Introduction to Drama in the Primary Curriculum

David Farmer has been running workshops, writing books and providing online resources through Drama Resource for many years, and has recently branched out into online courses which are proving a great success, reaching teachers all over the globe. In this one-day in-person workshop in central London he introduced a group of us to a number of ways in which drama could be incorporated into the primary curriculum to teach other subjects rather than as a subject in its own right.

Participants were primary teachers, and one secondary – who will nonetheless be able to apply all of the activities in settings for KS3 and up, since many of them are based on exercises developed originally for adult professional actors. None of them were drama specialists, and more than one was an English specialist who’d been asked by their school to take on Drama as well – a familiar trope – while another was a deputy head looking to incorporate greater creativity into the school day to encourage literacy and creative writing, particularly among boys. All of these teachers will have come away with a host of practical exercises that they can use immediately in the classroom to teach everything from science to maths, geography, history and creative writing.

Exercises which I found particularly inspiring included ‘Storytelling Whoosh’ – a means originally developed by the RSC to make Shakespeare stories accessible to very young students – and an extended section of the day focused on exploring the story of WWII evacuees. In total, we covered more than 30 different approaches to using drama techniques to teach other subjects, working for five hours in total, with an hour's break for lunch.

The day cost £225 at full price, with discounts available under certain conditions. David provides a certificate of attendance at the end of his workshops, and also sends out comprehensive notes for all of the ideas covered in the course. It was very clear to see how practically useful the day was to every teacher present and I’d highly recommend these courses to any teacher looking to use drama techniques in Primary settings – it was immediately evident how the teaching of absolutely any subject could be made more engaging and memorable for students by these means.

www.dramaresource.com