Nov 18, 2025
2025-26 is the third year of our Welcoming the Stranger project and we're continuing to deliver in schools in the west of Cumbria with The La'al Collective and with funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Over its first two years, Welcoming the Stranger has demonstrated significant progress in fostering creativity, empathy, and resilience among participating primary school pupils in the west of Cumbria.
The project's collaborative arts-based approach has proven particularly effective in developing crucial social, emotional, and communication skills, especially among young children in Cumbria.
Welcoming The Stranger is a creative, arts based project working with pupils across 9 schools in West Cumbria. The project introduces a puppet, a life size bear, who is lost, frightened, and needs help. The children work with Bear to create his story and by doing so, they empathise with Bear's situation, his sense of loss and need to belong and to be made welcome.
Project Scope and Core Activities Deepen
Last year The La'al Collective engaged with eight schools, including three that joined in September 2024. The project successfully transitioned schools from initial book creations where each school created bear's story into a wide array of creative pursuits. In year 3 the project will continue working with these schools as well as enrolling a new school. Key activities to date have included:
- Creative Productions: Schools have worked with artists on creative projects such as quilting, shadow puppetry, building environments with fabric and found objects, collage, drama, and music, bringing their original 'Bear stories' to life
- Puppetry and Collaboration: Students from Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University’s Costume Design and Making degree course continued their partnership, working with artist Ali to create new puppets based on each new school’s story, which now reside within the schools
- Professional Development (CPD): A two-day Level One Course in Philosophy for Children (P4C) was offered, with six teachers and three artists attending Day One to develop skills in encouraging curiosity, creativity, empathy, and oracy. Artists also offered training in creative techniques like drama, pastels, and puppetry to whole school staff
Significant Impact on Pupil Outcomes
The project has yielded powerful evidence of progress against its agreed outcomes, with a notable focus added this year on developing oracy.
Resilience and Self-Belief:
- Pupils demonstrated greater resilience and self-belief in their ability to be creative
- Teachers reported much improved listening, helping each other, and the start of building up resilience
- The project fostered an environment where children feel safe to explore, express, and "not get things wrong"
- There were "particular successes with special needs children" and observed increases in children's self-confidence
Empathy and Global Connections:
- Empathy remains a core focus, with observed growth in empathy for peers, sometimes starting from a very low level
- Children showed empathy with the main character, Bear, understanding and communicating his feelings in different situations
- In one powerful example from the previous year, children welcomed two new Ukrainian pupils by stating: "Well, we welcomed Bear, so we welcome you!"
Oracy Development:
- Project partners agreed that engagement encourages development across a wide range of oracy areas, particularly social and emotional skills
- Teachers noted the sophisticated level of language used and vocabulary
- The creative work provides inspiration and confidence for young children, helping them engage more and express their feelings and ideas
Strategic Adjustments for Future Sustainability
Reflecting on lessons learned from the first two years, the project is refining its delivery model to ensure long-term impact and sustainability.
- Focus on Early Years (EYFS): For Year 3, the project will focus primarily on Early Years classes (or Year 3 in Junior Schools). This decision is driven by the curriculum's flexibility, continued success in the pilot school, and the early recognition of widespread communication/oracy difficulties in young children
- Increased Artist Support: The number of new schools recruited for Year 3 has been reduced, allowing the project to provide two artists to work in existing schools (Years 2 and 3 of their involvement), enhancing delivery effectiveness
- Legacy Resources: To support sustainable creative approaches, the team is developing a handbook of creative techniques (including approaches to philosophy for children) and a resource box for each school. They will also publish an anthology of stories and poems created by the children over the project's lifespan
A teacher from St. Michael's Primary School in Bothel praised the project, noting how their Year 2 journey deepened through painting, sewing and stitching with artist Chloe, culminating in a beautiful blanket and pillows for a cozy reading nook inspired by Bear's world. Looking ahead, the school is excited to collaborate with a sound artist in Year 3 to bring the story into a new chapter - a puppet performance written and directed by the children themselves.
