a university placement with the company. In her second year at Sheffield Hallam University, she was looking for experience working with children in a drama setting.
Paige’s thoughts on her time on placement:
“I stumbled across Growtheatre and it instantly took my attention. I really loved how Growtheatre not only worked outdoors but also encouraged young people to be as diverse and inclusive as possible, and to use their imaginations to the best of their abilities. I really loved how Growtheatre included their surroundings and worked with nature, and I really loved their ethos and what they stood for. I was so eager to get a placement and I was so happy to be welcomed to the team with open arms by Sophie and Rachel. Growtheatre is like a little family and from day one they make you feel included and give you all the support. They teach you new skills but they also let you share your skills with the students as well, and I think that’s really important. I was really grateful to come and work with Growtheatre, and two weeks turned into almost five years, and I think that’s credit to how welcoming the company is and how awesome they are to volunteer with and also to work for!”
Paige’s thoughts on her transition to working for Growtheatre:
“During my time on volunteering with Growtheatre, I took an interest in starting to become a facilitator. Growtheatre was amazing in giving me the opportunities to progress. Both Rachel and Sophie gave me not only the training but also the support and also the continued guidance that you need to transition from a volunteer position into a paid worker, which is what my journey was with Growtheatre. I was really lucky to be able to progress in a company that I loved working for, and it meant that I went from not only expanding my skills as a volunteer and working with members and learning with Rachel and Sophie, but my time with Growtheatre has allowed me to develop my own way as a facilitator. I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with the HAF sessions and the family events and all sorts of other opportunities that Sophie and Rachel have presented to me. They’ve allowed me to pave my own way as a facilitator and I’ve found my style and adapted to different ways of working. The opportunities that working with Growtheatre has presented me have been incredible and I will be forever grateful to both Rachel and Sophie and to the members of the youth theatre for accepting me and for letting me grow and develop with them. It’s been a real adventure.”
ZAK’s story: youth theatre member volunteering
One of our youth theatre members, Zak, started volunteering with the Junior group when he was in Y10. Originally, he was going to volunteer as part of the leadership section of his Duke of Edinburgh award, but then he realised he didn’t have enough free time to do the Duke of Edinburgh award, so he just chose to volunteer anyway, thinking it would be enjoyable and “an interesting and cool experience”. And he has really enjoyed it!
We asked Zak to tell us what the impact of both being in Growtheatre youth theatre and volunteering has been on him:
“Growtheatre generally has given me a lot of confidence – I’ve always felt more confident there than anywhere else, and being at Growtheatre let me build up that skill, and now that I use that skill within school a lot more, and within other circles, I feel much more comfortable. When I’m volunteering, I can see how I can support that confidence in other young people – I realise I have to allow for there to be a space where the Juniors can do and be and act how they want to, in their own way…. whether that’s boisterous, subtle or timid, they can show up however they want to be, and just be themselves.
With both Growtheatre youth theatre and volunteering, I’ve learnt how I work socially, and how much effort I need to put into different areas when I’m talking to people. For example, when I’m helping out with the Juniors, it takes a lot more effort because the younger kids need me to be more full of energy and excitable. I’ve learnt how to interact and be with children, and how to be fun with them.
I will definitely learn a lot more. I’m finding it hard to express what I’ve learnt as a volunteer – I’ve not been doing it that long. What I’ve learnt is less of an ABC method and more of a skill – something that I can just rely on, intuitively.”
RACHEL’s story: how does Growtheatre benefit from working with students and young volunteers?
Having students with us on work placement is always beneficial, both to Growtheatre and to our youth theatre members. We find it is aspirational and allows the young people in the youth theatre can see where their interest in drama and theatre might go. They always enjoy meeting people who are closer in age to them, and hearing about their studies and their lives. Students also bring fresh perspectives, ideas and interests into the group and we positively encourage people to contribute to sessions as much as to learn from us. Working with students has also allowed us to be more flexible and to support young people who have additional special needs, giving us more eyes in the room and adding to our capacity.
Duke of Edinburgh and Arts Awards
We think it’s really important to be open to supporting young people on their Arts Award journey and their Duke of Edinburgh Award. We positively encourage young people to have a dialogue with us about being a facilitator and being a leader and what that entails, and would encourage them to try different leadership skills and to talk about what works and what doesn’t. It benefits Growtheatre to work with young people in this way because it means our youth theatre members can see someone from an older group doing something that they might be interested in doing when they are older, and seeing what Growtheatre can offer its young people. It’s also fantastic to have teenagers modelling good leadership for the younger children.
