Musical theatre to support literacy teaching in primary schools

Our last blog painted a picture of our Bringing Books to Life dance workshops using words and images provided by some of the schools we visited for World Book Day.

Now, we’re back to illustrate one of the other ways that we showcase books in schools on World Book Day, in school book week and at lots of other times too!

In this blog we look at...

Using musical theatre to support literacy teaching

Experienced West End actors perform our Literacy Musicals and the stories and songs are written by one of the world’s foremost children's theatre writers, Craig Christie.

Each show has it’s own storyline with an important message for children. Jump to It! for example, is a wonderful celebration of friendship and also cautions against becoming too involved in the digital world and computer games. Four different children’s books such as Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake or How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell are cleverly integrated into the show. 

Serlby Park Academy in Yorkshire asked us to perform Jump to It! in their school hall on 2 March. We had a great time together. Here’s a photo of the show in action!

The Literacy Subject Leader at Frederick Bird Primary School in the West Midlands booked us as part of a program of events taking place during the week of World Book Day. Here is his review of Jump to It!

“The resources we were sent were helpful; the actors were extremely friendly and professional; the musical was excellent - I really liked the way it used the characters from the book so clearly, and the children clearly enjoyed it thoroughly.”

Archibald First School in Newcastle invited us in to perform Shine a Light. As well as featuring four books including Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl and Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, the overall theme of this show is overcoming a fear of the unknown. 

Here are a couple of comments from the children themselves:

“I really enjoyed the way they got through a important lesson to us by acting it out, making it fun and letting us join in! Using popular books and well known stories it was amazing for everyone.”Cerys, Year 4

“I liked how they made it fun and how they made everyone join in with singing and moving about. It was funny how they put on funny voices to be different people.” Daisy, Class 10

Thank you once again to all of the schools that provide us with feedback. You can see more testimonials on our website.