Arts Award Silver Unit 2 by

What leadership skills have you developed?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

Linking back to my skills I mentioned towards the beginning, I believe I have developed my LORIC skills but especially my Leadership and Communication skills. From this arts challenge, I have developed my leadership skills by successfully being able to manage a team and the dance troop, forming meetings, rehearsals and emails. My communication has also developed as I made a friendly work relationship with all the dancers and hot them to trust my decisions and leadership. I enjoyed working with Onali, my team and dance troop.

What of the interpersonal skills have developed well/ not so well.

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I believe I need to improve my organisation skills as there were many things left to last minute due to unforeseen circumstances like matters that weren’t communicated as effectively. I believe that the whole team’s organisation skills could’ve been improved as there were a lot of important matters that weren’t addressed to until before the showcase, for example, hearing the songs that are going to be performed.

What have you learnt about being a good leader?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I have learnt that being a good leader requires you to have strong communication and leadership ship skills. But I also believe it’s very important to have empathy skills to understand your team and to allow you to communicate better. A good leader should listen to its team and it’s thoughts as it promotes a better understanding for the project

Refer back to your original plan. Did anything happen differently from what you originally planned? If so, what and how?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

As we thought the run through on Monday would go as per it would in the showcase but the lights were not working, the performers weren’t all here, and not all of the team was here. If the run through on Monday was better I feel that the show would’ve been better. I also believe the commentary could’ve been more interesting, funny and involving.

Is there anything you would do differently in the future if you were to run the project again?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

If I could do it again, I would take one of the leadership roles. I would organise the run throughs more precisely and add more rehearsals for performances and tech. I would also make sure there are enough refreshments as the biscuits ran out and there wasn’t any tea.

What parts of the project plan worked well?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I believe getting the dancers on and off stage was very accurate and done well. The Bollywood medley was on queue and was a fun way to end the Asian section. The songs were involving and the choreography was really nice. It was fun joining in at the end with all the dancers as we were all one team!

What parts did not work well? Why?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I believe that some people in our team could’ve got more involved and help out a bit more. Everybody did a lot of hard work for this project and I hope everyone is proud of them selves. I would’ve also been better if we received some acknowledgment in the showcase as our whole team wasn’t mentioned and only the Co directors and director was mentioned.

What was your favourite part of the leadership project?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I believe the day of the showcase was the best as we did everything we could and now it was time to see all our hard work unfold in front of us. There wasn’t much stress except for getting the performers on and off stage but otherwise the showcase was really fun and fantastic and was a reflection of our work that we put into it.

What were the feedback from other people about your project and your role as a leader?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

The feedback about the showcase was all positive. They said that they wanted to get the chance to get involved differently with more leadership next time which is good. The feedback about my leadership was also helpful. They said that they could see me getting really involved with them backstage in the performance to get them on and off stage and to give them self assurance. They also witnessed me devoting my time to numerous meeting and rehearsals even if it requires for me to skip a break or a club once in a while. Their feedback helped me to improve and I have seen the improvements from it.

What do you think about this feedback?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I definitely support this feedback! I would’ve appreciated any criticism as well so I can develop from it and thrive to be the best I can in my LORIC skills in and out of UCGS and so I can thrive in the arts. The feedback from me working hard on the project from my peers really motivated me to aim higher in the upcoming showcases if I ever have another opportunity!

What have you learnt about working with other people?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I have learnt that communication is very important in a team. Like the numerous times I have mentioned communication, each time is as vital and necessary. Communication allows us to share key thoughts, ideas and plans. With a hinderance of communication, things are likely to go wrong. For example, the audition results were delayed by a week due to the leaders not telling the talent management team to send out the emails which stopped us to get our dance troop together. Communication is necessary as well as just being helpful to have matters and ideas in one place, for example, our teams class or WhatsApp group chat. I will take the skill of communication and I will try to use it correctly and consistently in any group projects ahead. Thinking that everyone did a lot of work and keeping a positive mindset helps the team to work together instead of just thinking the amount of work we personally have done and try to compare it those who we think have done nothing.

