The old American school bus, the Kunstbuzz, is an extra classroom because primary schools in the Beemster and Purmerend lack extra space for creative subjects. Under the guidance of the art teacher, students take by De Blauwe De Morgenster a feature film on it. They invent and do everything themselves: coming up with the story, acting and filming. They really like it and are doing it for the first time. “Make and read something different for once.”
According to Anouk Diepenbrock, head of education at Cultuurhuis Wherelant, it is important that schools are given more space for teaching creative subjects. “With full classes of more than 30 children, that is not possible in a normal classroom. By using the bus as a mobile classroom, you can divide the class. Half are now at school here and the others are on the bus with the art teacher. ”
Too full
It is a six week trial. Every week the bus stops at a different school. Anouk sees it as a first step and hopes that creative education will receive more attention and literally more space.
Culture alderman Eveline Tijmstra is enthusiastic about the trial. “As a municipality, we think cultural education is very important and what we saw is what Wherelant offers here – clay, crafts, making a film – is not possible in most schools because the classes are too full.” The alderman will not make any statements about what art education will look like after the trial. “That’s up to the schools, we offer this once.”
Mystery
Meanwhile, the students are busy with all kinds of recordings, both indoors and outdoors. Phones, selfie sticks and iPads are used to film and the art teacher is constantly giving directions. The bus serves as a torture chamber and an argument takes place in the sandbank in the playground. It remains a mystery to the reporter what exactly the story is about. But that will be all right, Nenna and Amene swear, who play the role of a doctor. “It is edited by two guys and they select the good things. They take the bad ones out of the film.”