College Park School
West London Inclusive Arts Festival 10-year anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall
10 years of WLIAF
This year marks the 10th year of the festival and we celebrated in style! The theme of this year's festival was My story, your story, a story of us and it was the first time that College Park brought a primary group to the Hall as part of the residency, and they had a great time!
WLIAF welcomed the Lord Mayor of Westminster
We were also very pleased that the Lord Mayor came to see the sharing and celebrating event at the Hall too!
Penguin class were stars of the show!
Penguin class closed the show with their Alladin performance which was a triumph! We are all very proud of Penguin class and they had a great time performing to guests that also included their very proud parents.
Sharing and celebrating
Alongside College Park there was sharing and celebrations from our other seven school partners. These events are important for our students in coming together, to share and celebrate and to build community. Over the ten years it has been a privilege to see the festival grow, our children and young people thrive and for all of them to develop a sense of belonging.
Where next as a charity?
We are very excited that the festival conceived at Westminster Special schools is now transitioning to a charity with the support of John Lyon's Charity. Our assistant head teacher Paul Morrow will continue to lead the festival as its director and is excited by the next chapter with our ambition to continue to nurture the festival as an inclusive cultural eco-system in central London, including schools, families, cultural organisations and disable led and disable focused arts organisations.
Comments from schools included:
Nelly, Penguin class teacher commented on one of her students that: "Her participation in both school performances and the Royal Albert Hall experience helped her feel included in a wider group identity. She showed enjoyment in performing alongside peers and responded positively to shared celebration and success".
Hayley from Cambridge school described one of their students' growths over the course of the festival and that "it was great to see her thriving and really coming out of her comfort zone. She was able to grow in confidence and was inspired to perform and took part in an interview for the WLIAF to share her experience"
And Mike from QEII school commented that his students felt "a genuinely powerful sense of pride and achievement"
Generously supported by
