Future Feast: Expressions of Interest

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR THIS PROGRAM HAS NOW CLOSED

Delivered by NORPA in partnership with NSW Reconstruction Authority

Bring professional artists into your classroom

NORPA in partnership with the Reconstruction Authority invites four public primary schools to take part in Future Feast — a unique, fully funded creative learning program in Term 4, 2025.

Students will collaborate with professional artists in Drama, Dance, Music, and Visual Arts to participate in a unique creative learning opportunity, connected to NORPA’s major new production Dinner Party at the End of the World.

WHAT IS FUTURE FEAST

At the heart of Future Feast is care for the Earth and each other. Students will explore their own stories, movements, and hopes—imagining futures built on resilience, kindness, and connection. Their voices will directly inform NORPA’s professional creative work.

Please also see Appendix below for more information on how this project is supporting resilience and preparedness.

WHAT’S INVOLVED

NORPA’s artists will run 4 progressive sessions in your school over four weeks in Term 4. Students will explore themes of disaster, resilience, and renewal and create original performance works.

Who: Years 5/6 and up. Schools in high flood risk locations will be preferenced.
Max capacity: 30
Location: Your school
Workshop Structure: 4 half-day sessions across 4 weeks
Days: All weekdays are possible, Tuesday and Wednesday are preferred
Artists: Professional Northern Rivers-based artists led by Noa Rotem

PROPOSED DATES

WORKSHOP SESSIONS

Research, Video Interviews & Dramatic Exploration
Text, Storytelling & Movement
Physical language & Collaborative Performance Making
Final Presentation & Reflection

BENEFITS FOR TEACHERS

Free teaching content and resources aligned to the NSW Creative Arts Syllabus (Dance/Drama Stage 3)
Optional professional development & mentoring with NORPA artists
Strategies for integrating drama, media, and storytelling in the classroom

COST

FREE

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST

Please complete the Expression of Interest Form
Deadline: Friday 5 September, 2025

ENQUIRIES

[email protected] or 02 6622 0300

A CREATIVE COLLABORATION

This project offers schools a chance to engage in meaningful performing arts practice, amplifying student voices, collaborating with teachers and connecting learning to NORPA’s professional creative practice.

APPENDIX

ALIGNING CREATIVE EDUCATION WITH COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS

The Future Feast in Schools program offers a unique platform to engage young people in future thinking, collective action, and creative expression—while aligning with the four key steps of the Northern Rivers Regional Flood Risk Awareness Project.

By embedding disaster awareness within storytelling, cultural inquiry, and collaborative imagination, Future Feast builds the inner and collective capacities that underpin true community resilience.

In partnership with the Reconstruction Authority, we invite your schools to participate in this support of young people and creativity.

Know your river and your risk – Future Feast encourages deep listening to place—cultural, ecological, and emotional. Students explore the identity of their local environment, fostering respect and awareness of how risks and resilience are shaped by both nature and community.
Know the warnings – The program cultivates young people’s ability to pay attention, interpret information, and act with intention. Through creative processes, warnings are reframed not only as alerts, but as invitations to care, prepare, and respond thoughtfully.
Have a plan – Future Feast supports young people to envision practical and emotional readiness—not through fear, but through agency. Planning becomes a future-making practice, where care, values, and responsibility are woven into preparedness.
Look after each other – At its heart, the program is a practice in relational resilience. It strengthens social connection, empathy, and collaboration—key ingredients in both immediate response and long-term recovery.
Future Feast contributes to preparedness by building not only external awareness but the inner resources—curiosity, calm, connection, creativity—that enable communities to adapt, recover, and imagine a better future together.

NORPA’s alignment with the four guiding principles below underlying Northern Rivers Regional Flood Risk Awareness Project will ensure every part of the program is both trauma-informed and empowerment-focused and follows trauma informed practices.

RA TRAUMA-INFORMED PRINCIPLES

1. Sensitivity in everything we do
We approach all messaging, visuals, and community engagement with empathy and care—recognising the ongoing impact of past floods and avoiding re-traumatisation and overwhelm. Every part of the campaign considers how it might be received by someone still healing.

“We honour lived experiences and ensure people feel respected, not retraumatised.”

2. Emotional preparedness
We provide space for people to emotionally process the possibility of future floods while offering reassurance, clarity, and steps they can take. We normalise fear and uncertainty while offering calm, confidence, and clarity.

“It’s okay to feel uneasy—here’s what you can do to feel a little more ready.”

3. Strengthening control
We give people tools to act within their current capacity, enabling them to make choices and take actions that fit their situation. It’s not about doing everything—it’s about doing something that helps restore a sense of agency. We acknowledge the spectrum of preparedness.

“You decide what works for you—choose a few things to start with. Small steps matter.”

4. Strength-based messaging
We highlight the existing wisdom, experience, and community spirit already present in Northern Rivers. Rather than focusing on deficits or fear, we affirm people’s past experiences and collective strength to face what’s ahead.

Please contact us if you would like any further information.
[email protected] or 02 6622 0300

Or complete the Expression of Interest Form
Deadline: Friday 5 September