THIS IS ME is a dance, performance poetry, music and Art project showcasing the work of the girls from Hillchrest Primary School.

This booklet has been designed to share thecreative writing produced by the girls. The project gave the girls a platform to celebrate being a girl in Leeds.

The project is a partnership between Getaway Girls, RJC Dance andHillchrest Primary School.

The final performance was part of theInternational Women’s Day celebrations 2019.

Massive thanks go to the following, for all their hard work of making the project a success:

The fantastic girls from Hillchrest, for their ideas, energy, wonderful writing, artwork, dance and performance

Getaway Girls… Paulette Morris, our truly inspirational tutorwho got us writing, and giving the girls such confidence plusSara, and Clarissa, our fantastic facilitators and also Flavia.

RJC Dance… Kathy the director and Jenny, tutor for the choreography and great dance performance.

Louise Cornwell, Hillchrest Academy for going the extra mileto continue the work outside of session time and enabling thegirls to participate

Nic Gun, our graphic designer for this fantastic booklet

Ms Hazard, for the amazing artwork on the front cover.

We are the next generation of Leeds,We unite to create eternal peace, We are the rainbow that creates magic,Girls Rule, Girls Rule, Girl Rule!I am the celebration, The shiny star in the sky, The snowflake in a snowfall, The warmth in the fire place, I am the joyful spirits of Christmas. I am the cross in the hills, The colours of Easter, That’s my real placeAll these things don’t make me different to the girl who lives in Leeds. We are the next generation of Leeds,We unit to create eternal peace, We are the rainbow that creates magic,Girls Rule, Girls Rule, Girl Rule!I am Eid, I am the spice of my curry, I am Bangladesh and Pakistan, I am unique, I am the sun of my Country, Naima, Ayesha, Samah & Hina I am the cold, My father is the warmth, The rain, the snow, The stars so beautiful, Together we mix, We mix to create a rainbow,A rainbow so bright, My mother from Leeds, My father from Bangladesh, The counties unite,Leeds, English my mother tongue We are the next generation of Leeds,We unit to create eternal peace, We are the rainbow that creates magic,Girls Rule, Girls Rule, Girl Rule!

We are

I am the sun of Somalia, I am the snow of England, But I am still the warmth, The splashes of laughter, Everybody dressed in red, green, blue and orange, I am the gamer of winter but the enjoyments of summer, The sparkles of Leeds, the sleeper of dawn, I live in LeedsWe are the next generation of Leeds,We unit to create eternal peace, We are the rainbow that creates magic,Girls Rule, Girls Rule, Girl Rule!I am the heart of Afghanistan, We are the sun of Leeds and together we are one, I am a girl, I am not tall, skinny nor small, I am pure as light, I am easy to see and hard to catch, I will always be brightWe are the next generation of Leeds,We unit to create eternal peace, We are the rainbow that creates magic,Girls Rule, Girls Rule, Girl Rule!I am the Asian sun that came to Leeds,To help those in desperate need, I am a snowflake unique and bright I am the spice of my chilli, I am the sun and the mom of my culture, I am the spark of my city, England is my home,Bangladesh is my life, My life is all about England and Bangladesh, This is my life and nobody is going to stop me!We are the next generation of Leeds,We unit to create eternal peace, We are the rainbow that creates magic,Girls Rule, Girls Rule, Girl Rule!

Girls have rights, yes they doThey can do what boys can do.Girls are strong, if there short, or long.What happened in the past should not last.Stereotypes, just ruling the world.Cooking and cleaning not the life for a girl. History says only men can rule,We all know that ain't true.Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years She became the longest reigning Queen. Emily and the suffragettes Fought until there death For the rights of women to be equally met In 1908 women got the vote Yeh let's celebrateUse your vote,The four hidden figures, they were so cool If it wasn't for them there would be no one on the moon Katherine Mary Dorothy KristineThey shouldn't be hidden they should be seen They changed the world they were all girls Yes we finally got our way Still inspiring us today IF I COULD TAKE YOU BACK TO THE PAST You know your mistakes were vast Every night and every dayDay after day you would say GIRLS CAN’T RULEGIRLS ARN’T COOL THAT’S NOT RIGHT GIRLS CAN FIGHT IF I COULD TAKE YOU BACK TO THE PAST My first stop. Is the dawn of time,Before stereotypes existed,Mother Nature gave us her riches.I would change the way we treat each other,Make us equal and love each other, All races, all faces, everyone unite.Everyone respecting everyone's rights.My Final stop, is the future I hope One day I will meet you. Doctors Lawyers footballers toAll the girls I met here in school.We are the future we can decide,We will always stand up and fight for our rights

