Last week a group of teachers gathered with our Creative Director, Abi, in RADA for our first CPD Masterclass. They spent the evening chanting, dancing and moving their way through a toolkit of games and activities to help primary school children explore Shakespeare.

Back in October a class of Year 6 children in London were taking part in a workshop about the First World War. Their session focused on the Battle of the Somme. As they explored the experience of the soldiers and the news reports from the time, something didn’t seem right. The explosive descriptions of the battle clashed with the reports that declared ‘Everything has gone well!’ It was confusing until they began discussing it in the context of today. Why would the news say something that wasn’t true? That just makes it fake news doesn’t it?

Next week our Creative Director, Abi, will be running a free CPD session for primary school teachers at RADA to help unlock some of the secrets of exploring Shakespeare in primary schools.

Welcome to Part 5 of the West End in Schools Guide to Teaching Dance. So far we’ve covered why we should teach dance at all, the 5 simple steps for how to teach dance, the process for creating choreography with your students, and lastly the choreographic devices that will help you and your students create. This final piece is all about tips for actually delivering a session.

After going through the process of creating dance in Part 3 it’s time to talk about choreographic devices. Choreographic devices are the tools we use to manipulate movement in order to enhance, exaggerate and embody actions. They’re a great way to give a class or a group of children ownership over their dance. Here we have 11 devices, some which are more suitable for EYFS and KS1, and some for KS2.

Been teaching pre-set dances for a while now? Rinsed your repertoire? Is your class itching to create something of their own? Are you?! Then let’s do it. Let’s create. Let’s choreograph. (It’s easier than you might think.)

We set out each year to try to inspire every child in the audience and to change the lives of one or two. But can theatre in education really make this happen?

Welcome to Part 2 of our Guide to Teaching Dance! In Part 1 we discussed the benefits of teaching dance in the first place. Here in Part 2 I’m going to talk all about how to teach dance. A good way to approach this is through 5 simple steps…

At West End In Schools we have lists (long, long lists) of poems we love, but we’ve whittled it down to just five, and this year we’ve been working on transforming these five fantastic rhymes into specially created drama workshops.

“Can a pantomime really help the PTA?”

— Oh yes it can!

Many PTA’s help cover the cost of a school’s pantomime visit as a seasonal treat for the children, but did you know that pantomimes can be a fantastic fundraising tool as well?

Are you a dancing queen? Can you conga round the classroom? Are you a master of mambo? Two-step or tango?! Whatever your style, or potential lack thereof - do not fear! In this blog series we’re going to cover all the steps that will help you deliver dance in your school to the very best of your ability.

This year is the centenary of the end of the First World War and 100 years since the Armistice was signed on 11th November 2018. To mark the occasion we created Poetry and Poppies, an interactive workshop that combines poetry, drama, and history for the whole primary school. We spoke to Abi, the creator of the workshop, to find out exactly how the workshop came about and what its challenges were.

To celebrate Roald Dahl Day and the 102nd anniversary of one of the most phizz-whizzing writers of all time, we have compiled a list of our top five easy ways to get creative with Roald Dahl.

Teachers often wonder whether they are better advised to visit their local theatre or to bring a specialist company into their school. When it comes to which option is best for your school, we think there are three main areas to consider: production quality, price and convenience.