From a Railway Carriage

A Bristol primary school. A poem. A train ride. The rest is history. 650 years to be precise.

As part of the Bristol 650 project, Platform embarked on a collaboration with Local Learning and Avonmouth Primary School to celebrate the joys and rich history of travelling by train from their local station, Avonmouth, into the heart of the city.

Taking Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 19^th century poem ‘From a Railway Carriage’ as their inspiration, Platform took Ruth (co-founder of Local Learning), students from UWE and Avonmouth Primary School pupils and staff from Herons (Year 3) and Dragonflies (Year 5) on a memorable trip down GWR’s Severn Beach line, from Avonmouth to Bristol Temple Meads and back. The half-hour journey provided the children with a strong sense of the changing landscape of their city, as fields and hedgerows gave way to increasingly more urban scenery, culminating in the cranes and high-rise office blocks by Temple Meads.

Following this fun and stimulating outing, Platform went back into Avonmouth Primary School for the day and facilitated bespoke art workshops with Herons and Dragonflies respectively. After an introduction to mixed media collage, the pupils worked collaboratively in small groups to make effective use of a wide range of materials to recreate one of the 12 striking views from their train ride.

After the workshop, Platform set about piecing the parts together to make the 12 complete views.

Platform installed the art in Avonmouth Library in early December and, on February 1^st, it was with great excitement that they accompanied the staff and pupils from Herons and Dragonflies to the library to view the final piece in all its glory.

Meanwhile, Ruth also spent time back in the school working with Herons and Dragonflies – this time to write their own poetry. Their poems were inspired and informed by Stevenson’s ‘From a Railway Carriage’, their train ride with Platform and an intergenerational sharing memories event at Avonmouth Community Centre where Year 5 pupils and local residents spent time together chatting, with a focus on the significance of the railway today and in the past. The two classes’ poems will soon be on display alongside the art in Avonmouth Library. 

But it doesn’t stop there. The poetry and the art are soon to be published in Local Learning’s much-anticipated community atlas, a book celebrating all their Bristol 650 community projects. Avonmouth Primary School and Platform are very much looking forward to seeing their creative endeavours in print – a lasting record of their contribution to their city’s 650^th birthday celebrations.

“It was Local Learning’s first time collaborating with Platform, but hopefully not the last! An amazing organisation doing great work with familiarising young people with travelling by rail and together we produced some fantastic outcomes which we are looking forward to sharing in our community atlas. The stunning artwork produced by both Year 3 and Year 5 children and coordinated by Platform to accompany their poetry by far exceeded our expectations.” – Ruth Myers, Project Manager (community and learning focus) for Local Learning

“There’s nothing quite like a public display of your work to focus the mind on how to harness children’s amazing creativity so that they – and you – feel really proud of what they achieve.  The collaboration with Local learning for the Bristol 650 project provided the opportunity for the children to really immerse in their learning.  The resulting collage work, completed in small groups, with every class member fully involved, is so striking.  It shows the changing landscape in the view from the train from Avonmouth into Bristol Temple Meads. It looks amazing on the wall at Avonmouth Community Centre and library.” – Soo Jackson, Learning Development Officer for Platform

“I enjoyed the train ride. I liked the things I saw outside…the river, the parks, the fields. My group worked on the stairs at Stapleton Road with the grey and yellow lines.” – Pupil from Herons (Year 3), Avonmouth Primary School

 “I enjoyed all the DIY things that you could make with the materials. My group had the view with the wall with all the paintings on it. I chose the materials by looking at the photo very carefully so I could see what I needed. Seeing it today, I feel very happy.” – Pupil from Dragonflies (Year 5), Avonmouth Primary School

 “I enjoyed the crafting bit because crafting is my thing. I used the crinkly paper, the felt and the cellophane. I made the ground by the river. I think it looks brilliant!” – Pupil from Herons (Year 3), Avonmouth Primary School