Grania Pickard
Workshops & Teaching
I've been teaching circus skills since 2012, to all ages, abilities and needs.
Skills include: trapeze, rope, silks, hoop, juggling, acrobalance, poi & spinning plates.
I have delivered classes and workshops for: Oddly Moving, Circomedia, Ockham's Razor, Turtle Key Arts, Bristol Aerial, Funky Monkey, and Circus Fantastic.
I've led circus workshops across the country for school groups, SEN classes, behavioural centres, young carers & siblings, hospital wards and children’s parties, as well as teaching family drop in workshops, city youth circus and adult evening classes.
The workshops/classes are tailored to the needs of the group looking at key themes such as team building, increasing coordination, and gaining confidence.
Since 2017, through Oddly Moving, I have also been doing adult training courses focused on how to host a relaxed performance and how to teach circus to young people with autism.
I hadn't tried trapeze before my lesson with Grania, so I was a bit nervous. But she was encouraging and made me feel safe and confident to give it a go. I managed to do much more than I expected, and I felt safe the whole time. Grania is a great teacher and I'm looking forward to trying hoop in my next lesson! Highly recommended!
Will Bryson - adult student
"I have been taking a student with severe autism for aerial classes with Grania for several years. He looks forward to his classes enormously and is highly motivated to follow instructions in order to gain the reward of free time to experiment and play on the equipment. He has learnt to use his physical strength and apply concentration to learn moves of increasing complexity. The activity is highly beneficial for his sensory and behavioural needs. We also have lots of fun!"
Kate Geary
“The children thought the circus workshop was really interesting as they could try activities which many had never done before. The children thought there was a lot of choice of activities and they liked that they could go back and practise with their favourite equipment for longer.
Staff thought the sessions were well organised. You interacted well with the children and you formed good relationships. Great use of praise and you were very positive throughout. Both you and your colleague listened to adults when it came to children's behaviour management and you were adaptable and flexible in timings to suit the needs of the children. I would highly recommend your workshops to other schools!”
Whitehouse School, Hull