“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, Archibald First School.

00128164I1119114.0Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBJAX-NONE/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}Almost every school does the ‘character costumes for World Book Day’ thing. And we love it! But we also know of some other ways to showcase the brilliance of books in schools…

Abi Finley, one of our regular West End in Schools performers, tells us about a typical day in her life…and a few more things besides!

After our performance of Jack and the Beanstalk at Hotham Primary School many of the pupils decided to write to say thank you to our actors Tim and Natalie and to ask us some questions... 

Thousands of schools, families and organisations take part in Shakespeare Week every year.  In 2016 Shakespeare Week celebrates 400 years of Shakespeare’s creative legacy and it looks like it’ll be busier than ever.  

Craig Christie has written original musical productions for primary schools around the world every year since 1992. His shows have been seen by over 2 million children.

When I was invited to watch a West End in Schools pantomime rehearsal in London on an INSET day, it was a great opportunity to have a day out with my son - minus the school holiday crowds.

It’s School Dance Week and our experienced West End professionals have been running dance workshops in primary schools across the country.

Every Head and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) wants to encourage the main stakeholders of their school to come in, enjoy time together and build the school community. If this can be done while also raising money for the school, even better!

Congratulations to six of our fabulous actors who have been nominated in the annual Broadway World West End Awards. And there are a couple more nominees who we hope will join us very soon! 

We're thrilled to launch our new primary school INSET days backstage in three stunning locations - The Palladium and Manchester Palace are two of the most iconic theatres in the country, and Her Majesty's has been home to Phantom of the Opera since it opened in 1986.

We are hungry to form longer term creative partnerships with schools where we can use our West End talent pool to contribute more clearly to measurable outcomes and increasing attainment.

Welcome back! Our cast and creators are thrilled to be back for another school year full of learning, literacy, arts and fun - and so our new literacy musical, Back to Before, is in rehearsals this week!

While George's Marvellous Medicine features in our new literacy musical Back to Before, we thought we'd give you some suggested teacher resources for another of Roald Dahl's all-time classics, The BFG. 

Another freebie this week! Here are some suggested activities based on Oliver Jeffer's The Heart and the Bottle, which features in our literacy musical What's Your Story?, the last shows of which are fast approaching!

West End in Schools lead choreographer Mairi Cowieson worked with the children at teachers of KS2 at Berkeley Primary School, Gloucestershire to create an end of year show inspired by Michael Morpurgo's The Butterfly Lion.

Today, we're giving away a freebie! Here are some suggested activities based on Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are .

On Wednesday 19th July, while some were performing What's Your Story? in a nearby Essex primary school, and Singing in the Rain made its exit from the Palace Theatre (see the photo below!) , we made our way to the 4th Floor to record the tracks for our next literacy musical, Back to Before. 

As part of our Free Primary Masterclasses, on 6th June, West End in Schools and some inspiring teachers met at RADA to discuss Using Music as a Resource for Creative Writing.