CPD review: Storytelling in the Primary Classroom from Half Moon

Half Moon Theatre are the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company, producing professional plays for young and family audiences. They also run an extensive creative learning programme (including eight youth-theatre groups), and it is part of their CPD offer for teachers that I am accessing for this article.

‘Storytelling in the Primary Classroom’ is for ‘anyone who thinks teachers and children can be storytellers’. An advocate of drama and stories in my own practice, I joined the Zoom call with a mix of teachers in EYFS, Y5, & SMEH provision, interns, MA students, people from charities, mental health organisations and more.

Part of Tower Hamlets Arts and Education Service year-long programme of free CPD, the sessions (some in person, some online), aim to extend the quality and breadth of drama being used within the core curriculum. Spaces for teachers working outside Tower Hamlets are £90 per year.

First, we share our favourite stories: Hairy Maclary, Harry Potter, Red Riding Hood, Rama and Sita, Going on a Bear Hunt. This is a great way to start, reminding us that getting stories into the classrooms doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Jen Pearcy-Edwards, creative learning manager, is leading the session. ‘I hope participants feel confident and comfortable in telling stories, both in classrooms and in dayto-day life,’ she says. It’s working – just the mention of some of these titles brings smiles and ideas to the group.

Next, some possibly familiar but worthwhile warm-up activities. One of the strengths of the session was that the diverse mix of practitioners allowed for knowledge exchange between participants, and bespoke advice from facilitator. Jen expertly guided us through various storytelling activities that we could use tomorrow or adapt or develop for future. By explaining the activity, running it practically, reflecting, offering development suggestions and providing us with follow up resources to support the pedagogy, Jen shared her knowledge and catered for the range of practitioners involved.

Not all of the exercises translated perfectly to online, but the premise came across. ‘Story square’ is a simple activity that puts stories on their feet in the classroom. The idea of using narratives that the children have written and performing them live is particularly impactful. Other favourites of mine were the mapping activities, which involved writing stories only with symbols or drawing out the people and places and journeys. This sparked lots of ideas in the group.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and useful session. The activities here are varied and practical, and the intimate nature allows participants to pose questions and ask for advice. This is a bespoke, responsive form of CPD. After the session I received a six-page pack outlining each activity in more detail. It also included links to other online resources from various creative organisations. I wonder if there is some scope for the resources to be labelled or categorised, either by key stage or curriculum area, but this was a useful session and resource nevertheless.

halfmoon.org.uk