Now booking: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, MACBETH, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and ROMEO AND JULIET

Last chance to book: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Give your students the advantage of live performance.

Fred Theatre is taking to the road this autumn with the company’s specially commissioned schools friendly version of Charles Dickens’ classic novella.

Performed by five actors in 90 minutes, this lively adaptation really brings the book to life. A faithful retelling of the much loved story, it is a great introduction to the text or a timely revision tool. There’s even audience interaction!

There are only a few unfilled slots on the tour schedule, but there is still a chance to grab a performance this year.

To discuss your requirements please email Helen today (details below).

Coming up: MACBETH, ROMEO AND JULIET, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

After the Christmas break, the company is touring with 90 minute versions of three Shakespearean classics.

Our 90 minute adaptations aim to be fresh and exciting re-tellings of familiar and much loved stories. Typically these feature a cast of five or six professional actors. Less technical than public performances, we concentrate on the text and producing a faithful representation of the original—just a little shorter! An excellent introduction to the text in-hand, often more convenient, and nearly always more cost-effective than a trip out to a theatre.

Recognised for our quality, professionalism and accessibility Fred Theatre has built an excellent reputation for our schools friendly productions.

RATHER SEE FRED IN A THEATRE?

We’re pleased to announce that Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet can both be seen on stage if you’d rather organise a field trip.

Both shows will be playing in rep in February at The Bear Pit (Stratford upon Avon) and The Cockpit (Marylebone, London). To discuss a group booking, please contact Helen in the office.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

To find out more, simply e-mail Helen in our office, helen@fred-theatre.co.uk, or call Robert on 07974 210265. We’ll collect a few details from you and respond with potential dates and costs.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Fred Theatre Limited

classic drama, contemporary theatre

www.fred-theatre.co.uk

PS: Get in touch today to secure your preferred dates

How schools are funding the 30 minutes a day physical activity requirement in the Childhood Obesity Strategy.

The government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy came about after the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health revealed that in some parts of the country 40 percent of children were diagnosed as overweight or obese.

As a result, the Strategy required all primary schools to provide 30 minutes of physical activity on a daily basis in addition to the 2 hours of PE.  However, two problems then arose: one was how to fund it, and the other was how to arrange these 30 minutes of physical activity .

Fortunately, since the announcement of the new strategy solutions have been found to both issues.  In terms of the funding, new money is being provided.  This funding is provided jointly by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport, and is allocated to primary school headteachers. The funding is ring-fenced and therefore can only be spent on improving the quality of physical activity provisions in schools.

Use the calculations below to work out your school’s allocation:

Schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils receive £1,000 per pupil

Schools with 17 or more pupils receive £16,000, plus an additional payment of £10 per pupil

Example: a Primary School with 250 children receives £18,500 this academic year.

As for the additional activity, there are a growing range of resources that can be used in class, as part of each lesson.  In all this means that children don’t have to go outside or have specialist PE activities each day; the funding can instead be used to provide resources to use in the class as part of their lessons.

The government has also now issued its “Definition of Physical Activity, Physical Education and School Sport” poster which again confirmed that it was not expecting the new activity to be of the traditional PE type.  The provision can come through activity in the classroom.

This confirms that activities within lessons are to be counted as physical activity and that the funding for PE and Sport can be used to fund resources that incorporate this and allow schools to meet the 30 minutes a day target.

It is with this in mind that imoves developed its “Active Learning” series which can work in all lessons.  You can see how it works, find all the details, and have a free trial of some of the lessons via our website, where you will also find many more details of our work.

If you have any questions please either phone 0114 2661061 or email enquiries@imoves.com.

Ian Pickles

What can you do with the really, really most annoying children in your class?

Now before you get ready to email me back and suggest a transfer for such children from your school to mine, let me quickly add that that is not the point of this little note.

Rather my issue is with the children who always finish an allotted exercise in less than the time I expected them to take.  I set them some work, anticipate that it gives me six or seven minutes free time to sort out other pressing matters, and then find three bright sparks have finished the whole thing in three.

Which is why I was delighted when Peter Clutterbuck came up with the idea for a set of books called “What to give annoying children”. Unfortunately, the Editorial Director vetoed that title so we have to call them “Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers.”

But I must give you a word of warning.  Because, although the tasks are engrossing and do aid focus and creative thinking, I have found no less than seven occasions in which one of my class has got an answer before I did.

Naturally I blame the stress of the job, the long hours marking, the meetings, the overcrowded classes, the annoying parents, and just about everything else I can think of, but in calmer moments I’m sure my brain used to be faster than this.

And, before you suggest otherwise, I’ve still got quite a few years to go before being put out to graze.

You try it, and see what happens.  Follow one of the links below and then click on the link under the words “sample material” which is under the word “quantity” which is under the price which is… oh well, you get the idea.

Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers for 5-7 year olds: see how good you are

Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers for 7-9 year olds: so you think you’re really smart?

Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers for 9-11 year olds: ok so you are better at this than me

You can read more about Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers on our website – just hover over the cover for details or click on the cover to go further.

If you have any questions about the resources, you can email orders@tradecounter.co.uk.  But please don’t tell them you were faster than me.  My life’s hard enough as it is.