Early Years & Primary Schools Current Projects

Professional Theatre • CPD for teachers • Early Years Outreach • Poetry Quest • Lyrical Laps • Transitions • Mini Beasts • Dramatic Maths • Sun, Sea and Sentences • Scriptworks • Family Engagement • Journey Together • Previous Projects

Half Moon has been running exciting, creative projects for schools for 20 years. The projects described above can all be tailored to your needs and are designed to enhance your current schemes of work. In addition we are happy to create bespoke drama based projects to meet your specific needs.

For more information on any aspect of our Early Years & Primary School work please call 020 7709 8901 or email our Associate Director

Half Moon is London's only Earlyarts Pathfinder partner. Earlyarts offers a range of resources and is the largest professional development network for people working creatively with children and families in the arts, cultural and early years sectors. For more information about Earlyarts and their professional development click here.

Professional Theatre

In addition our touring productions, Half Moon presents a vibrant season of work for young audiences between October and March, featuring the work of more than 20 professional touring companies.

All performances take place on Saturdays with tickets priced at just £6 each to make the programme as accessible as possible.

We also offer a group bookings rate where every 11th ticket booked is provided free of charge. Click here for further information about our season and touring programme.

CPD for teachers

Half Moon is offering a series of Continuing Professional Development opportunities for primary school teachers. The programme offers a series of one-off practical sessions, covering all phases of education, delivered by theatre and drama professionals and some of the Borough's most respected teachers, and planned in partnership with the Borough's Drama AST Julia Williams.

All courses are free of charge for teachers in Tower Hamlets - made possible by funding from the Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service (THAMES). There are also a limited number of places for teachers working outside the borough - a fee of £45 Half Day/£95 Full Day courses applies.

Click here for more information about our 2011/2012 CPD programme.

Early Years Outreach

Each year we run an extensive Early Years participatory programme in partnership with a professional play for under 5s. We work with around 40 groups in Tower Hamlets and in recent years a number of groups in Camden. This year's project successfuly worked with groups across Tower Hamlets, Camden and Southwark alongside the professional production Plum And Pickle.

Details about the 2012 project which will take place during the Autumn and be linked to a new performance - Moon And Genie will be posted here as soon as they are confirmed.

Poetry Quest

The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts and Half Moon Young People’s Theatre with the support of Bank of America Merrill Lynch have teamed up to offer students from Tower Hamlets the opportunity to discover the world of performance poetry, by seeing a live performance and working with professional poets on their own poems.

The project will provide over 200 year 5 and 6 students the opportunity to work with two local poets to develop their own poetry and will take place both at our venue and within schools.  The schools currently involved in the project are Bonner Primary, Bigland Green Primary, Manorfield Primary and Stewart Headlam Primary. The project is being supported by teacher training and will culminate in a finale performance of the children’s own work at Half Moon in February 2012.

Lyrical Laps
An afterschool literacy and spoken word project

Turn your pupils into word wizards through a dynamic exploration of poetry and performance. Using a letter of the alphabet as a stimulus the class will explore poetry before creating their own spoken work pieces which can be performed, videoed and shared back to the group. This project is largely delivered by school staff who attend a CPD session with Half Moon and will have a DVD and resource pack as well as support from Half Moon.

Develops: Confidence, vocabulary, other elements of literacy, teaching practice

Case study May - June 2010, eight Tower Hamlets schools including Ben Jonson & Marion Richardson. After an inspiring CPD session teaching staff in all eight schools delivered their own projects. The scale of this project enabled an additional element - an audiovisual installation at Half Moon. The films of the students spoken word pieces were edited and woven together with their artwork in a specially created installation which they as well as friends and family visited. "The quality of the work the children did was amazing. Their speaking and listening skills improved and so too did their confidence in performing and writing.” Teacher Funded by Tower Hamlets Extended Schools

Transitions
An inter-school project to prepare young people for the transition to Secondary school. For pupils in Primary school years 5 & 6 and Secondary Year 7s.

Moving up to secondary school can be a scary prospect with lots of unknowns and rumours circulating. Prepare your Year 5 & 6 students for this step via a structured series of workshops including forum theatre with a group of Year 7 ambassadors from a local Secondary school. The project actively involves parents and enables participants to share experiences and engage positively with this new phase in their learning.

There is a DVD of the orginal pilot of this production by documentary film-maker, eyeline productions. If you would like to see the DVD please send us an email.

Develops: engagement of parent, pupil voice, social skills, co-operation, conflict resolution, empathy

Mini Beasts
Exploring Science, living things and their environments

This project is a fun drama based investigation of the insect life in our gardens, parks, allotments and open spaces. Giant leaves, grass and tunnels allow for an interactive sensory exploration in a workshop that encourages families to play together. The project could involve using a musician and a storyteller to help develop an imaginative relationship with nature.

Develops: multi-sensory play, engagement with local green spaces, imagination

Case Study 2009: Southwark Early Years Centres A full day workshop with a storyteller and a musician. The session started in the classroom before moving outside to the local playground. The group had a multi-sensory exploration examining textures found outside and meeting some of the mini-beasts that live there. The aim was to develop an engagement with the natural world and foster an ownership of local outdoor spaces. “The music is so good and stimulating; it really brings another focus to the workshop” Children Centre staff

Dramatic Maths - Maths goes Olympic!
A Maths, Geography and literacy project

Take your class on a global adventure where they will need to use their knowledge of weighing, measuring, and much more to help them achieve their quest to find the missing Olympic flame.

Develops: literacy, numeracy, geography and history knowledge and drama skills

Case study Jan - Mar 2010: Essex Primary, Newham The project worked with around 240 children, 8 classes across years 2 and 3 who were split into mixed ability groups. The aim was to help Barnaby Bear on his hunt for the missing Olympic torch and involved lots of weighing, measuring, travelling and exploring along the way. A book of the project was created by an illustrator as a legacy to leave with the school. "Motivation for learning Maths increased a lot. Maths started to make sense " Tutor A New Direction funded project

Sun, Sea and Sentences
A historical project featuring, literacy and Geography

Travel back to the Edwardian seaside to unravel a mystery with Elsie and Bertie. The class will create dramas, write poems and letters as well as follow clues to discover aspects of history and geography. A 'big book' will be created that can be used for the class to share their adventures. The project will empower children to become more confident communicators, both through writing and speaking.

Develops: creative writing, other aspects of literacy, knowledge of geography and history, parental involvement

Case study Jan - Mar 2009 Wembley Park Weekly sessions were run with Year 2s to extend imaginative play and increase literacy. Parents were involved throughout and took part in a trip to the seaside which was part of the project. Sessions included drama and writing excercises, such as creating seaside postcards. Structured activites were created to specifically target EAL students. ‘It has changed the mindset of the parents'. Teacher

Primary Scriptworks
A new writing project

Inspire creativity and imagination through this writing and performance project. A writer, designer and director work with a group in either after school or school time sessions, to devise their own play. The project culminates in the students performing at Half Moon's venue with full technical support.

Schools can choose a subject matter to explore or allow one to develop organically over the course of the sessions.

Develops: theatre-making skills, writing skills, team working skills, confidence

Case study Autumn 2007 Thomas Buxton and St Anne's After-school sessions were run over 7 weeks. A writer and a director worked with with the group to devise a play around the subject of community cohesion. A designer also worked with the group and their ideas informed the final design. A performance was held at Half Moon showcasing the play. The group used improvisation, storytelling and collaborative learning and learnt about theatre making and using their own voice.

Journey Together
Drama play sessions for pre-school children and their parents and carers

Journey Together offers a unique opportunity for parents and carers of different backgrounds to play and learn alongside their children in a creative, structured and supportive environment.

For more examples of Half Moon's work see our projects archive