This March more than two million primary school children across the UK will be celebrating Shakespeare’s timeless stories and poetry as part of Shakespeare Week. The free scheme for primary school children and their families is run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the independent charity that promotes the enjoyment and understanding of Shakespeare’s works, life and times.
Highlights of this year’s national celebration will include:
- A special poetry performance broadcast to over 12,000 schools
- The Big Shakespeare Wild Book hunt in 154 communities across the country
- Storytelling sessions in over 1000 libraries
- Mission Shakespeare online interactive challenges to complete at home or in school
- A new Green Tree Schools Award Challenge for children to explore the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the woods
- Over 150 free resources for teachers, home educators and families covering every curriculum subject in KS1 and KS2
Sally Gray, Shakespeare Week Education Officer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said, “Every child should have the chance to experience the best of our heritage and culture. Since we launched Shakespeare Week in 2014, five million children have been introduced to Shakespeare’s stories, characters and language. Teachers tells us that as well as having fun with Shakespeare, children also gain improved communication, creative and critical thinking skills, greater confidence, and broadened horizons. Teachers benefit too: in 2017, when half the nation’s school participated, 37% of teachers hadn’t taught Shakespeare previously, and 57% had introduced new ways for pupils to explore creativity in the classroom. These results powerfully put paid to any notion that Shakespeare is boring and difficult, lacks relevance or is somehow ‘for others’.”
