Theatre in Education

Closely linked to our Mantle of the Expert approach, is the school’s development of yearly theatre in education projects. These projects are developed in collaboration between the school and State of Play Arts, who work together to create an entirely bespoke and highly motivating theatre in education project, which utilises the Mantle of the Expert approach. These projects see the children going into role along with the actors, and carrying out their learning through a fictional frame, which will last for half a term. The actors will work with the children at the start of the project, before returning at a midpoint and then at the finale. In the intervening periods, the children stay in role, interacting with the storylines within their classrooms and taking the story in their own directions. When the actors return, they build upon the direction that the children have established, enabling the children to gain a sense that they are part of a ‘living story’ in which they are the key actors.

One such project was called ‘The Colour Thief’, in which the children were introduced to a fantasy world in which colours were disappearing (‘colours’ representing not only visual colours, but also the attributes that make us all unique). The children stepped into the story and joined the main characters on a quest to find out who the Colour Thief was. Following the first dramatic input by the actors, the children created maps of the fantasy world within their classrooms and decided upon the first steps they should take, engaging in creative writing and role play as they went on further adventures. When the actors came back in for the mid-point workshops, they built upon the children’s adventures so far, before introducing them to ‘The Colour Thief’, who it turned out had been stealing the colours on behalf of another mysterious character, who the children would now need to find. The children continued the adventure within the classroom, using their imaginations to search for the Colour Thief and inventing ways in which they could persuade the mysterious ‘Colour Thief’ to return the colours. The final workshop with the actors saw the children finally confront the real ‘Colour Thief’, taking part in a ‘philosophical battle’ to convince him that the colours should be restored.

As you can see, these projects have highly developed storylines, which are designed so that children can easily step into them, yet explore a range of complex themes and developments. Each project is designed to provide opportunities for children to explore a range of curriculum areas. One of the key outcomes of using this approach is that the children’s learning is highly purposeful and carried out for a clear reason. The projects also stimulate the child’s imaginative thinking, whilst also providing opportunities for high quality and motivating learning experiences within the classroom. The use of our Theatre in Education projects, in conjunction with our Mantle of the Expert approach, is an important way in which we seek to provide awe and wonder within our curriculum and develop enthusiastic and successful learners.

The school’s innovative work in developing these projects is documented in an article in ‘Drama – The National Drama Magazine of Professional Practice’.