Stage, Story and Study: Students Dive into Shakespeare

Ms Jones
13 minutes ago
1 min read

School plays are a vital part of learning, giving students the opportunity to develop confidence, creativity, and teamwork. They encourage public speaking, deepen understanding of literature, and allow students to explore history and culture in a hands-on, engaging way.

This year, Year 4 and 5 joined forces to perform the play Shakespeare Rocks.

In addition to achieving all their learning goals in speaking, listening, and reading and understanding playscripts, our Year 4 and 5 students have made impressive strides in a variety of other areas. Even when they weren’t practising, they were busy exploring the life of William Shakespeare and the historical context in which he lived.

The students have built models of the Globe Theatre and experimented with Tudor costume design. Year 5 students have also had the chance to read children’s adaptations of Shakespeare’s stories, including Romeo and Juliet, Othello, The Tempest, Richard III, Macbeth, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They then collaborated to reimagine these stories as graphic novels.

The quality of their artwork is stunning, and we have been hugely impressed by their understanding of the plots. Some students even identified the themes in the stories and showed exactly how they are illustrated in the text. These skills will serve them well as they move on to IMYC and IGCSE, where they are sure to encounter Shakespeare again.