Diwali Drama Facilitators for Primary Schools

About you | About the workshop | Pay & terms | How to apply

We are recruiting freelance Drama facilitators to deliver Diwali physical drama workshops in primary schools this Autumn term, and optionally to join our team of freelance facilitators delivering our wide range of drama workshops thereafter.

Be part of a team who spark the imagination of thousands of children every year.

We believe that every child’s imagination should be inspired by the arts. Using our experience as an Olivier Award winning production company, we bring together performers, creatives, industry specialists and teaching artists to provide highly creative cultural experiences for children which they will remember forever.

Each year we deliver dance, drama and Shakespeare workshops and perform pantomimes in over 1,000 schools. Our work is primarily with state schools in communities across the country.

We’re looking for brilliant facilitators from across the UK who want to inspire the next generation. You will have a passion and enthusiasm for the arts, and for storytelling.

• You can be either a full time facilitator, or an actor, creative practitioner or director with facilitation experience.

• You must either have a recent enhanced DBS check or be happy for us to submit you for one.

• You will need to be a good timekeeper and self-organised. 

• You will deliver the workshops on your own so need to be an assured and engaging representative of the company to the Head Teacher and other school staff.

• We particularly encourage applications from people who have a strong cultural understanding of Diwali to bring their lived experience to the workshops.

Helpful but not required:

• If you can drive that is brilliant - but it is not essential.

We believe it’s vital that children see themselves reflected in the culture, art and creative learning they experience. We’re committed to building a team of facilitators that better represent the diverse communities of schools we serve, and actively encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds and life experiences.

Created by Sita Thomas (sitathomas.com), the workshop uses drama exercises such as physical storytelling, movement, and soundscapes to explore the Hindu story of The Ramayana.

The workshop will allow children to immerse themselves in the story of Rama and Sita, using drama games and theatre techniques to explore the story’s characters, dramatic situations and themes, building towards a performance moment at the end of the session.

You are not expected to create the work, the workshop content and activities are provided for you in a detailed plan and training is provided.

You will work class-by-class with Reception to Year 6 (4 - 11 year olds).

• Travel to a school which could be some distance from home - perhaps staying nearby the night before.

• Arrive at a school at 8.30am, start teaching at 9am and finish at 3.15pm. There is usually at least an hour break for lunch.

• Deliver up to 6 workshops to class groups of up to 30 children, throughout the day. Workshops typically last between 35 - 60 minutes and are tailored to each year group .

Contract: Freelance.

Rate of Pay:

• Workshops paid at £165 per day or £100 per half day.

• We pay your fees and reimburse expenses on a weekly basis with no need to invoice us for your fee.

• Training paid at London Living Wage, paid once you first deliver a workshop.

• All travel and accommodation expenses are reimbursed from your door to the school, and to attend training if travelling long distances.

Locations: We deliver work in schools across the UK and are looking for facilitators in all regions.

Workshop delivery dates: This year Diwali is celebrated 10 - 14 November, we expect workshops to be delivered throughout October and November but some may come at other times.

Flexibility for professional auditions booked via your agent: The majority of our drama facilitators are actors in between performing jobs and need to be able to audition. We offer complete flexibility for auditions, and ask that in return you do your best to accept work from us at short notice if we ask you to when someone has withdrawn due to an audition

Year round we have a range of drama and dance workshops exploring books, topics and celebration days in primary schools, and Shakespeare workshops in secondary schools. We hope that the successful applicants will progress from the Diwali Drama workshop into delivering other workshops with us after Diwali.

Please fill in the application form by 11 September 2023.  

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to audition in Manchester or London, where you will lead a drama game/activity of your choice with the other auditionees. This is an opportunity for us to meet you, see you in action - and for you to find out more about us!

Following the auditions, we will invite successful facilitators to attend a paid training day in London or Manchester.

Facilitator auditions:

• London - 19 September 2023

• Manchester - 20 September 2023

Facilitator training:

• London - 5 October 2023

• Manchester - 11 October 2023

Please also complete our anonymous equality and diversity monitoring form which is kept separate to your application form.