Sats are over for another year and our Year 6 children have been released back into the wild. Most of them are standing bleary-eyed and blinking in the sunlight, not sure what to do with their new-found freedom. Before they recover and wander off towards a horizon that promises outdoor games and other non-revision based activities, I seize my chance.
After a winter of discontent, now is the time to put our glorious Shakespeare-based summer production together. There is casting to do, lines to learn and rehearsals to arrange, but first some drama sessions. The time between the end of key stage 2 tests and our show in late June is short. With children shell-shocked after a relentless barrage of Sats practice papers, their ability to tread the boards with confidence is not guaranteed.
It’s not easy to get primary school children to speak slowly, clearly and confidently in front of a large gathering. Even those who will happily shout from one end of a packed playground to the other resort to muttering meekly when speaking in assembly. If I had a grey hair for every time I’ve sat through Show and Tell wondering if I’d gone deaf, I’d have even more than I have already.
The school show must go on
I have only three weeks in which to teach a year group of uncharacteristically shy 11-year-olds to perform confidently on the stage of a professional theatre. Because I’m not allowed to beat them into shape with a big stick, my only option is a crash course in the art of public speaking. To this end, I teach them my three golden rules:
Go out with a bang
Only lungs filled with air can empower the spoken word to seize the listener’s attention. A fact easily demonstrated using a floppy balloon, a massively inflated balloon and a pin.
Take the bus
No one can admire the view provided by perfect prose if it zooms by like Lewis Hamilton. Speak slowly and take plenty of stops to allow words to get on and off the tongue in safety.
Talk to the gods
Direct your best Gandalf voice towards an audience that is ancient, half-asleep, slightly deaf and residing in the heavens above.
Armed with these rules, my pre-production drama class recite “round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran”.
Tongue twisters are good for getting children to speak slowly and to make sure their words all have clear beginnings and endings. It is an exercise so successful (apart from Rayleigh accusing Rayden of spitting at her), I decide to use it in our audition workshop. Any child wanting a speaking role must learn a tongue twister by heart and recite it in a loud, clear and dramatic voice.
The results are mostly impressive. Brianna’s “Betty Botter bought some butter” is beautifully uttered. Sasha’s “She sells seashells on the seashore” is a celebration of sibilants. Except for a slightly problematic “pick of peckled pippers”, Pacey’s “Peter Piper picked his peppers” is delivered with power and precision. Exactly why Franklin chose to recite “I’m not the pheasant plucker” is unclear, but I think his mistakes were not entirely unintentional.
Steve Eddison is a teacher at Arbourthorne Community Primary School in Sheffield
