Thirty daring students from Camborne Science and International Academy’s partner primary schools braved the unknown, opening Pandora’s Box at a Super Saturday Creative Workshop held at the school.

The children initially discussed the dangers of curiosity and secrets. They learnt about historical stories of people being told not to open doors, caskets, cupboards, gates and, in so many cases, the people just did not listen and faced the consequences. One person who did not listen was Pandora; her story comes from Ancient Greece and her curiosity resulted in a release of evil.

In the safety of the drama studio, the pupils were intro-duced to the Greek Myth and were invited to open the box and explore what it could contain. With the use of costumes, props, their body language, facial expressions and their voices, the pupils transformed into Greek Gods and Goddesses, into ancient Greek mortals, into fire and into the wrath of the Gods with the buzzing moths of the terrible evils that lay within.

In small groups, they devised a piece to show the class as a final performance. They learnt Greek theatrical traditions, such as ‘chorus work’ and drama techniques like ‘canon’ in order to enhance their re-telling of this mythical tale.

Caroline Sousek, who led the workshop with Rebecca Jarvis, said: “They were a fabulously creative group who worked very well as a whole-class and independently. We were blown away by the quality of their work and how well they integrated everything that they had learnt.”

CSIA run a variety of Super Saturday workshops to challenge and inspire primary school students. They continue to prove successful.

“Super Saturdays allow students to experience subjects in a unique and exciting way as well as develop their personal and team skills, and all while having fun,” said Ian Kenworthy, principal at CSIA. “It turns out that, on this occasion at least, opening Pandora’s Box was very worthwhile.”