Year 4 Production: Wind in the Willow

28 6月 2019

The Wind in the Willows production has been a huge success because 60 students and teachers all worked together as a team to deliver an amazing performance. It has taught us there is so much value in learning how to become confident speakers.

We began preparing for the production by providing two extra-curricular activity clubs (ECAs) that focused on creating props and creating costumes. Children worked each week to design and create everything we used on stage.

We held auditions for the main characters, and gave those who secured the roles scripts very early on in the term so they could begin learning their extensive lines. We carefully considered every role for the entire production, and selected children to play a wide range of speaking, singing and dancing roles.

At the start of Term 3 we began to learn the songs. There are 10 songs in total, with very difficult lyrics, so we practised every day. The children also learned them in Music lessons to ensure we had time to prepare.

We began staging the production three weeks before the performance. We began by going over lines so that the children could learn where they fit in context with the production. We used classrooms, the auditorium, the theatre, the art room and even hallways to work through a wide range of scenes.

Over the three weeks we practised reading through our lines together, we learned how to sing our songs, dance our dances, and how to bring our characters to life. Our acting skills flourished, as did our confidence!

On the evening of June 26th 2019, we were ready to perform for our BIS audience. Everyone focused on what we knew we had to do. We had put so much effort into preparing, that on the night we delivered a stunning performance, exciting our audience with children becoming their characters, delivering their lines with confidence. We sang, we danced, laughed and enjoyed every moment. The audience did the same right along with us.

The Wind in the Willows production has been a huge success because 60 students and teachers all worked together as a team to deliver an amazing performance. It has taught us There is so much value in learning how to become confident speakers. We had so much fun, and will remember the Wind in the Willows for the rest of our lives!