Education Today Education Today Magazine
This March, from 12th-18th, more than two million primary school children across the UK will be celebrating Shakespeare’s timeless stories and poetry as part of Shakespeare Week. The free scheme for primary school children and their families is run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the independent charity that promotes the enjoyment and understanding of Shakespeare’s works, life and times.
Sally Gray, Shakespeare Week Education Officer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said, “Every child should have the chance to experience the best of our heritage and culture. Since we launched Shakespeare Week in 2014, five million children have been introduced to Shakespeare’s stories, characters and language. Teachers tells us that as well as having fun with Shakespeare, children also gain improved communication, creative and critical thinking skills, greater confidence, and broadened horizons. Teachers benefit too: in 2017, when half the nation’s schools participated, 37% of teachers hadn’t taught Shakespeare previously, and 57% had introduced new ways for pupils to explore creativity in the classroom. These results powerfully put paid to any notion that Shakespeare is boring and difficult, lacks relevance or is somehow ‘for others’.”
Free award-winning resources for schools and home educators
Teachers will have access to over 150 free resources across every curriculum subject in KS1 and KS2, offering a fantastic suite of ideas and teaching aides to make Shakespeare fun for pupils. This year a new collection of creative poetry and storytelling resources are available to download, including short videos with storytelling tips from The Story Museum, drawing Shakespeare cartoons with children’s author and illustrator, Marcia Williams, and The Queen’s English – a hilarious sketch on Shakespearian pronunciation written by linguist Prof. David Crystal and performed by actors Will Sutton and Ben Crystal. Home educators and families can also access these resources and celebrate Shakespeare Week at home.
Teachers, home educators and families can access free resources and ideas to explore Shakespeare across all subjects in the national curriculum including numeracy, geography, and computing. To take part in Shakespeare Week 2018, visit www.shakespeareweek.org.uk