Girls rule

If I could, I would make the women feel strong, Allowing the women to feel free to do what they want, I would make this world equal for everyone

I am Crystal, I was born in Nottingham, But I live in Leeds. I go to Hillcrest Academy,Wow, I am a GIRL!Leeds is such a WONDERFULL place, Such tall building around me, What a busy city, Wow, I am girl! Me, I like to sing, dance and draw, All my family are born in Nottingham, Kayleigh, Ryan and Me, Wow, that’s my family,THAT IS ME!

I am Tummi,Look out because here I am, Living in Leeds with my family. We are girls like no other, We are best friends forever, We are all from different countries, Tall building all around us, We are girls! We are girls like no other, I am a girl, With a dream of becoming a doctor

This is me, I am a girl who is ready to take on the world, I Love, Education and Eid I will never forget about home It is a Special place I will hold in my heartI am a girl from Leeds you will not stop me.

If I could

I am the spice of my chilli, I am the sun and the moon of my culture, I am the spark of my city, England is my home,Bangladesh is my life, My life is all about England and Bangladesh, This is my life and nobody is going to stop me!

If I could I would stop racism, I would make women have the rights to be strong, Stereo types are not the way, STOP this and relax every day.If I could I would make GIRLS rule, Stop all the stereo types and free the RULES.

I am the celebration, The shiny star in the sky, The snowflake in a snowfall, The warmth in the fire place, I am the joyful spirits of Christmas. I am the cross in the hills, The colours of Easter, That’s my real placeAll these things don’t make me different to the girl who lives in Leeds.

If I could control the weather, I would make it sunny every day, To see my people smiling with laughter,We have the POWER!

“Getaway girls was great!!! Experiences like this I’ll never forget” – Tolisha “Teamwork makes dream work.” – Hibaq“I liked the poems and dancing it is nice and miss Paulette is the queen, just be you ghirl!” - Damarisa and Balica“I really enjoyed dancing because the dance was cool! I also enjoyed doing writing with my group.” – Isma “I liked it when we were working in the groups.” – Ayesha “Not all those who wonder are lost after this wonderful experience!” – Hafiza “An experience can tell the story of a lifetime. Differences don’t separate you, they make you better as a team. If you can dream it you can achieve! Thank you Getaway Girls.” – Sursiyah “I enjoyed doing the poem and the dance because it was really fun!” – Hina“Work together have fun and you’ll be on the right path.” – Najia “I like the dance, I liked when we all worked together as a girl team. We all can make our dreams come true if we are a team! Girls Rule.” – Naima “I enjoyed working as a team and writing the poems about ourselves and what it’s like to be a girl. I liked to dance altogether as one. An experience to remember and to share with other girls! Work and care achieve and share. Thank you Getaway Girls!!!” – Humayrah “Together we can make a dream come TRUE!!” – Payvi “Working as a team will make you stronger! Working as a team helps you in life! If you can dream it, you can achieve it! Getaway Girls” – unknown “I liked crushing the stereotypes and learning about the past. Earth without women is just arth.” - unknown“I’ve learnt that no matter what your scared about or what you don’t feel comfortable in doing just go for it and you will achieve your goal. My time here has been a wonderful experience as it had made me more confident. It has been a real push for us to be where we are now, so thank you Getaway Girls. A big thank you to all the staff, jenny a dance teacher, Clarissa a kind member and Paulette the drama queen. My hero’s! Thank you so much! We will never forget you!” – Saniah “I liked the poems because I learnt that it’s a good thing to be a girl!” – Domotisa and Balica“It has made me re build my confidence. I have learnt that girls can do anything no matter where we come from. Thank you for all your help!” – unknown “My actions and my feelings spoke louder than my voice” – Hafiza

www.hillcrest.leeds.sch.uk

www.rjcdance.org.uk

www.getawaygirls.co.uk