What's Coming Up in the Spring Term
Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a good start to the new school term - mince pies and wrapping gifts already feels like a distant memory doesn’t it? But as one good thing comes to an end an equally exciting one steps into its place. There’s plenty to be looking forward to this spring. For example…
25th January 2020 - we welcome the Year of the Rat!
Chinese New Year is a huge celebration and a great opportunity to learn about different cultures. Last year we wrote a blog sharing a few ideas for how you can celebrate Chinese New Year in the primary school classroom. It’s a great time to begin discussions on different cultural celebrations in PSHE, to look at moon cycles in science, or perhaps to discuss traditional tales in English.
We celebrate West End in Schools by visiting schools across the UK with our Chinese Zodiac dance workshop exploring the story of The Great Race.
28th & 29th January - join us for a free evening of creative CPD!
CPD Masterclass ‘Exploring Children’s Books Through Drama’.
Using drama in the classroom is an excellent way to bring familiar characters and stories to life for children. Experiencing the action of a story first hand helps children to build empathy and a deeper understanding of their story.
Join us in London and Birmingham for a free evening of CPD equipping primary school teachers with a toolkit of drama techniques for bringing children’s books to life.
1st to 8th February - National Storytelling Week
Get creative and tell your story. Each year the Society for Storytelling organises a week long celebration of the oral tradition of storytelling. This is one of the earliest forms of entertainment and is a great circle time activity to gather the class and share your stories.
Thursday 5th March - World Book Day
The biggest annual celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading! And personally one of my favourite events in the school calendar. World Book Day is the perfect chance for children to share what they love about books and the joy those books bring. We love hearing about how schools celebrate this festival, what have you got planned this year?
If you’re looking for some World Book Day inspiration we’ve got you covered! We will be visiting schools across the country with a variety of literacy themed dance and drama workshops, as well as performing our stage adaptations of classic tales for primary audiences! You can find out all about these options at our World Book Day Page.
16th to 20th March - Shakespeare Week
Often referred to as the Master Storyteller, it seems only right that William Shakespeare gets a week of the school year dedicated to him. If you’re a bit baffled by the prospect of teaching Shakespeare to primary children take a look at our blog series ‘A Guide to Teaching Shakespeare’ for plenty of tips and ideas!
We are looking forward to Shakespeare Week for a special reason this year… it will be the first Shakespeare Week we will be visiting schools with our brand new Shakespeare Explorer workshops. These in-depth workshops allow your classes to explore the Bard’s plays through drama, and there are six play options for you to choose from.
And before you know it, it’s Easter! Just like that!
Plenty to get packed in between now and then. What else will you be celebrating this term?
- Katie