Waldegrave School Summer Magazine 2024

DRAMA PRIMARY OUT- REACH “Over the past couple of months, we have been creating a play called Storybook Wolves, based on a children’s book. It was really fun as we all contributed ideas and created a workshop for some Year 1 students. We performed it to them on two days, visiting four different schools. I really enjoyed this experience; the performance was exciting, and the kids loved interacting with the characters from the book. After the show, we ran a workshop where we split into small groups and did various drama activities to help the kids understand the play and engage with them. One of my favourite tasks was doing soundscapes because the Year 1 students got to express themselves and share what they liked about the play. They turned into wolves, frogs, and other characters, which they found funny. I also enjoyed the freeze frames since the kids came up with lots of creative ideas. We incorporated books they liked into the still images. Overall, I found the experience very fun, and I hope the children also enjoyed it and found it entertaining,” said Emma W, one of the Year 9 performers. Our Year 9 cast has been rehearsing Beware of the Storybook Wolves for the past few months, which they recently took to local primary schools. The Year 1 children were delighted with the show and the workshop that followed. The Year 9s completed a Theatre in Education unit in the Spring term, leading to auditions for the cast that would perform a short adaptation of Lauren Child’s book Beware the Storybook Wolves. They visited four primary schools in the Twickenham area, where the Year 1 children loved the play and the subsequent drama activities. The workshops included creating freeze frames of their favourite books and soundscapes inspired by the performance. It was a joy to see our students interacting with and leading the younger ones. The impact on the Year 1 students was profound. One little boy said, “I think that might be the best day ever,” as he left the room. The Year 1 staff were amazed by the professionalism, competence, and maturity of our students and were impressed by the engagement they generated in otherwise disaffected students.

Our Year 9 students were absolutely amazing and a genuine credit to the school, demonstrating not only their acting skills but also their ability to inspire and connect with younger students through drama and creativity.

Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator