A day of creative joy!

Trainees in their second year of our Primary English Education BA(Hons) with QTS recently took part in a special workshop hosted by two leads from The National Theatre where they explored the creative journey of storytelling, creative pedagogy and joy.

The day also launched the research project for course team members Polly Herbert, Sinead Kennedy and Prof Peter Clough which they are undertaking this academic year, entitled ‘Exploring the enablers and barriers to implementing creative practices in primary English’

The workshop took place in the Performance studio on the Falmer campus, starting with the primary English team meeting with teachers and senior leaders from six of our partnership schools to share their hopes and fears for drama and storytelling in the primary classroom, and thinking about enablers and barriers.

They were then joined by our trainees for the rest of the day, where they took part in a variety of activities to stimulate language play, physical movement and build relationships. The group also listened to a story told by professional storytellers Kate Hopewell and Clare Murphy which encouraged them to share and retell their own stories, working together to develop writing that could be adapted in the classroom.

Trainees were encouraged to reflect on how they could develop the experiences of The National Theatre Creative Leads into our own pedagogy and practice.

Feeding back at the end of the day, one trainee said: “We can bring these strategies into the classroom and bring playfulness and stories to life with the children – anyone can tell stories.

Polly Herbert, course leader said “The workshop was a great way for our trainees to be able to explore lots of new practice to reflect on, which they will be able to put into practice when they go on school-based training in January and facilitate the work of the National Theatre into their classrooms!

Sinead Kennedy added, “The National Theatre Creative team were so impressed by the students and their vitality and knowledge of language and literacy and it was an exciting start to the semester for everyone.”