At this point in the school year, we would normally be running projects in over 50 Schools across London and Kent, with more than 2000 children taking part. All of these projects would have culminated in performances shared with children, teachers and parents. Early on in this crisis, and prior to the lockdown, we took the decision to close down these projects in order to safeguard both the health of the school communities with which we work, and also that of our team of freelance practitioners.
Since then, we have been working to develop a new approach that will allow us to continue our aim to raise pupil attainment and achievement through engaging with Shakespeare.
Together with our team of theatre practitioners wehave created an alternative online resource which is designed to bring teachers, the children and their families, a genuinely exciting approach to learning, using The Tempest as inspiration and stimulus for a whole half term’s worth of work.
This can be used by any child in Key Stage 2 and – most importantly, as they will be delivering much of the learning – we have designed it very much with parents in mind. The activities are clear, easy to understand, with lots of videos that explain how to do things.
We are genuinely excited by what has been achieved and, so successful do we believe it to be, that we are resolved to make many aspects of this part of our long term future programme.