Paradise is Premiered in Cottingley » Housing » 24dash.com

An Innovative DVD teaching aid, aimed at reducing vandalism and anti-social behaviour among teenagers, has received its premier at a Leeds school with an audience of teachers, children and parents.

Aire Valley Homes, the organisation which independently manages over 15,000 homes on behalf of Leeds City Council, and Cottingley Primary School have created the DVD for schools across the region.

A local theatre group Alive and Kicking were drafted into the school to conduct a series of workshops with year five students. Through drama, poetry, song, art and dance the project hopes to raise the awareness of anti-social behaviour and ultimately reduce the number of incidences which occur.

The children became advocates for their local area by going into the community and asking the residents, police, shop owners and members of Aire Valley Homes what their issues are with the estate, what they would like to see improved and how they think this can be achieved. The children then fed this information back to a forum made up of residents, police and councillors to see what can be done.

A number of workshops then followed to discuss all the issues raised and learn how these can affect other people of all ages living and working in and around the estate. Finally a Paradise Island was created which is a utopia of how the children would like to see Cottingley. Since the workshops a number of the requests and suggestions for improvement have been implemented including £5,000 being spent adding more community support officers to the area.

Aire Valley Homes Chief Executive, Merran McRae, said: We are delighted at the positive impact this project has had so far in Cottingley Primary School and the estate. Both teachers and pupils have been very enthusiastic about the quality of the content. We at Aire Valley Homes are committed to combating all types of anti social behaviour and we believe the key to this is targeting Year 5 children with these practical lessons. We hope the DVD will be used by other schools to spread the message further.

Martin Riley of Alive & Kicking Theatre Company said: We were overwhelmed by the creative talent, insight and enthusiasm of the South Leeds children we visited. We hope that the project can help them acquire a confident and positive attitude towards themselves, their community and their environment.

The DVD is accompanied by a CD ROM resource pack to help teachers implement the workshops in their classes. If you are a teacher at a school in the area and want more information on the DVD or to obtain a copy please contact Judy Hyde at Aire Valley Homes on 0113 2477055.

Aire Valley Homes is an ALMO (Arms Length Management), an independent organisation charged with the management of over 15,000 homes on behalf of Leeds City Council. Its responsibilities include repairs and maintenance, rent collection, letting and tenancy administration. It is one of 70 such organisations across the country.