Education
The Suffolk School of Samba has a thriving Education Department,
which takes the powerful rhythms and music which we perform and
teaches it to young people of all ages and all abilities. We are able
to provide workshops to suit all sizes.
Some short case studies are provided below to outline some of the
work we undertake.
Citizenship through co-operative samba
 Samba workshops were put to the test this summer at a conference
organised by Ipswich and Norwich Co-op Education Department.
The event was designed to help teachers deliver the Citizenship
curriculum. Fifty teachers took part in interactive workshops led by
Suffolk School of Samba and Dynamix, a creative training co-op, based
in Swansea.
- Confidence-building
- Participation
- Inclusion
- Global identity
These are parts of the Citizenship curriculum which can be explored
through interactive Samba workshops.
Feedback from participants shows that Samba is an effective way to
compliment classroom teaching of Citizenship.
Conference organiser Pam Walker was pleased with our contribution:
"Thank you for a most stimulating workshop. You pitched it just right,
it was a real highlight for us all."
Taking part in the Children's Society Inclusion Festival
This summer was great fun. We ran carnival arts and percussion
workshops for people with a wide range of abilities. We provide:
- A focussed, active workshop atmosphere led by experienced
facilitators;
- Instruments and notation for percussion workshops
- Images and sounds of Brazilian Carnival to inspire imaginative
work;
- Curriculum compatible workshops on request (including
Citizenship);
- Teacher's Pack with detailed cultural and historical
information (on request).
Funded project hailed a success
 Three Suffolk communities pulsated with exotic samba sounds this
summer thanks to "Beat East" - our first after-schools project,
co-funded by National Foundation for Youth Music.
Felixstowe Carnival, Lowestoft carnival and Ipswich Music Day
rocked with the sound of newly trained, young sambistas from Deben,
Kirkley's, and Holywell's, High Schools. The pupils deserved every bit
of applause and cheering from the audiences - all involved had worked
hard and achieved excellent results.
The 60+ participants on the 18-week intensive course had plenty to
capture their interest. Subjects covered included rhythm games,
learning different samba styles, instrument techniques, cultural
context, integrated listening and performance skills. We also trained
one young person at each school to lead the bands.
Beat East spanned two terms, so it gave us the opportunity to
explore samba pieces with much greater focus. Pupils developed and
refined their musical abilities on a brand new set of Brazilian samba
instruments, bought with school groups in mind. We are at the stage
where the schools are keen to take up the legacy we have left behind.
We are currently advising the schools on starting up their own samba
bands.
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