Which things did you find the most challenging?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I don’t think any particular aspect was challenging. Overall, I think it was just to bring the ideas in your head to life as we have to think of practical elements as well. For example, for meetings we need to know who’s going to be here, who’s not, what teacher is supervising us and if there are any rooms free.

Who are the participants or main audience for your project?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

Participants- as artistic liaison, our main focus are our dancers but our main participants are all our performers and any helpers.

Audience- our main audience are families and parents. The people that are most likely to come are parents, siblings and friends of performers so we will boost ticket sales by word of mouth but our music teacher, Mr Lau, will send an email out to everyone about the tickets.

Is there anything specific you need to consider for this audience?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

As there will be adults, we will need to keep them focus and interested in our showcase at all times so we will need a hood and interesting speaker to do our commentary for the showcase, we will need popular songs that both adults and kids know to keep them interested and we will need refreshments like drinks and snacks.

How will you recruit participants?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

We will select our participants by auditions if they have written their name on the sign up sheet. The auditions will most likely take place in the drama or music room.

How will you promote the project?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

This project will be promoted through the school assembly, posters, notices and emails to parents.

How will you deliver the project?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

The project will be promoted by posters on the notice board, emails by our teacher, notices in assemblies and word of mouth to our friends and people we know

What practical things will you need to organise and how will you do this? (e.g. materials, resources, equipment, space)

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

We will need to talk to the care taker about reservations for the hall. We will also need to talk to Miss Spencley (the drama teacher) if we can use the drama room for regular meetings and practice sessions. We will also need to ask the restaurant to help with all the beverages and snacks and to ask wether we can use it for the interval. We will need a speaker for the music that the dancers will dance on.

What support are you going to need from other people?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

We will need all the performers to come at the rehearsal timings and days so we can get all the management and timings right in the showcase. We will also need help from sound and lighting so we can get the sound and lighting for the dances as we need to edit the music according to the dance.

Who is going to help you and how?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

For rehearsal timings, Mr Lau, Delina and Kiyan have been helping us to confirm a date and time for the hall and drama room for rehearsals as they also need to use the hall at some point. For sound and lighting, the sound and lighting team (Gayatri and Ishant) as well as Oliver (backstage manager) will be helping us doing the music and the lighting.

How are you going to assess how your leadership skills are developing and collect feedback as you go along?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

My leadership skills are going to be assessed by my peers, Delina and my teacher Mr Lau. I will ask them for feedback from time to time.

What qualities do you think a good leader must have?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I believe that a leader should consist of the qualities LORIC. Leadership for a leader is a necessary quality so they can guide the rest of the team through the challenge or job. Leaders must be there for their team mates if the challenge is tough so they can get moral support and motivation and continue as a team. Organisation is helpful for a leader as it gives them the ability to keep things clean and sorted. Having everything sorted and organised makes projects and challenges easier; it also leads to less mistakes and misunderstandings. Resilience is important not only for the leader but through out the team. Things could go wrong during the job or challenge so it is important to stay resilient and have the ability to carry on. Initiative in a leader can benefit the whole team. Productiveness from the whole team allows more ideas which could lead to a better understanding and job. Lastly, communication in the team is important so they can share ideas and proposals. Everybody in the team should be heard and not feel like they are being left out to promote positivity and equality.

What leadership skills would you like to develop in your arts leadership project

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I would like to develop my resilience and communication during this project. I would like to learn to be resilient because there are challenges in life, whether they personal or school/work related and I believe the skill resilience will help you now and in the future to stay strong and carry on with whatever you're doing. I would like to improve in communicating with precision and respect with people I don't know or senior years. I believe this will help me during the showcase as I will have to talk to people I might not know and might have to work with people I don't know. It will help me in the future in my work.

Describe your arts leadership project. What are you going to do? Why did you choose this project? What will the creative aims and outcome be?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

For my arts leadership project, I am running the showcase as Artistic Liaison. My job is to run the dance and art part of the showcase. Me and my partner will audition dancers for the showcase and collaborate with the art department.

