SSF for Primary Schools

The Shakespeare Schools Festival (SSF) is an inclusive, non-competitive festival. Four schools a night perform 30-minute plays in their local professional theatre.

We provide the scripts, resources, training and framework you need to direct Shakespeare with your students. This is our 13th annual Festival, and promises to be the biggest and best yet.

In 2011 we set out to prove that, with the right support, Primary School students can understand and perform Shakespeare. It was a huge success, with Primary Schools equalling and even outperforming Secondary Schools.

The Festival offers a learning opportunity for teachers as well as pupils, providing staff with the confidence and skills to tackle both the language and the production of some of Shakespeare’s most exciting plays.

We are proud to open up 200 spaces to Primary Schools in 2012.

It costs SSF £1600 per school to run the Festival. Each school pays £730 (+VAT) and we raise the rest.

The SSF Package:

Everything you need to take your production from the page to the stage:
-7 scripts which have been specially abridged for Primary Schools
-Director’s notes to complement these scripts
-A curriculum pack suitable for inspiring the entire school.

Two Workshops for Teacher Directors:
-May: A CPD workshop for the teacher-director and a member of senior management, covering approaches to directing and the curriculum pack.
-September: A second CPD workshop to help the teacher-director get their play ready for the stage.

Workshop for Casts:
Two schools come together to gain performance skills from theatre professionals. This includes confidence building, ensemble skills, physical theatre and voice techniques.

Professional Performance Day:
Each school has a half day technical and dress rehearsal with professional technicians before performing on a professional stage alongside 3 other local schools in a celebratory finale to the Festival.

Vocational Skills:
Schools can have teams of marketing and technical students who will get a unique insight into the workings of professional theatres, from lighting design to PR.