November 30, 2009
Are you celebrating your centenary or exploring this early part of the 20th century? December will see the launch of our first Edwardian Assembly session - a completely new approach and format for Freshwater.
As a result, we’ve been doing some digging and discovered loads of interesting facts and events from this era, which - let’s be honest - had a hard act to follow in the Victorian era. Queen Victoria’s son, Edward VII, ruled from 1901-1910 but the Edwardian era is often regarded as lasting from the mid 1890s into World War One.
The period saw the rise of the Suffragette movement, the emergence of great writers and explorers such as Beatrix Potter and Robert Falcon Scott, however, most importantly (as far as we’re concerned!) the era saw the launch of Marmite, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Typhoo. The Olympics were also held in London in 1908 - which leads conveniently into discussion about the London 2012 Olympics.
If you are interested in booking an Edwardian Assembly, email us or give us a call on 0844 800 2870.
Categories: Freshwater Theatre Company News
Posted by: Freshwater Theatre Company @ 5:14 pm
Schools across the UK will be celebrating the 10th annual National Storytelling Week in the spring term from January 30th to the 5th February. The Society for Storytelling launched the festival in 2000 to “increase public awareness of the art, practice and value of oral storytelling”.
If you’re stuck for ideas on how to get involved, fear not! We are here to help your school take part, offering interactive story workshops such as Isis and Osiris, Rainbow Fish + Where the Wild Things Are, Stories from Asia, Stories from Africa as well as Storytelling for MFL, which also offers the students an opportunity to get involved with the stories.
We’re really excited about the launch of our SEAL Storytelling programme in January. Not only do these sessions help to deliver the SEAL initiatives in your school, they’re also really great value, with up to 120 children taking part in each session. If you’d like to know more about our storytelling programme, please email us or call us on 0844 800 2870.
“All of the students were completely engaged throughout. They laughed and learnt. Our storyteller was wonderful.” Jo Quinton, Sonning Common Primary School, South Oxfordshire.
Categories: Freshwater Theatre Company News
Posted by: Freshwater Theatre Company @ 12:14 pm
November 4, 2009
Are you looking for a way to reward, excite and educate your reception and nursery students this Christmas season?
Specifically designed with Foundation stage pupils in mind, our “Early Years Story Hunt - Festive Fun” workshop takes your class on a journey to different locations around the hall to collect clues, which are used to find the story at the end. Along the way they meet Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, sing Christmas songs and have a party with Santa Claus.
“Totally captivated. Absolutely wonderful experience, thoroughly enjoyed all sensory activities.” Rachel Owen, St Margaret’s C of E Primary, Essex.
Categories: Freshwater Theatre Company News
Posted by: Freshwater Theatre Company @ 6:16 pm
We are proud to be one of the most innovative and affordable providers of drama and MFL INSET to schools all over the UK, providing teachers with a toolbox of ideas with which to teach key MFL skills such as confidence, vocabulary, pronunciation and the vital part of the journey that we call “finding the MFL speaker inside you”.
We recently ran an MFL INSET session with the CILT Regional Support Group in Surrey and one of the participants, Maureen Waters, had this to say about the workshop:
Haven’t had such fun in ages and can’t wait to share the ideas with the staff. It was so relaxed and a great way to get to know people. I can’t believe how many games we played in so short a time and I came away feeling really energised and happy, but at the same time exhausted from concentrating so hard. Wasn’t it lovely to see so many people smiling and laughing and having fun?
If you would like to book an MFL INSET with us, please call us on 0844 800 2870 to discuss your needs.
Categories: Freshwater Theatre Company News
Posted by: Freshwater Theatre Company @ 6:09 pm
As you know, booking a Freshwater event already saves you money on costs such as transportation because we bring all our shows, workshops and storytelling sessions directly to you.
Some of our schools have stretched this saving even further by joining together to watch our KS2 history shows*, which cover the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Tudors. We can cater for up to 120 students per show, which means that even schools with two form entry can each bring two classes in - they just have to decide who gets to be the host school!
Similarly, we have worked with Modern Foreign Language support networks in areas such as Herefordshire and Kent to bring local schools together to benefit from our interactive and fun MFL Storytelling sessions to audiences of up to 120 students.
We are looking forward to developing this programme at an International Festival with a partnership of Surrey schools in the spring term.
*History shows are available in and around Greater London only. We offer history workshops for schools around the UK. MFL Storytelling is available to most regions.
Categories: Freshwater Theatre Company News
Posted by: Freshwater Theatre Company @ 6:07 pm
The Cambridge Primary Review is the most in depth report to have been undertaken since the 1967 Plowden Report and has been hotly debated by the government (whose own report came out earlier this year), education professionals and teachers alike.
The 608 page report, which took three years of planning and consultation and another three years for collecting and analysing evidence, makes 75 recommendations, guided by 12 prospective aims and 13 principles for primary education.
Of particular interest to us here at Freshwater is the recommendation that the foundation stage should be extended to six years of age before formal, subject-based learning is introduced; this currently begins at age four or five. However, it does go on to say that whether or not the foundation stage is formally extended, the more important consideration is the quality and approach of the provision.
The summary booklet (available from the CPR website) states that “Children… need the opportunity to build their social skills, their language and their confidence. They do this best through structured play and talk, interacting with each other and with interested and stimulated adults.”
Of course, we completely agree that learning through play is immensely beneficial for people of all ages (you should see the office team when we get to play with the props!) but particularly for those under the age of six. This sensory, exciting and fun approach to learning is exactly what we offer in our workshops - especially the Early Years Story Hunts we offer. that are discussed in a bit more detail below.
Categories: Primary & Nursery Education News
Posted by: Freshwater Theatre Company @ 6:06 pm
