Holmer's Lane High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP 12 4QA Telephone 01494 437729 Facsimile 01494 461502 Email: office.cressexxeasymail.rmplc.co.uk Head Teacher Mrs L Caldicott MSc 7 March 2002 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN RE: MIRROR CIRCUS The Mirror Circus team is presently working on its fourth project with pupils and staff from Cressex School. Each project has been quite different, not only because the approach has been modified over the months but also because of the personalities, strengths and weaknesses, needs and goals of the participating children. At Cressex our main aims for the children chosen to participate in the projects have been to inspire in them a sense of self-worth and self-confidence. We have recognised, however, that in order to achieve this through a course of the type offered by Mirror Circus, it has been necessary throughout to work towards a major increase in the children's concentration spans. In addition to exercises in concentration, the aims are being reached through practice in the necessary skills of teamwork: cooperation, motivation, patience, inspiration, imagination, responsibility, mutual support and respect and dealing with disappointment positively. Most of the children from previous projects have made sustained gains. The Mirror Circus team have a light but firm touch with clear boundaries and have the ability to quickly build a rapport with the children. We can recommend the team to you. Mrs L Caldicott MSc Headteacher Working Together

Chesham Park Community College To Whom it May Concern: Re: Mirror Circus In May 2002, Chesham Park Community College’s LSU successfully bid for a grant from the Arts Council/ Gulbenkian Foundation “First Time Arts Project”. The aim of the project was to work with The Mirror Circus to help six Year 9 students at risk of permanent exclusion produce a short film. It was hoped that this would help the students envisage positive outcomes from difficult situations, as well as improve their skills in a number of areas, including teamwork, concentration and decision making. We have had ten filming sessions, where the skill, patience, dedication and energy of The Mirror Circus team has helped the students move from boys who would not even be in the same room as a camera, to a team able to tackle quite complicated, emotionally challenging scenes which needed endless re-takes. It has not always been easy: the sessions have, at times, been tough, exhausting and frustrating for all concerned. But the students seemed to understand that The Mirror Circus were not giving to give up on them, even if the students felt, at times, like giving up on the film. This respect for the film team has been crucial in the success of the film, but also crucial for the students, many of whom have very little experience of a positive working relationship with any adult. Faced with difficult scenes involving alcohol, drugs, violence – the company understood the need to reconcile the students’ need for self-expression and the school’s need to work within a clear legal and moral framework. The final film is fantastic. We (staff and students) are all really proud of it. It has been highly acclaimed by representatives from other agencies, schools and the media who have seen it. The Mirror Circus have managed to work with all the material creatively and sensitively: the way in which they have taken some of the early, awkward and self-conscious acting and translated it into a highly professional video deserves an Oscar! As school staff we have nothing but the highest respect for the skills of The Mirror Circus. They have a rare combination of artistic excellence, great technical skills and an ability to bring out the best from very challenging students. The students themselves consider Des and his team “safe”. What higher praise could you need? Catherine Lloyd Manager, Inclusion CPCC 17 January, 2003