VISITORS from one of the Yorkshire's top theatres have helped bring out the inner performers in a group of Bradford school pupils.

Grange Technology College was turned into a workshop of West Yorkshire Playhouse yesterday for an event aimed at inspiring an interest in performing arts. The day was based around the work of award winning playwright and spoken word artist Kate Tempest.

There has recently been increased focus on performing arts at the school, which is based at the Southfield Grange Campus in Little Horton. Before September there was no specific performing arts curriculum, but it was added to timetables after the appointment last year of specialist teacher and department leader, Leila Airey.

As a subject, performing arts sits alongside art, music and PE within the school’s Creative Arts faculty.

Yesterday John Dawson, Creative Education Officer and Elvi Piper, Creative Education Co-Ordinator from West Yorkshire Playhouse spent a day in the school, working with a group of thirty Year 9 students. The session has been developed in consultation with the school to support the learning of students selected to take part having shown a keen interest or natural talent in performing arts since they began learning the subject back in September.

The main focus of the workshop was about creating a short piece of theatre inspired by Tempest's 'Brand New Ancients', a piece of performance poetry performed by Tempest herself at the West Yorkshire Playhouse last year.

Tempest has been awarded the Ted Hughes Award for Brand New Ancients, a modern day tale told in the style of a classical myth. The work was performed in West Yorkshire Playhouse in February last year.

She has also been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize for her spoken word recordings.

None of the students were familiar with her works before they came to school yesterday, but at the start of the day they watched one of her performance recordings, and by the end of the day were reading out passages from memory.

It is now hoped that other performing arts and theatre groups will form links with the school in future.

Leila Airey, Leader of Performing Arts at the school said: “We’re keen to complement the more academic subjects with options which enable students to exercise creativity, technique, discipline and physicality through performing arts. We are delighted to be working with West Yorkshire Playhouse and we thank them for their support. This workshop has been tailored towards the Performing Arts BTEC course on offer at Key Stage 4, and has been aimed at this cohort of students in the lead up to their options later in the term.

"We hope the day will inspire them and that they learn from the experience, whether they decide to take performing arts further or not.

" it is very different for them, some have done drama or music before, but for most of these pupils this is something completely new, and it is good for them to be trying something different.

"The event today was open to all year 9 pupils, and some were invited if we thought they would have a particular talent in that area."

The school has already welcomed Matthew Bourne and his New Talents initiative, and will soon welcome Bradford theatre group Freedom Studios for sessions, which could lead to a permanent theatre group in the school.

Miss Aire added: "We want the students to be inspired and learn new skills that are transferable and compliment their other academic skills.

"In this part of Bradford there is not much access to performing arts outside of school, so it is good to have this.

"Some students have asked why we are doing this, but it has really helped them express themselves and their imaginations in a different way."