What resources will you need? Are there any health & safety considerations?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

We will need a space to practice the choreography and timings of the dance. For that, we will also need a speaker and maybe someone in the building to supervise in case of any event if we need help. For the space to practice (either the Hall or Drama room), we will have to confirm with our music teacher, Mr Lau and ask the caretaker for the permission to use the hall.

What will your leadership role be? What will you be responsible for doing?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I will be managing the dance troop and Sophie (someone in my team). For the dance troop I will not be choreographing their dance as they are using the dance they auditioned with. Instead, I will be helping to merge the dances in time so they enter and exit smoothly. Some other people from different dance groups will have to come up on stage to make the ending really nice, so I will have to help them learn it. We have seen their dances and they are confident in it. With Sophie, I was planning to talk to the art department about letting us use some diverse artwork but they couldn’t meet the time that we suggested due to different projects. Sophie and Onali will talk to food tech closer to the date to discuss beverages and snacks.

How will this help you develop leadership skills

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

This will help me to keep organised with other tasks other than the showcase and will help me manage and communicate with people I’m not familiar with.

Will you be working with other people? What will they be doing? How does your role relate to the role of others?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

I will be working with Delina (the director), Onali (my partner in artistic liaison, the Co directors and Sophie (someone in my team). I will have to work with them to discuss how long the dances have to be so they can fit into the 80 min time slot with all other events, what day and where rehearsals are going to be, we will have to discuss the progress of each of our departments and give daily updates. We will also have to talk to the caretaker to decide which dates we can use the hall for rehearsals and until what time they will take place until.

hazard: music too loud

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

Risk: risks of having the music to loud could be harmful to the audience and the people performing in it or helping out. Sounds over 90 decibels could result in temporary hearing loss.

Solution: We will do a run through before the show and a tech rehearsal to check the sound levels of the speaker. We will keep the sound relatively low

Risk: trips and falls due to wires back stage and on stage could result in injury. The performers could be at risk of getting hurt.

Solution: our backstage team will tape down all wires on stage and behind it to prevent any risk of falling.

hazard: trips and falls

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

Risk: Trips and falls can occur due to wires on the floor on stage and backstage. This could also escalate to an electrical problem if the wire is broken.

Control Measure: All materials must be taped down to stop hazards and accidents for the performers, backstage and the attendees.

hazard: emergency exits

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

Risk: If the emergency exits are blocked in the event of a fire, it will restrict the evacuation process which is a huge risk for everyone, especially audience not familiar with the school.

Control measure: No material will be in front of any exits; we will notify everyone of the emergency exits and in the event of a fire we will evacuate properly with the adults confirming everyone is out with the sign in/sign out sheet

hazard: refreshments (allergies)

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

Risk: If a member of the audience consumes one of our refreshments but then suffers an allergic reaction, they will suffer serious issues. If they suffer a severe reaction and don't have an epipen, then it will be a serious problem.

Control measure: We will make sure that all ingredients are written by the refreshments so they don't suffer an allergic reaction and are aware of what they are eating

Give an example of how you’ve worked with other people during the project?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

During my project, I had to constantly work with my team, my partner Onali, my Director Delina, the dance troop and my team. An example of my working with other people could be when we had to call in the dance troop for a meeting. I had to collaborate effectively with the dance troop to make sure they arrive for the meeting; I had to make this meeting decision with Delina as she wanted to supervise with me and Onali as she is my partner in artistic liaison. I also had to talk to the other people in my music to ask wether there is any other meeting going in the music room so we can use it. The outcome was what we expected except the dance troop came separately at different times so it was a bit hard to properly convey the information about rehearsals we wanted to say in the meeting.

Give an example of how you’ve worked with other people during the project?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-02-08 11:27:54 UTC

on the day of the showcase we were all set. We just needed to work on the formation for the performers on stage. On Monday and Wednesday we had a run through of the showcase. The Monday run through wasn’t done as easily as we expected. Despite communicating to the dance troop, only a few dancers were there which was quite disappointing as we only had 2 days left to rehearse everything with timing. Our team was leading with purpose by organising another lunch rehearsal on Wednesday and after school separate rehearsal with the dance troop as we needed to get the timings done promptly. Sophie (a member in the team we lead) had to get all the dancers in place on the rehearsal day while we were getting the video, music and helping the others in our team. The rehearsal went well as we got everything rehearsed to time and me and Delina decided to join in at the end in a pose as we got everything done!

