A giant chessboard, a lip-sync battle and an art trail inspired by local and European art are among the 27 school projects across Liverpool City Region which have received EuroGrant funding to celebrate Eurovision.
Supported by Spirit of 2012, Liverpool City Council’s Culture Liverpool team invited schools across Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Halton, St Helens and Knowsley to apply for grants of up to £2,000 to get into the Eurovision spirit by hosting events that celebrate the competition itself, the relationship with our friends in Ukraine and the wider European heritage in Liverpool.
The projects form part of the host city’s EuroLearn programme which provides a unique opportunity for schools – and non-school educational settings – to celebrate all things Eurovision by taking part in and delivering their own events.
Among the successful schools is Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary School in Formby. Each class will represent a country taking part in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest and will be responsible for making local delicacies from their country which will be shared at a European street food market. Early Years and Infant pupils will learn and perform a Eurovision song from their designated country, whilst Juniors will compose and perform an original song. The whole school will also perform ‘We all live in a blue and yellow submarine’ to unite Liverpool and Ukraine through music.
The project will teach the children about other cultures through cooking and music, but there will be a specific focus on learning about traditional Ukrainian customs. The school’s Ukrainian teaching assistant will share symbols of Ukraine, such as the traditional clothing, flag and vinochok (flower crown). The school will also be running art workshops based on the Ukrainian national flower, the sunflower, to create Van Gogh inspired paintings and a collaborative mural with each child adding their own petal with their name to create a lasting legacy of ‘The Class of Eurovision 2023.’ Alongside this, the children will decorate plant pots using the Ukrainian colours of blue and yellow to plant our own sunflowers as a symbol of unity and hope.
To honour the link with Liverpool’s sister city, Odesa, the school will invite family members to teach children how to play chess on a giant chess board in the colours of the Ukranian flag. Each class will create a Liverpool themed and a Eurovision themed chess piece, representing icons such as Conchita Wurst, Sam Ryder, a Superlambanana, or a Liver Bird, using design and technology skills to bring their plans to life.
St Charles’ Catholic Primary School in Liverpool will see pupils take on the roles of producer, director and pop star as they create music videos. From story-boarding and filming lip-sync battle style performances using green screen techniques to editing using cropping, trimming and splitting techniques and adding transitions, filters and captions, pupils will learn what it takes to put a music video together.
From a mural in Anfield and an art trail in Wirral to drama workshops in Stockbridge Village and filmmaking workshops in Widnes, there will be no escaping the Eurovision magic.
Full list of schools which have secured funding available here.
Rachel Farrell, a teacher from Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary School, said:
“We are delighted to have received EuroGrant funding to realise our ideas. We want children to understand the significance of such a weird and wonderful event being held in our city and appreciate that this truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The opportunity to celebrate a contest that is based on individuality and celebrating diversity will be incredible for our pupils.”
Claire McColgan CBE, Director of Culture Liverpool said:
“If there’s one thing we know the schools across Liverpool City Region have in abundance, it’s creativity and we weren’t disappointed with their applications for EuroGrant. The successful projects provide an opportunity for children to learn about different cultures though music, fashion, food, dance, drama, visual art, filmmaking and much more. Young people from nurseries to secondary schools will not only have a chance to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration which will see their hometown host the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, but they’ll also pick up some new skills along the way.”
Ruth Hollis, Chief Executive at Spirit of 2012 said:
“As the excitement builds, we’re on a mission to find out how we can spread some Eurovision stardust to bring joy to the children and people in the host city and region. These grants will fund projects that will not only spark children’s creativity, but also provide a fantastic opportunity to build on their learning about the lives and experiences of children from other countries and cultures. What we learn from these 27 projects will help us develop guidance for future international events.”