Amber Online

Stepping Up tracked the lives of a group of young people in Weardale, County Durham, as they made the move, in summer 1997, from their small village primary schools to the large comprehensive (senior) school that serves the dale. This book tells that story in words and pictures, produced both by the young people and by Amber member Richard Grassick and writer Julie Ward

The philosophy behind the work was one of collaboration. All the participants were given a 35mm camera with which to document their lives during the transition from primary to secondary school, whilst Richard photographed some of the key events during that period. Workshop sessions involved training in both traditional chemical darkroom techniques, processing film and printing contact sheets, and digital methods for individual printing of images, scanning negatives, manipulating in Adobe Photoshop, and outputting on an ink jet printer.

In the process of assembling the material for a wider audience, it became apparent that the young people had a strong sense of image as metaphor. When they looked at a photograph of someone crossing a bridge, for example, they would imbue the picture with great significance describing, for example, their own passage from primary to secondary school – and now they were safely on the “other side” they could look back and see more clearly where they had come from and how difficult or easy the journey had been. This process of revelation and reflection gave the young people and the artists new insights. It became easier to agree common themes, to identify powerful symbols, to isolate significant moments and explore them further.

The stories in the book were compiled by writer Julie Ward towards the end of the project. They were based on her observations of and involvement in the transition process over the period of a year. Key scenes in the narratives were drawn directly from the children’s own writing or from classroom drama sessions led by Julie during the introductory period of the project. In writing the two stories Julie tried to retain the original feelings articulated to her by the young people whilst at the same time fleshing out the narratives to produce complete stories which could be understood and enjoyed by other young people approaching the end of primary school. Drafts of both stories were discussed and changed by the Editorial Group who spent long hours discussing the meaning and usage of particular words and phrases. The aim was always to represent the world of the young people concerned as they themselves experience it, rather than from an adult perspective.

The challenge of producing a book was always going to be a great one for the group. Together, the editorial group and Richard and Julie worked on the layout and design of the book, drawing on all of the work produced previously. It was the adults’ task to enable the young peoples’ voices to be heard as effectively and authentically as possible. This always meant striking a balance between letting the members of the group express themselves, and offering skills and support where these were needed. We hope that we have found the right balance in the book.

“If you hold a stone in your hand it feels really solid, like it will never break. There’s a place at the top of Cosy Hill where people have been piling up stones. There’s a big mound of them, like a tower. You’d think the wind would blow it over, but it’s really solid. Dad says it’s like a cairn, a sort of monument to something special. He says that when people get to the top of Cosy they’re so pleased with themselves, they put another stone on the cairn. I cycled to the top of Cosy on the last day of the summer holidays. I was dreading the next morning….”

The Stepping Up web site is at www.steppingup.org.uk

Paperback 96 pp (1999)
ISBN: 0-9538320-0-7