CHART FOR THE EVALUATION OF INCLUSIVE ACTIVITIES

SCHOOLS INVOLVED...Icknield , Wellington Academy, St Swithun’s Junior, St Swithun’s Senior and Winnall Primary School (Date) 14th October 2013

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITY / Shakespeare for Schools Festival – This is a national; festival where each school puts on a 30 minute adaptation of a Shakespeare play in a local theatre with professional sound and light technicians. Over 700 schools took part this year with about 70 being special needs schools. 4 schools perform in 1 evening, parents, friends and staff can watch the event.
GRADES OR LEVELS OF THE STUDENTS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED / Special school/class: Icknield School, Secondary Department. / General school/class: Wellington Academy, (secondary)
St Swithuns (primary) St Swithuns (secondary) Winnall Primary School
Number of students:
14 / Number of students:
11, 20, 16,5 Total 52
PROFESSIONALS INVOLVED / Special school / General school
Teachers: 1
Other professionals: 6
Are any other members of the educational community involved?
Mothers/Fathers: Yes / Teachers: Total 4
Other professionals: 8
Are any other members of the educational community involved?
Mothers/Fathers: Yes
DURATION AND PLACE / 2 hours Winchester Theatre – workshop
8 hours Winchester Theatre for dress rehearsal, technical rehearsal and actual production.
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED / Shakespeare for Schools Charity organisation
Winchester Theatre
OBJECTIVES
Cognitive, emotional, social or psychomotive / To participate in a theatrical production in an authentic theatre
To experience and participate in a Shakespeare play (English heritage and culture)
To learn by heart some Shakespearian (old English) language
To respond to music and lighting cues
To build self-esteem and confidence
To understand the sequence of the story Romeo and Juliet
To explore themes of love, death and consequences of war in a visual way.
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
Teaching method, organisation, strategies, differentiation / Build simple dramatic skills through games, modelling (weekly drama lessons and 6 workshops with Blue Apple Theatre Company)
  • Use of voice to express emotion
  • Giving eye contact when communicating
  • Use of different body shapes to express emotion
Explore ways of expression of affection without touch for autistic pupils,
Use responses of pupils to inform direction of drama
Build on pupil skills and further enhance their ability
Use music to signal endings and beginnings of scenes to remove reliance on adult support.
Use of simple colours and costume to simplify story.
Differentiated through level of support, roles within play.
EVALUATION / Degree of student involvement / Degree of student interaction / Teachers intervention / Degree of achievement of objectives
High / High / Subtle
guidance / High
OBSERVATIONS AND ASPECTS TO IMPROVE / This was an ambitious and very rewarding challenge for us at Icknield School. It crystallised my own philosophy that we cannot fit our pupils into a mainstream box (or they may fail) but instead we must strive to create opportunities where the pupils themselves have a huge part to play in defining the shape of the experience. In this way they can only be successful because they are being themselves and the becoming best that they can be.
The quote below sums up the impact this experience had on our pupils:-
‘I said to you on the day, what struck me most about your performance was how clear it was that your students had complete ownership of the story. You created a supportive framework which enabled them to shine. They were independent, committed and truly joyful performers.’
Lydia Lewison
Festival Manager Shakespeare Schools Festival, 140 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5DN
T:020 7601 1806 F:020 7601 1801E:
Aspects to improve:-
  • reduce staff support even more.
  • include more pupils by involving parents more.
  • Continue to build on pupil abilities.