Football: the perfect way to encourage minimal supervision free play. But it wasn’t always so.

It may seem obvious that playing with footballs is a wonderful way to encourage minimal supervision free play.

And yet for most of our country’s history attempts have been made to ban football games.

Indeed between 1314 and 1667 for example, football was officially banned in over 30 royal and local laws. Edward II was so troubled that he issued a proclamation banning the game because it stopped citizens from practicing archery.

And it wasn’t just England. Phillippe V banned it in France in 1319. In Scotland James I banned it in 1424. Henry VIII issued several banning orders, not least because some of the matches were played with around 500 men and women aside.

Surprisingly the tradition of trying to stop football continued well into the 20th century with many parks containing “No ball games” notices.

Fortunately in these more enlightened times we do see the enormous benefit of letting children play with footballs. Doing so enhances fitness, encourages team play, develops physical skills, and brings huge enjoyment.

Thus it is indeed not surprising that the number of people who play five-a-side and other variations of the game as a way of having enjoyment and staying fit, can now be measured in the hundreds of thousands.

The average school child spends, during his/her primary school years, the equivalent of 260 full school days in the playground. So it is not surprising that the best selling item of play equipment across the UK is… the football.

 And that’s why we sell everyday footballs from £3.58, training footballs from £4.58 and match footballs from £4.75. We also have felt balls (suitable for indoor training), mini footballs (for the busy playground), and lightweight inflatable balls.

If you would like help in choosing the right footballs for your pupils in various situations you can call us today on 01323 501040 or email sales@edventure.co.uk for more information.

Edventure Ltd
Hargreaves Business Park
Hargreaves Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN23 6QW

Tel: 01323 50 10 40

Email: sales@edventure.co.uk

What is it that every drama course needs, but which is so hard to find?

The answer that many drama teachers have given us, when we have posed this question is, “short plays for the students to perform”.

And so that is what we have produced under the (rather precise) title: “Short Scripts for the Stage”. This copiable volume contains eight “Modern Fairy Tales”, six “Shorts with a Twist” and three “Stand Alones”.

Each of these plays is written specifically for school performance and are all designed to appeal and be used all the way from Year 7 through to Year 11. Of course in each case the outcome will be different depending on the age and experience of the students, but all are accessible and usable by all Key Stage 3 and 4 students.

All the plays are short, and together they allow a number of plays to be put on as a production in one night, as well as giving the students something which they can attempt and get a feeling of completion once the play is completed.

Throughout, the characters are a little larger than life, and there is a sense of humour in every play. But at the same time, some of the topics are very serious, including war, violence, family break up and death. Thus within the complete selection of 17 plays, there is great variety not only of subject matter but also underlying emotion.

As a result self-esteem, confidence, collaboration and team work, movement and spatial awareness are all incorporated in the range of advantages offer by rehearsing these plays within the school and then (if desired) acting the plays out in public.

The volume is available in photocopiable form or on CD, so that only one copy is needed by the school. Each student will thus be able to have his/her own copy of the script of the play that is being developed.

There are sample pages from the photocopiable book at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/drama/T1802.pdf

Publisher’s reference: T1802EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 806 4

Prices

  • Photocopiable book: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the book and the CD: £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery

Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report… please quote the order ref: T1802EMN