Year 6 have been participating in drama lessons as part of their learning. The lessons are based on Theatre Sports games and activities.

The classes include a warm-up activity which involves working together – sometimes as a whole class and sometimes in smaller groups. These also generally involve a lot of noise! Circle Tag is a favourite along with a game called Sock. Both are team games requiring a lot of running around but they are also teaching the boys about quick change overs, keeping things moving.

There are a number of games and activities about accepting what people offer – we pass numbers around a circle, trying not to repeat anyone. Another activity is called Shoe Islands and the boys have to change shoe islands with someone else without talking (very hard), just a wink and a nod, and sometimes someone else might highjack that exchange.

The final activities are then based on improvisation. Boys could be given a fictional character and then in small groups, maybe made up of Robin Hood, Superman, Shrek and James Bond, they create a scene in a doctor’s waiting room. We have also created scenes where each person in a group has a specific number of words that they can say, and recently they have created a scene in a café where each line starts with the next letter of the alphabet. This has been a challenge as they are also having to make sure that the scene makes sense.

The boys are really enjoying these sessions. They are working on accepting each other and accepting what each person is able to bring to the activity. I am hoping that this transfers across into other areas of their lives and reinforces that we are all different and to accept each other’s differences.

Ms Vanessa South – Music Teacher