Empowering Voices in the Classroom

For KS2 English leads and non-specialist teachers.

Overview:

This half-day training session is open to any number of members from your school team at all stages of their careers. The training will take place in a large, ground floor room at Hestercombe House. You are welcome to arrive early to eat in the café or stay after to explore the grounds but please let us know your plans.

Led by SPAEDA associate arts educator and Bright Torches founder, Tom Davey, this training session will offer teachers, TAs and support staff the opportunity to develop confident and creative storytelling, drama and literacy approaches, to support your pupils, fostering talking skills and allowing them to express themselves.

Learning aims:

• Discover creative ways to introduce stories and explore characters, settings, and themes.
• Learn activities that inspire engagement with the world of the story, leading to discussion and written responses.
• Reflect on effective strategies for allowing children to explore and understand characters through their actions, relationships, and use of language.
• Develop an understanding of how plays and other stories can be used to foster empathy and personal responses to human emotions and experiences like exclusion, friendship, and conflict.
• Find activities for exploring characters' dilemmas, motivations, and opinions, and learn how to tailor these activities to meet the needs and abilities of all students.
• Boost your own understanding of Shakespeare and confidence in speaking and discussing Shakespeare's language.
• Gain confidence in editing and using text for every classroom.
• Explore how these activities can be applied to other stories and set texts.
• Develop activities specifically for students with SEND and EAL.

“Amazing, inspirational, uplifting and exciting”

"It was a great experience. Very enjoyable and engaging"

"I found the session extremely engaging and informative. I will take these lesson ideas into my practice."

Who are Bright Torches?

Bright Torches believe in igniting a love of stories, sparking imagination and critical thinking. Their mission is to inspire and encourage individuals of all ages to ‘burn bright’ and engage with the world of literature through drama-based activities that support the academic, social and emotional development of young people. They understand that stories have the power to help us understand ourselves and believe that collaboration is crucial in developing social skills and building a brighter future.    Their exciting workshops, teacher training programmes and projects are designed to complement the curriculum and strengthen speaking and listening skills. They work with schools to support the teaching of Shakespeare, 19th Century novels, poetry and other set texts, and promote spoken literacy.    You can find out more about Bright Torches by visiting brighttorches.com or following them on Instagram (@brighttorches).