Woodrow Walks
Exploring place through storytelling, technology and creativity
Woodrow Walks was a collaborative creative learning project developed by C&T in partnership with Woodrow First School in Redditch, Worcestershire. Using the Prospero platform, the project enabled children aged 5–9 to create a series of interactive GPS-based storytelling experiences that connected learning, creativity and local place.
The project explored how digital technology and participatory storytelling can encourage young people to engage more deeply with their local environment, community and history. Rather than simply learning about their surroundings in the classroom, pupils became researchers, performers, writers, designers and storytellers, creating experiences that could later be explored by families, friends and members of the public.
Across the project, each year group developed a different GPS-enabled walking experience. Together these walks demonstrated the breadth of possibilities offered by location-based Story Systems.
One walk took the form of an imaginative stop-frame animation adventure set amongst the trees and woodland around the school. Developed through drama and storytelling activities, children created characters, narratives and animated sequences that transformed familiar outdoor spaces into a playful story world.
A second walk encouraged exploration of the local neighbourhood through a series of interactive games, challenges and creative activities. Participants were invited to observe, investigate and interact with their surroundings, turning an everyday walk into an experience of discovery and participation.
The most ambitious of the three experiences was created at Arrow Valley Park. Drawing on local history, pupils explored a nineteenth-century industrial dispute from Redditch's needle-making industry. Visitors could experience the story from two contrasting perspectives. Walking clockwise around the lake revealed events through the eyes of the workers, while walking in the opposite direction presented the viewpoint of employers and factory owners. Along the route, dramatic reconstructions, video clips, audio recordings and interactive activities were triggered at specific locations, creating a layered and immersive experience that combined history, storytelling and physical exploration.
The project demonstrated how young people can use digital tools not simply to consume content but to create meaningful cultural experiences for others. By combining storytelling, drama, local history and GPS technology, Woodrow Walks transformed everyday places into spaces for learning, imagination and dialogue.
The project was praised by local stakeholders for its innovative use of technology and creativity, while also highlighting the role that storytelling can play in placemaking, environmental engagement and community participation. It remains a strong example of how Story Systems can connect education, culture and place through experiences that encourage people to see familiar environments in new ways.
Programme
Projects
Story System
Place Stories
Status
Completed
Lead Partners
Woodrow First School • C&T
Location
Redditch, Worcestershire
Participants
Children aged 5–9
Themes
Creative Learning • Place-Based Storytelling • Local History • Environment • Heritage • Community Participation
Outputs
3 GPS Interactive Walks
Stop-Frame Animation Adventure
Neighbourhood Discovery Trail
Arrow Valley Historical Story Walk
Digital Infrastructure
Prospero
Approach
Drama • Storytelling • GPS Technology • Animation • Interactive Media • Place-Based Learning
Impact
Enabled young people to create public-facing digital experiences that connected creativity, local history and environmental engagement.
Legacy
Demonstrated the potential of location-based Story Systems as a tool for education, placemaking and community engagement. The project helped inform later developments in C&T's place-based storytelling practice.
Related Sectors
Education • Community & Inclusion • Arts & Culture
Related Programme
Smart Plays