Large School Performances- Does your school do one?

[DenmotherSmith]

My children's primary school regularly staged whole school theatrical performances ( Lion King, Wizard of Oz that kind of thing)with every child given the opportunity to be involved. My eldest child in particular loved them and performed in three over his time at the school and has since gone on to perform at the National Theatre and the Globe. The school has a new head and I have been told that large school productions are not something they plan to do any longer. Is this quite common? Do most schools put on such shows? That involve lighting, costumes, make up, parental help etc.

I visited a friends kids school ( Kilmorie) to see their end of year production of Charlie and The Chocolate factory and it was fantastic and really made me think if this is something that my children's primary no longer wants to do perhaps I should consider moving them elsewhere?

I still have two children in the very early stages of primary. It is because the experience of such productions gave my eldest a window into a world of performance he found he loved, that I would really like my younger children to have the same opportunities. I know that schools have lots to juggle and heads face many pressures these days, with OFSTED breathing down their necks. I know such performances may seem trivial in ones decision to send your child to a school but having seen the results in the development of my eldest it is important to me. Any thoughts from parents at local schools as to what their school do would be much appreciated.

[Coach Beth]

Yes, at my son's school (Goose Green Primary School) there are three major productions each year. At Christmas time, the Year one and Two children put on a Christmas musicial. In feb/march, the year 3 & 4 children put which this year was the Wizard of Oz. And at the end of the summer term, the year 5 & 6 children put on an end of year show. This will be Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat which will be on next week. Tickets are available from the school office - there are performances Monday at 2pm, Tuesday at 6:30pm and Wednesday at 6:30pm.

It helps that we have a full-time music teacher who takes the lead on the productions and our art teacher designs the backdrops and props involving children in art club & in art classes to make them. We pay a yearly membership fee to Southwark College's costume department and get our costumes from them. When we did refurb work at the school last summer, new theatrical lights were installed for productions and we've invested in good radio mikes as well. The children, parents and staff enjoy the productions throughly.

Do drop into the office and buy a ticket for Joseph if you can - I can promise you it will be spectactular - I was in the hall when they were sorting out the backdrop and testing the ice machine!

[DenmotherSmith]

That sounds fantastic Coach Beth. Great to see such productions going on. Looks like a hot ticket!

[Coach Beth]

Having seen the show last night, I can say that it was indeed a hot ticket! It was wonderful - from the lead vocalist, to the singing narrators, to the crowd scenes. Very professional job all around! It was also great to see the range of parents turn out for the show - parents and children from the younger year groups came along so it felt like a production for the whole community - not just for the parents of the performers involved. Another parent at the school used to be a theatre reviewer for Time Out and said that it was just as good if not better than some of the productions she had to review!

[Medusa]

The thing is, I don't think it's really just about whether a school puts on such performances. I think the extent to which a school engages in any activities that are beyond the boundaries of Ofstedland speaks volumes about the attitudes of the senior management team to education and learning.

The school the OP refers to hasn't simply scrapped the major performances; it has also sidelined other activities on which children won't be inspected/tested. At the end of 2012's Year 6, pupils in their last year were put on a 'revision programme' for some three or four months before their SATs. During this period in some classes, if not all, there were no music lessons, no history, no PE. Yes, that year's cohort achieved very good SATs, but all the children I know left the school bored and disengaged.

For those of us who are old enough to remember the pre-Ofsted, pre-National Curriculum days, this testing and results-driven era is one in which the emphasis is on league tables ranking to the exclusion of a more broad-based approach to learning in which children are taught to think, to enquire, to be curious...not to be drilled into the art of regurgitating the correct responses to attain maximum marks in tests.

So yes, if I had children in the early years of primary and they were at a school like X, I would take it as a Very Bad Sign and move them. I wish I had recognized the bad omens and done so with my own. Children only have one shot at primary school and in comparison with secondary school, there is still some potential for creativity, if it's a school that values that as much, if not more, than league tables ratings.

[DenmotherSmith]

Thanks for your post Medusa,I do take it as a very bad sign, but in the present climate of results and league driven teaching what is the alternative? Jump ship and trek miles for a more 'creative' school, stay and fight to have these options on the agenda? I am really aware of this being their one shot for that beautiful enriching primary experience my oldest had. Great to see Goose Green are so enthusiastically embracing performance, lovely when the whole school community turns out to see a show.

