I am Living, I am Growing
I am Living, I am Growing is a 6 – 8-week modular resource for schools and community groups which takes Kae Tempest’s poetry, and themes of mental health and wellbeing, as a starting point to encourage students to use music and creative writing as a positive outlet for self-expression.
I am Living, I am Growing was first delivered to schools in Essex through our Widening Access programme. Working with a range of young people, from GCSE Composition students to Year 7 Nurture Groups, this project gave secondary school-age students the tools to explore the links between music and mental health.
Designed to meet schools’ PSHE needs, this project will support your students’ emotional wellbeing, as well as introducing them to the music and writings of Kae Tempest, whose raw and reflective storytelling examines identity, vulnerability, and strength.
Why Kae Tempest?
Using Kae Tempest’s work as a starting point, this project introduces young people to an artist whose personal mental health journey highlights the benefits of creative expression. Tempest has openly shared their experiences with mental health challenges including depression, panic disorder, and gender dysphoria, and has expressed a desire to help others learn how to communicate their emotions. Tempest’s varied forms of expression, both sonically and lyrically, serve as inspiring examples of creative freedom, encouraging young people to explore diverse ways of articulating their own emotions.
“Thanking the beautiful deep down current in the earth for all the pain in my soul and the freak in my body because it means I am living, I am growing.”
How Can I Deliver this Project in my own School?
At the link below, you can find our I am Living, I am Growing resource pack which contains session plans for 6 – 8 weeks of content that can be delivered to your students. Exercises are structured to inspire creative writing and music making in response to Kae’s poetry, exploring themes of identity.
You can see some of the lyrics written by students at Thames Park Secondary School, who worked through this Resource Pack together, celebrated in the artwork below created by our Programmes & Engagement Coordinator Kenyah Johnson:
Accompanying Video Content
The below videos accompany specific exercises in the modular Resource Pack and can be played to students to support their learning and engagement across the project:
How Can NYJO Support Delivery of this Project in my School?
We would love to see, celebrate, and showcase anything that your students create in response to the exercises contained within our I am Living, I am Growing resource pack. Please share photos/videos/writing with us at [email protected]!
This project is totally deliverable in your school using only the resource pack and accompanying CPD videos linked above but, when we first launched the project in Essex, each school taking part received two visits from a NYJO quintet. The first visit was an opening performance designed to inspire young people through the links between music and positive self-expression. The second visit allowed students at each of the schools to perform the writing that they had created with live musicians for the first time!
The videos below show how these accompanying visits brought the project to life for the students involved – if you would like to discuss NYJO visiting your school to support with delivery of this project, you can get in touch with us anytime at [email protected].
Support us
Support the future of jazz
Can you help us nurture a nation of young jazz musicians?
Join our passionate community of Friends, grant-making organisations or corporate sponsors at a level that suits you and share your love of jazz with the next generation.