Reflection 1: 07/02/2024

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-14 12:15:36 UTC

We have been assigned all our roles based on what we are good at and how effectively we can manage the job. I have chosen the role Artistic Liaison in which I have to manage and direct the dances. I have to collaborate with my peer, Onali, who is also doing Artistic Liaison. We have set up the auditions on the dates of 31th January, 2nd February and 5th of February according to dates that our music teacher, Mr Lau, is free and the majority of people auditioning. On one of the days of the auditions, we had DofE training so one of the Year 9s in our music team not doing DofE handled the auditions with the older years

Reflection 2: 22/02/2024

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-18 10:37:07 UTC

We have gotten the results for the auditions and so have the performers. There was a significant delay of the audition results due to miscommunication in our team which hindered our ongoing progress. It took us some time to find out who our dancers were as the final decision was Delina’s and Kiyan’s. We now know the dancers and are planning and trying to set up our first meeting. Delina is overseeing me and Onali and is occasionally helping. We have also told our extended team member (Sophie) working with us to try and get in touch with them and get their details (number, email, form, year).

Reflection 3: 01/03/2024

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-18 10:53:09 UTC

We have met up with the dancers for a meeting at lunch to discuss how far and how confident they are with their individual dances as a group or solo. We also used the meeting to confirm the afterschool rehearsal attendance and timings. Some of them couldn't attend which was fine as it's one of the first rehearsals. Afterschool we went through the dances in rehearsal. they are confident and seemed like they practiced their dances well. A few of the dances needed to be completed according to the dancers and they needed to get specific music for their choreography. Delina, me, Gabriel and Kiyan are making a reheasal schedule alongside Mr Lau's advice and Mr Francis to confirm hall availability. Everything is going smoothly, we just need to quicken the pace we are working at to smoothly meet deadlines and so we don't have to rush.

Reflection 1: 07/02/2024

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-20 17:48:35 UTC

What did you want to achieve? Were you successful?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-20 18:17:43 UTC

Me, Delina and Onali wanted to have a meeting with the dance troop so we can discuss rehearsal timings and when they’ll be able to attend as some people have public transport to get home. Eventually we got the dance troop in and we had the meeting but they all came at different times which made it harder to convey the message in one go. Not all people were able to come to the after school rehearsal but most were. The rehearsal overall was good as we saw the choreographies. They were confident in the dances and they were memorised. Some needed to be finished as that was only the first rehearsal.

Reflection 2: 14/02/2024

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-20 18:17:57 UTC

Why were you working or communicating with them?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-20 18:57:46 UTC

It was imperative to work and communicate with our dance troop to understand how confident they are with their dances and for them to understand how and when they enter stage for the performance. It is also important to talk to the Co directors and director to know what other rehearsals are going on at the same time in case the artistic liaison team needs to be there. As a team, we have to share our progress so the whole team knows what’s done and what needs to be done; the communication lessens the chances of accidents or misunderstandings.

Reflect on how you’re working and communicating with other people:

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-20 20:09:06 UTC

It was a bit hard to communicate at first as we could only email the dance troop which would have to go through our music teacher first, so it would at least take a day. Later on though we held meetings and told everyone exactly what they needed to know in person but the only problem was that some people weren’t present. Finally we got everybody’s number and made a group chat on WhatsApp which made communication a lot more easier as the dance troop can ask any doubts which we can clarify and we can give regular updates and advice. Overall, our communication was halted by emails but we eventually found an easier and better way to communicate effectively with precision and respect.

Did you have to resolve any issues you didn’t previously think about?

sarasrivastava1 — 2024-03-20 20:12:17 UTC

We didn’t have many issues that we didn’t think about since we thought through all the problems. One problem would be for most of the dancers not coming for our first run through on Monday even though we sent an email and we gave a verbal reminder. We were quite taken back as we assumed that everybody would be her which distrusted our plans for the day. In the end, we made it up for that rehearsal on Wednesday and managed the performance.

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