A heartwarming partnership between Perthshire primary schools and care home residents has blossomed into song.
Pupils in P2–P7 from Cleish, Guildtown and Milnathort have been visiting care homes in their communities over the last few months, meeting residents and hearing about their memories, hobbies and hopes for the future.
Working with a musician and drama artist they then created songs inspired by the stories to perform back to the residents. This was made possible as part of the Horsecross Arts Harmony Project.
The songs have now been recorded and the pupils are performing them live in Causeway Court Care Home in Kinross, Robert Douglas Memorial Home in Scone and Ashley House Care Home in Milnathort throughout June.
Commenting on the project, which was created by Horsecross Arts Learning and Engagement team with funding from The Gannochy Trust, Kim Robertson, head teacher at Guildtown Primary School said: “The children gained so much from the whole experience. Their confidence and engagement in the project grew as time went on and they were able to use all the information that they learned to create a song for the residents that they were all proud of.
“Being able to perform it at the care home was wonderful and we would love to continue making links with them in the future. I would recommend this project to any schools.”
Louise Paton is the activities coordinator at Robert Douglas Memorial Home.
She said: “Our residents loved sharing stories. And then when the children came along to perform their song, it was the icing on the cake, with the residents soon picking up the beat of the song and some of the words so they could join in.
“The children were very interested in our residents and vice versa. It was a great idea and lots of fun.”
Hayley Blakeman, schools creative coordinator for Horsecross Arts, said: “The Harmony Project has been such a joyous experience for all involved and has really shown the power of storytelling and music making to bring people together.
“We are so happy that relationships have been formed between the schools and care homes and hope they will continue.
“Looking forward we’re hoping that there will be more opportunities to produce intergenerational projects as we know they are so beneficial for our communities.”
