Rommi Smith – Educational Work
Rommi Smith is a qualified secondary school teacher (PGCE) and works extensively in every kind of setting from nursery schools and playgroups to universities and community groups, pubs and women's refuges, to after school clubs and parent and toddler groups. She holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Leeds University.
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Examples of educational work
In her workshops Rommi utlises innovative and imaginative ideas to inspire participants of all educational abilities and backgrounds. Fusing drama, poetry and performance, Rommi works solo and in collaboration with other artists (singers, musicians, dancers, visual artists and sculptors) to lead one off workshops and more sustained writing and longer term projects.
Rommi teaches creative writing and performance at Leeds and Huddersfield Universities; as part of her British Council Residency at California State University in Los Angeles she taught students, in the process producing a multimedia performance inspired by the events of Hurricane Katrina.
This year, Rommi is Parliamentary Writer in Residence, employed by the House of Commons. This is the first time in history there has ever been such a role. Her work centres on the exhibition at Westminster Hall to mark the bicentenary of the passing of the abolition of the slave trade act. Rommi’s task is to engage audiences, (specifically young people), with the themes of the exhibition. In partnership with the Parliamentary Educational Unit, Rommi is producing educational resources tailored to inspire the emotional, creative and political engagement of young people with both the horrors of transatlantic slavery (Ma’afa) and its impact. These resources will be available for download via the Parliamentary website for the exhibition:
http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/explore/authoredpages/writerschoice1.html
Rommi teaches for the Arvon Foundation, running courses for adults, as well as schools, at all three of their centres in England. www.arvonfoundation.org
Rommi is a member of the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE). She holds an up to date CRB certificate and has Public Liability Insurance.
For images of Rommi’s work in educational contexts, please visit the archive section of this website. For comments about her workshops and the impact of her educational work, please see below:
To discuss specific projects and workshop ideas please contact Rommi via the contact section of the website or email: rommi@rommi-smith.co.uk
"On all occasions, we have impressed by Rommi’s skill to deal with students; she has the tact, guile and politeness to get the best out of those she works with. Furthermore, as a qualified secondary school teacher, Rommi is a more than capable leader of a creative writing workshop. She is positive and encouraging, while also being exacting when the occasion requires it".
Mr. Stuart Pickford, St Aidan's School, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
www.staidans.co.uk/archives/archiveenglish/englisharchive.asp
Was a Switched On Project based at Pavillion Centre, Leeds. Creatively developed and facilitated by Rommi Smith in collaboration with Andy Bell, Abby Dix and involving creative partners such as Kudu Design, the project provided a creative space for young people from Gipton in Leeds to express their opinions about life and love. A CD of poems, set to original music resulted from the project, as did a website of poetry animations by Kudu Design. You can view a selection of that work here.
Animations:
Education Workshop Comments
Teacher Feedback: St Aidan’s School, Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Rommi Smith has worked with St. Aidan’s, Harrogate , on three occasions, with Year 12, 9 and 8. On each occasion, students have been impressed by Rommi’s great ability to read and perform her work.
Rommi is an ideal creative writing tutor to work with as she is happy to listen, modify and negotiate the approach and content of the day. When Rommi was working with Year 9, she carefully prepared a day related to the Shakespeare text the students were studying. The crime scene that she created in the classroom encouraged students to focus on small detail and hypothesize as to what a character’s motivations might be. Additionally, Rommi skilfully wove extracts from the text into the investigation that students had to solve: Macbeth had committed another murder!
More recently, Rommi prepared and delivered an inspirational day on jazz that involved both the English and Music Departments. Rommi informed the students about the origins of Blues and Jazz and illustrated it with poems and music, some of which included Rommi’s own work. Students then worked individually and in groups producing their own Jazz and Blues lyrics. These were then read and sung across blues tracks composed by the students. By the end of the day, the students had travelled a long way and were improvising as they read, responding to the nature of Blues and Jazz as the musicians responded to their readings. It was an impressive fusion of lyrics and music.
On all occasions, we have impressed by Rommi’s skill to deal with students; she has the tact, guile and politeness to get the best out of those she works with. Furthermore, as a qualified secondary school teacher, Rommi is a more than capable leader of a creative writing workshop. She is positive and encouraging, while also being exacting when the occasion requires it.
Stuart Pickford, English Department, St Aidan’s School
Hi Rommi,
This is the saxophonist from the B.B. and hurricanes production. Just wanted to say that it was a great honor to work with you and the rest of the artists. The production was an amazing experience for me and I hope that one day we can work together again. This is just my second year of college so I have a long way to go.
Thanks a bunch!
Cheers!
Daniel, California State University in Los Angeles
Hi Rommi,
I had a great time on Saturday. You really helped all of the
performers pull together and transform the performance into a real
work of art. Thanks for the opportunity to work with you and
good luck!
Take Care,
David, California State University in Los Angeles
“Very inspirational. Thank you”
Student, Presentation College, Cork, Ireland
“Twas a great experience and a great laugh. Thanks for the brilliant time I had in your workshop.”
Jo, Presentation College, Cork, Ireland
“Thank you very much, before your workshop, I never had much of an interest in writing poetry and I gave up easily at writing lyrics. But this workshop has inspired me to keep writing and not to give up”
Shane, Presentation College, Cork, Ireland
“Inspiring. Brilliant. Fun. Interactive.”
Children from St Albans’ School, Birmingham
“Great communication between Rommi and our students; she uses inspirational and unusual learning methods to engage young people with creative writing and reading. The scene of crime game worked a treat and our children loved playing at being detectives, hunting for word clues, in order to build poems”.
Staff member from Grange Park Primary School, London
“A fabulous workshop led by Rommi Smith and Ken Higgins. Kenny, you rock on the bass!!!!”
Tim, 14, Leeds Schools’ Workshop
“Never a dull moment!! Your theory of getting the point of writing and performing was incredibly helpful and taught me a lot.”
Shazia, Leeds’ University Workshop
“Brilliant and fun. You changed my perspective on poetry and music. It was a great day”
Lee
“I learnt a lot about myself during the workshop with you. I feel that my imagination grew.”
Peter, Schools Workshop
“Lots of great ideas. The interactivity was superb.”
Tania Gilbert, Trainee Teacher, Liverpool
“Fun, exciting, inventive and ….fast!”
Jane
“Rommi’s style of leading workshops is down to earth, yet knowledgeable. She gave me confidence in writing”
Bea, Women’s Refuge, Leeds
“Well organised and inspirational. I learnt so much that I didn’t know”
Natalie
Hi Rommi!
Well, it was a great success....Congrats!!! One of my friends who came
from the drama dept. said it was the best show she's seen on campus--getting
everyone up and out into the lobby was so powerful. I think it's so
important to remind people of this basic sharing of song and
celebration that is such a part of our human experience....thank you so much for
your bold inspiration.
Bye Rommi!
Kimberley
Hello Rommi!
I want to say it was amazing working with you and the show on Saturday was a complete success. Thanks for you patience and vision. Perhaps we can work together in the near future.
Take Care &
Best of wishes to you!
Alex
Hi Rommi,
I certainly enjoyed participating in the Hurricanes
production. It is certainly apparent that you know exactly what you
are doing. Thank you for all of the hard work. My friends enjoyed it almost
as much as I did.
Don Durkee, Cal State University, Los Angeles
Rommi,
Thanks for your creativity! I was so pleased with what you did with the poem! I just wanted to thank you again. It has been wonderful having you on campus. I hope it has been a pleasure to you as well. Keep on with your great work!
Ramon
Kirklees One Book Project