Onatti Theatre Visit

Palmers Green High School (PGHS) invited 30 Year 4 pupils from St Monica's School to join us when the Onatti Theatre company came to School to perform a play in French.  Year 10 pupils from PGHS planned a delivered a preparation lesson for the partnership school that took place directly ahead of the performance.  They explained the plot that was to be acted out, taught them some key French volcabulary and created a booklet about the story for children.

Aims

The aim of the partnership with St Monica's was to provide the opportunity for more children to not only experience live theatre but also to experience an immersion in a modern language. 

An activity such as this will enable young children to enjoy and understand another language through interactive theatre.  Pupil participation forms part of the performance so all the children benefit from the positivity of singing, going on stage and being part of the play together.

Background

PGHS has a long history of inviting theatre companies into School.  An opportunity was identified to enable local Schools to also benefit from these visits without incurring extra cost.

Following a successful visit to our partner school for a collaborative Art project earlier in the year, PGHS invited 30 Year 4 pupils from St Monica's to join us when the Onatti Theatre company came to School.

First year of the event, to be reviewed with the hope of repeating. 

Resources

The main School Hall was used for the play and modern languages classrooms for the preparation session.  

Staff from both schools were used to support the pupils.  No financial contribution was expected from the visiting School.

 

 

Impact

The preparation session enabled the Year 10 PGHS pupils to have the opportunity to experience leadership and responsibility that would not otherwise have been available to them.  The visiting children really enjoyed learning and were able to understand another language through the use of interactive theatre.  There were many opportunities for audience participation where all of the children sang together, went on stage and were genuinely part of the play.  The latter gave pupils from both schools the chance to work together collaboratively.

The event has had a positive impact on both schools involved: the partner school wrote to say how much the children had enjoyed the experience and that it had sparked a real interest in the French language.  They would love to be involved in such an event with PGHS next year.  This event was an excellent way to share resources and see another environment for visiting pupils. 

Pupil Involvement

8-11 years old

Frequency

This is an annual event.