A Curious Visitor came to Cragside. He is called Alex. He visited the school at different times for a whole year. 

As the seasons changed, The Curious Visitor noticed lots of sights and sounds. He noticed the rhythms of the school. Sometimes it was full of noise and energy. Other times it was quiet. He noticed nature, music, children, grown-ups, even pigeons. All part of the life of Cragside Primary.

The Curious Visitor asked children, teachers and staff what they noticed too. Here is what they noticed in Summer.

Summer: Movement (Part 1)

Cragside is a living organism. Complex and full of life. The outside might be made of brick and glass and slate, but inside there is pulse, breath and movement.

Beehives generate heat. The average temperature, even in winter, is 27 degrees Celsius. The energy required to maintain the hive, to explore, to nurture and sustain life, makes for a place of ceaseless activity.

Cragside has that same drive and energy. It is a place that only rests when it is emptied of its human inhabitants.

During the day the school is full of activity. Cutting and pasting, with guillotines and glue sticks, photocopiers whirring, as all manner of learning materials are generated.

Registers and plastic boxes full of coloured wristbands make their way around the school. Children walk around corridors, greeted as they trace familiar paths around the building. The building which requires constant and careful maintenance. (“It is not a modern building”, says Mick, who perhaps knows this best.)

Summer: Movement (Part 2)

This is my last week at Cragside. This time last year I was arriving for the first time as The Curious Visitor.

I am wearing the same high vis I wore that week, decorated with question marks. I wear it, not just as a reminder of who I am to those within the school, but also as a reminder to myself of the commitment I made when I first arrived. To be open and responsive to everything I see and hear.

The Importance of Curiosity shares a conversation with Assistant Head Teacher, Lisa Hall. This, and all the work I have produced reflects my genuine admiration for a remarkable school. I have been moved and inspired on many occasions.

I leave knowing that this is a community that values humanity and kindness. Cragside welcomes scores of young children. It commits to doing all it can to safeguard, nurture, and educate those hedgehogs and badgers till they emerge with their Leavers’ hoodies, eager to see what the world has to offer.

Thank you all.

The Curious Visitor

Look

The children at Cragside showed The Curious Visitor lots of things around the school. Things that caught their eye. Things that they wanted other people to notice too.

Creative Team

Alex Elliott
Garry Lydon

With particular thanks to the Senior Leadership Team of Cragside Primary School.

Made possible with funding from Arts Council England.