Schools often find teaching the subject of drama a daunting prospect, particularly when they have little or no experience of it. Not surprisingly, teachers are often wary when it comes to all things dramatic. For many, the thought of having 30 unruly children running around the school hall pretending to be one of their favourite superheroes is not particularly appealing!

How a child communicates not only influences the success of their day-to-day relationships but also their long term goals; be it introducing themselves to a stranger, presenting ideas to a group, or listening to friends; the ability to communicate effectively is the key to developing confidence, self-respect and to building rewarding relationships.

Following consultation with local primary schools, poor communication skills amongst pupils were identified as a prime concern. The Old Vic’s Education Department set about devising a creative arts project that would strengthen communication skills and enhance the school curriculum.
The result was Soapbox: an innovative project which harnessed the skills of actors, writers, producers, directors and education facilitators in order to help children communicate more effectively in a stimulating and fun environment.

Over two months, The Old Vic’s education facilitators worked in eight schools with some 250 pupils, aged 9–11 years, covering various forms of communication using a number of different theatrical techniques. This pack is the result of their work; explaining the ideas and techniques deployed lesson-by-lesson so that teachers with no drama training may recreate the Soapbox learning experience in their own classroom.

The resource pack contains eight self-contained lesson plans. Each plan provides a challenging and unique learning experience for all those involved; improving both verbal and non-verbal communication through an inventive series of theatre exercises.
There are often few opportunities to practise such skills in today’s time-pressured curriculum, but in many ways we’ve done the hard work for you with a series of workshops that have been tried and tested.