This week, schools from the 29 schools within the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, a Schools North East Partner Trust, gathered at the iconic Durham Cathedral to perform Footsteps into Paradise.
Students between 8-18 collaborated with local performer Mike Mcgrother for the concert as part of Bishop Chadwick’s Journeys of Hope project.
Journey to Celebrate Identity and Community
Journeys of Hope aimed to enable students and school staff to explore and celebrate regional identity through a series of collaborative creative projects, launching in 2020. Primary and Secondary schools explored music, dance, poetry and visual arts hoping to inspire and engage in creative education whilst connecting to local communities.
Due to the nature of the pandemic, previous Journeys of Hope projects have been online, with a virtual choir of over 180 students singing ‘We’ll meet again’ for VE day in May 2020 as well as a virtual choir of almost 2000 students singing an original carol (created by Bishop Chadwick) for the North East in December 2020.
The Journeys of Hope project successfully demonstrated how young people can adapt and continue to feel inspired and engaged with learning, despite difficult circumstances.
Footsteps in Paradise
Finally, an in-person performance took place this week on Tuesday and Wednesday evening in Durham Cathedral. The Footsteps in Paradise concert was Journey of Hope’s biggest spectacle yet, performing a magical musical that covered a narrative celebrating the history and identity of the North East. The concert included solos, choirs, instruments, live music and original songs written in collaboration with McGrother and students.
Bishop Chadwick, one of the region’s largest education trusts, highlighted the power of unity, hope and aspiration following a time of great challenges in education. The students and staff gathered from across Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland to show their hard work from their long-term curriculum project that united schools and their 10,000 pupils within Bishop Chadwick.
Speaking to Emma Harrison, COO of Bishop Chadwick at the midday rehearsal on Tuesday, she commented that she hoped ‘the children enjoyed their immersive experience in Durham Cathedral’ and that the performance is a ‘culmination of a lot of work over the last two years with the pandemic’, a ‘musical which reflects the history across all of our three local authority areas’ served by Bishop Chadwick.
Real Stories from the North East
Bishop Chadwick utilised the stunning venue, truly making the performance an immersive creative arts experience for all involved. The spectacular event celebrated local everyday heroes and followed through the story of the North East from its ancestry to the future of the North.
The story highlighted the reality of conflict in the region, inspired by the story of Jarrow boy and conveying the prejudice people suffer whilst recognising why tolerance, kindness and acceptance is vital in any well-rounded society. The performance also looked at current events, putting a spotlight on the challenges everyone faced during the pandemic and the great issues of loneliness, anxiety and resulting lack of self-confidence caused by isolation.
Brendan Tapping, CEO at Bishop Chadwick, said:
‘The pandemic showed us all how, more than ever, schools provide a vital link in uniting local communities, especially during difficult times. We started the Journeys of Hope project at the very beginning of the pandemic as we wanted pupils to understand how working together and reacting to challenging situations as positively as possible
can develop great personal qualities such as resilience, spirit and aspiration. The performances were absolutely fantastic and a credit not only to the pupils who represented their school but to the teachers and support staff who have continued to nurture and develop children despite the odds being stacked against them for a long period of time.’
The successful event celebrated and showcased the reasons to be proud to be from the North East and gave the students an experience they will surely never forget.
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