You’ve identified a key part of what we do which will never change.
To touch, feel and examine the photographs is special. We’ve had feedback that it actually slows things down, allowing a more considered approach. Both teacher and students really appreciate a non-digital alternative.
Excitement builds when anyone sees our Educational Learning Packs for the first time – everyone wants to know ‘whats in the box’. And then as you open the box and scatter the images on the table in front of your students, you’ll immediately see from their reaction why the way we do things is both unique and powerful.
We do provide some video content which must be streamed.
They are not. When you look at our photos you are seeing the result of months sometimes years of work. From early engagement, to finding people willing to share their often very private lives, to building trust to then taking pictures over several meetings you are seeing lives lived. We then pass that on to you and your students to judge.
Having verified our approach there are now an infinite number of topics around disability and social issues that we need to find other photographers who we can guide to create work that meets the same standards.
We’ve taken that decision to both reflect the value of what we do and to produce something beautiful which will last. For example the materials are contained in a strong linen box and they are printed on long-lasting materials. And so the initial modest investment will be spread over several years.
We think parents have an important role to play in funding purchase of our ELP’s. We hope they will consider donating packs to their schools as a genuine step towards helping to understand diversity inclusions. Parents of children affected by disability may also want to use our ELP’s as a way of building understanding within the school community about them, fostering a more understanding environment. We’ve included a template parents and parent teacher organisations in the For parents section of our website.
We’ve taken our time to get things right and so working with trusted partners was vital. Graham published a book about Down’s Syndrome quite some back and has a very good relationship with Down’s Syndrome Scotland(DSS). Michelle one of our trustees was chair and her daughter Corinne featured in the book and exhibition that followed. It’s important to realise that every charity partnership we build, and we always work with a corresponding charity partner on each topic, takes time. In working with DSS we were able to define the process and standard contractual agreement we needed, such that we can apply this future partnerships saving time.
Absolutely – we gathered feedback through focus groups following the pilot studies with three Aberdeenshire schools. We now have Ally currently working in a secondary school and Margot head teacher in a primary school as trustees. They have written our fully compliant lesson plans from the perspective of a working teacher in school today.
As we started talking about Really Real Resources we attended the Scottish Guidance Teachers conference in Dunfermiline 2025. We received a massive vote of confidence when teachers said they were so happy to be involved. Many told us individually ‘its very rare for us to be consulted, materials just turn up without being pre-validated’.
We will release our next pack Mental Health and Substance Use late this year, early next. The photographic work is about complete, and we are now working with A, who features in the work to complete the companion documents, the narrative.
We are working with a major Scottish charity focussed on Substance use who will review content and supply supplementary materials.
Graham is also photographing a number of patients affected by Rare Disease in collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company. The plan is include that work in another ELP.
While most of our approach has been focussed on schools, we see the materials being used in the corporate world to foster a real understanding around diversity and inclusion. If you are interested in this approach please contact us. We plan to create more streamlined guidance to allow the materials to be used in a concise single session whilst still having a high impact.
Our packs take up to 14 days to deliver.