ANIMATING OUR HERITAGE was a poetry and animation project with three Lowestoft primary schools during the spring term in 2024. 80 pupils from Pakefield Primary, Phoenix St Peter Academy and Red Oak Primary created three animated films, which explore and celebrate their hometown of Lowestoft, past and present.
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The animated films and poems were created over nine sessions in the three schools. The sessions were led by Dean Parkin and Naomi Jaffa of Poetry People, with Norwich-based film-maker Lewis Wickwar. They ran three workshops with Year 5 classes from each school, the third one taking place at the Seagull Theatre where the children animated and recorded the audio soundtrack for their poem which is in three short sections.
Dean said, 'We selected an iconic photograph from the series for each school. With Pakefield, the image of the first tram in London Road South; with Phoenix St Peter, a photograph of a busy South Beach in 1903 with the Royal Hotel and St. John's Church in the background; and with Red Oak, a picture of the bombardment of Kirkley in April 1916.'
Naomi Jaffa said, 'We compared these photographs with modern day images so we could have a past and present theme to the poems. We encouraged the children to think of themselves as time travellers, so that they could report back from the past. Each child wrote about the photograph and their best lines were used to create a group poem which we then edited with the children before they recorded and animated the finished poem in the final session.’
The animated poems were premiered and screened at a Celebration Day for the London Road, Lowestoft Heritage Action Zone in March 2024. Poetry People had a pop-up shop in London Road South, which displayed an exhibition of archive photographs and the new films, certainly drew the crowds. Over 150 people filled the shop throughout the day.
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The poems were also turned into postcards and banners, beautifully designed by Robert Steer, featuring the archive photograph that inspired the words. A postcard was given to each child who took part in the project, and each school was presented with a pop-up banner for permanent display.
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A Year 5 student from Pakefield Primary School said, 'It made Lowestoft feel unique. It made Lowestoft feel like history. It has made Lowestoft feel like home.' Another Year 5 student from Red Oak Primary School said, 'I've learnt how to animate a stop motion film and also about the history of Lowestoft over the years and what a different place it was.'
Alfie English from Phoenix St. Peter Academy so enjoyed creating the poem and animations that he was inspired to attend the Celebration Day in March. Alfie – who spent most of the day chatting to visitors in Poetry People’s pop-up shop about the Animating Our Heritage project – said, 'I loved it. It was one of my favourite things in a long while.'
The project was devised and delivered by Poetry People CIC and funded by London Road Lowestoft Heritage Action Zone, produced in collaboration with Historic England's Heritage Schools programme