[Coach Beth]

The headteacher and the governing body (of which I'm a part) at Goose Green are very enthusatic about integrating the creative arts (as well as sport/physical activity) into the curriculum. One of just the many reasons for this is that there is research that shows that being involved in the creative arts has a positive effect not just in terms of those 'soft' outcomes like confidence and communication skills but on 'hard' outcomes i.e. academic achievement in literacy and numeracy. Here is a link to one study - US based but would hold true here. http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Research/Key-Topics/Arts-Education/critical-evidence.pdf

Perhaps you can speak to the headteacher and governors pointing out how involving children in creative arts enriches achievement rather than detracting from achievement. Good luck anyway!

[Medusa]

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thanks for your post Medusa,I do take it as a very

> bad sign, but in the present climate of results

> and league driven teaching what is the

> alternative? Jump ship and trek miles for a more

> 'creative' school, stay and fight to have these

> options on the agenda?

You'd be wasting your time and energy at that particular school. The Head is intractable. If it's really important to you that your children get a creative, rounded education, I'd strongly suggest considering a different school. Many, many parents felt the same way as I do about this and the Year 6 children ran a petition to persuade the Head to keep their end of school show, but he wasn't remotely interested. Lots of staff members are disheartened and I'd expect the best of them to leave as the next few years go by.

And yes, I'm fully expecting to be called alarmist for this, but what I'm saying is based on 8 years of involvement with the school and numerous conversations with parents as well as with staff; it's not just speculation.

[bluesuperted]

This is a very interesting thread, creativity is really important to me in the primary teaching I want for my son. I'm excited that he'll probably go to Kilmorie, fingers crossed.

If you have 20 mins I highly recommend this TED talk by Ken Robinson. It's fantastic and his delivery is superb.

[mollie]

School performances are the things children remember for the rest of their lives!

I teach music part-time in a 3 form entry Primary school, there are performances for each year group throughout the year.

Christmas plays, concerts, recitals, shows (great Roald Dahl plays/musicals), pantos, etc. Year 6 have done Oliver, Pirates of the Currybean, Grease, Lion King, Abbatastic in the last few years.

The way it works is for the 'play' to be the focus of the curriculum for those weeks running up to the performance. The singing, music, costumes, acting, dancing, programme design, backdrops, lighting, sound, props etc all become part of the learning.

Why do all the good things get squeezed out of education? I do a huge number of risk assessments every year for the various trips to the 02 with 100 children in the choir, the Borough music festivals and joint schools events. We even have to risk assess walking round the corner to sing carols. But I make sure I do these things because it is for the benefit of the children (and those who hear them).

We have school of rock bands, steel pans, accordion groups, choir, recorder group, staff steel pans and other ensembles that play for different events. The sky is the limit with children, but unfortunately the real limit is with those who control the creative diet in our schools which our children receive.

I am employed because the Head Teacher knows that music is great PR for the school, he knows it brings the whole school (650 pupils) together, and raises morale, self-esteem and well-being for the children, staff and parents.

If you feel strongly about the school play then follow your heart......let the school know what you think, and put a plan of action together.

All the best

[Coach Beth]

Just remembered this thread from last year and was curious whether the original poster had any success convincing the school in question to revive whole school performances?

Maybe you could suggest they visit another primary school in the area which does do school performances? The public is welcome to one of the Year 3 & 4 performances of Alice in Wonderland at the school happening on Wednesday 2nd April and Thursday 3rd April.

Tickets are just ?2.00 and members of the local community are more than welcome! The school is trialling a new box office system so you can book on line via the school website.

Go to the website at http://www.goosegreenprimaryschool.org for more information and to book tickets.

This is going to be a fab event which could win over skeptics questioning the value of performances at primary school level - I can attest to the high production values and quality of the acting/singing

[Coach Beth]

Hello - just an update to say that you can now book all three performances of Alice in Wonderland at the school website http://www.goosegreenprimaryschool.org

[hoipolloi]

Excitement reaching fever pitch in GG Y4 about the production next week expecially now the lovely people at Just William have put their fab Alice in Wonderland display up in the window :-)

[Coach Beth]

Oh yes, I just had a proper look at the display - it is fab! I was so impressed I took a photo of it! It's attached here! There are still tickets spare but the two evening performances only have about 30 tickets spare each night - which means that we are already running at about 85% capacity for the evening performances! Tickets available here: http://www.goosegreenprimaryschool.org/box-office

[Coach Beth]

Wow! What am amazing performance! Superb singing and acting from all involved! If you want to check it out there are only a few tickets left for tomorrow nights performance but there are more for tomorrow afternoon at 2:15pm so if you are free in the afternoon, get online and book your tickets!