Lakes International Comic Art Festival Announces “Comic Potential”, A New Comics Literacy Project

The Next Generation

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) is delighted to announce Comic Potential, a new programme to further progress an existing body of work which assesses comics potential in the classroom, and support learning outcomes, working with four schools in the North West of England, supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Arts-based Learning Fund…

Paul Hamlyn Foundation is providing £102,000 in funding for the 27-month long project, titled “Comic Potential”, which aims to improve reading enjoyment for pupils in the classroom and as a result impact positively on a range of other educational outcomes and personal skills.

The project, which will include work with staff and pupils at Cambridge Primary School, and Vickerstown Primary School in Barrow, the George Hastwell School, Walney and Sandgate Special School, Kendal, will begin in September 2022, and culminate in an exhibition of work at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October 2024.

The project will include in-school workshops, working with teachers and with local libraries across Westmorland and Furness and will create further resources for teachers and pupils, both physical and digital. These resources will be curated by the team at “Little LICAF”, the festival’s programme for schools and young people, who have co-ordinated much of the organisation’s comics work aimed at younger readers.

“Comic Potential” will build on the two-year comics literacy work at Abraham Moss Community School (AMCS ) already carried out by LICAF. This was a project developed with teachers and school librarians and with researchers at Manchester University’s School of Sociology in partnership with three other comic festivals and organisations through the Comic Art Europe partnership. The project was supported by David Fickling Comics, publishers of The Phoenix. Workshops, delivered by professional comic artists and members of the Little LICAF team included themes like self-reflection and self-expression, communication of ideas and sharing of stories and personal experiences with randomised fictional elements.

The Scheme of Learning for the project has been devised by Little LICAF co-producers Hester Harrington and Sim Leech. Both Hester and Sim come from teaching backgrounds across a mix of Secondary and Primary school phases and have a rich history of working with youngsters in creative and educational settings. The programme of work reflects their keen understanding of academic environment and diverse curriculum requirements alongside the drive for supporting learning with comics.

“This project allows us to continue our passion for getting comics into the classroom. We look forward to building on the success of our previous project and workshops, and honing and developing resources, comic content and experiences that can bolster youngsters’ learning in school” says Hester and Sim.

“Thanks to the support of Paul Hamlyn Foundation, we can continue to explore the comics literacy work we have already begun, through workshops, professional development sessions with teachers and much more,” says LICAF Director, Julie Tait. “We are building a new understanding of how to utilise comics as an incredibly effective learning tool in the classroom.”

“This is the perfect time to be working with local partners across Westmorland and Furness,” she adds, “both those we have already engaged with over the ten years of the Festival, and new partners, too.”

“Paul Hamlyn Foundation is delighted to support the Lakes International Comics Festival to reach more schools in the north west,” commented Catherine Sutton, Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Head of Programme – Education. “We’re excited by the potential for comics to support young learners’ engagement and progress in their literacy learning, and look forward to seeing how the programme develops.”

“We’re really excited about this new project,” enthuses KS3 Class Teacher Kerrie Bumby of Sandgate Special School. “This is a great opportunity to be engaged in community events and for the students to have their work showcased in the wider community.

“The themes are engaging and have supported the students to widen their reading experience in a purposeful way… thus enhancing their self-confidence, self-expression, and wellbeing.”

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival will run from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th October 2022 – and is online at: www.comicartfestival.com | Lakes International Comic Art Festival Podcast: www.comicartpodcast.uk | Twitter: @comicartfestpod | Facebook: @ComicArtPodcast | Instagram: @ComicArtPodcast