NT Collections: Inspiring young audiences

Every young person in the country should have access to the National Theatre, either directly or digitally, before they leave school. That's the aim of Jane Ball, the National's education manager, mastermind behind the NT's Collection for Schools which makes a wide range of plays and resources freely available to secondary and primary schools.

The roll-out to primary schools has only been going a couple of years, and already some 1700 schools have signed up to it. Ball is keen to reach out to primary schools in areas where there isn't any theatre, and places of deprivation. She says, ‘while this isn't a replacement for live theatre, we hope it will complement anything else a school can provide in the way of drama. Schools are under enormous pressure, and I can see why drama is often at the bottom of the list of priorities.’

The offering

So, what does the National Theatre Collection consist of and what are the benefits in terms of a learning experience? A lot of the content at present is adaptations of children's stories, such as Jon Klasson's I Want My Hat Back which the NT first produced in 2015, but there are also abridged versions of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, as well as shows produced by the Unicorn Children's Theatre, a partner in the Collections scheme. They are also linked to a number of regional theatres through their Theatre Nations scheme.

As for the benefits, Jane Ball says it is ‘a fun way into lots of other aspects of learning, especially for children with special needs. It provides a window into other worlds.’ Teacher Peter Upchurch, who has been using the NT Collections at Park Hill primary, Croydon, for the past two years, says: ‘It has had a major impact on the children's ability to write and speak, to enjoy reading and to understand what they're reading. It has been particularly effective with our many EAL (English as an additional language) children. It encourages the ones who struggle with reading and writing to have a go. Their understanding of English has come on a lot as a result of what we're doing in drama.’

Upchurch, a Year 4 teacher, gives an example of one girl whose reading was at Year 2 level until he introduced drama into the classroom through the NT Collections. ‘Now she is within the Year 4 curriculum,’ he says. ‘I put it down to acting things out and engaging with the text.’

Support and resources

In terms of support and resources, the NT is in partnership with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) and has offered teachers two-day training sessions, as well as text-based resources from the NT's education department. These include plot synopses, notes about key elements from performance style to design, rehearsal diaries and pointers for other activities.

Short films and audio recordings, including contextual information for the productions and interviews with the actors and creatives are also available to subscribers.

A former special needs teacher, Upchurch believes drama is an invaluable tool for engagement at primary level. ‘If I can present something in a fun way, they're going to learn more and remember more. We're using these strategies in all our subjects, including science. We're passing on things we've been doing in Years 3 and 4 to Year 6 to help them get better results.’

A recent survey commissioned by the NT's education department of teachers across the country produced very positive results. ‘In the current climate I think everyone appreciates the fact that it's free and for everyone,’ says Jane Ball. ‘If you're working on something that's largely digital with very little day to day feedback, it was gratifying to know that it's working in a practical sense.’

Educational, inspiring, engaging

The fallout from the disruption caused by the pandemic is another reason to value drama in the classroom, says Upchurch. ‘Children were denied imaginative play opportunities, so unless they were lucky enough to have parents who were willing to sit and play with them, a lot of them missed out on that key developmental stage of being able to imagine themselves in a different situation.’

One of the most popular choices in the NT Collection has I Want My Hat Back, a charming tale of a bear trying to retrieve his stolen hat. One of the reasons it works so well for KS2 is that it lets young audiences in on its tricks, making little effort to hide its make-believe. Character transformations take place in full view of the audience. With effortless ingenuity it unravels the mystery of drama without losing its allure.

Quite apart from the educational benefits and the fun factor, Upchurch believes exposure to drama could inspire future generations of theatre practitioners. ‘I could see some of them thinking, ‘I could do that as a job.’

nationaltheatre.org.uk/learn-explore/schools/national-theatre-collection