Conduct a Friendship Assembly for KS1 and KS2
Putting on a friendship assembly for primary schools is a fantastic leavers' assembly idea and makes for a great all-round performance. However, if you don’t know where to start, don’t worry – at The School Musicals Company, our team’s aim is always not only to make assemblies as engaging as possible but also to make them educational with a range of supporting assembly songs.
Our guide to running a friendship assembly for KS1 and KS2 students can teach children a valuable lesson or two, from how to be a fantastic friend to understanding the importance of empathy and kindness.
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Spotlight on: Oliver with a Twist!
Looking for a leavers' musical to help your Year Six class leave in style? Look no further than Oliver with a Twist, Emily Martin and Matthew Crossey ‘s brand-new musical adaptation based on – you’ve guessed it – Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
This new school musical for primary schools has gone above and beyond to delight school audiences and youth theatres across the UK and beyond so far, but what makes it so special? Hint: it’s definitely the twist in the tale!
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Our Favourite Nativity Costume Ideas
Staging a nativity musical can be one of the most exciting times of the school year – but are you prepared to make a statement with some eye-catching ideas for nativity costumes?
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Top Tips from Niki Davies on Staging a Nativity Musical
With her new nativity musical, Follow The Star, now available, much-loved writer and composer Niki Davies provides some handy guidance on all things nativity.
It all begins, as you would expect, with choosing an accessible nativity which the children themselves are going to enjoy performing.
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14 Brilliant Harvest Assembly Ideas
Looking to create a memorable harvest assembly? Whether you're planning for KS1 or KS2, we've got plenty of fun and educational ideas to help you celebrate the season and make learning about harvest exciting and meaningful. Check out our tips and resources to get started!
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Top Year Six Leavers Assembly Ideas
As an event filled with happy memories, leavers assemblies help Year Six pupils end their primary school journey on a high before starting their next schooling adventure.
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What is the Nativity?
Now summer has officially ended (*cue the sad face*) we turn our attention to the most festive time of the year! And in amongst the busy shops, copious wrapping paper and catchy jingles played on repeat on the radio, teachers will be biting their nails in anticipation of the annual primary school nativity play. So, what exactly is a nativity play?
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Teaching the Nativity Story for Kids
As nativity plays have been, and still are, so prevalent within schools in the UK, many will already have a grasp on the nativity story, or at least the main elements, such as the stories told in our KS1 nativity story plays. Nevertheless, if you’re not 100% confident with what the nativity story is or just need a quick refresher before December approaches, have a read of our quick guide.
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How To Put On A School Musical – The Ultimate Guide
From picking the most suitable school production to roping in as many members of the school community you can to help make it actually happen, this is your ultimate guide to putting on a school musical as seamlessly as possible. Get ready to raise the roof!
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The 10 Best and Most Popular Musicals for Schools
Who doesn’t love a fun-filled, heart-bursting, action-packed and, at times, wonderfully cheesy musical? From dancing in the aisles to singing along to catchy songs at the top of your voice, we defy anyone to sit through an entire musical straight laced and straight faced. It’s the ultimate pick-me-up – quite frankly, it should be renamed ‘Happy Hour’ - and even more so if it’s performed by happy, enthusiastic children excited to put on a show for their parents, grandparents and extended family. But how do you choose the best musical for your school? Check out our top ten Best And...
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15 Brilliant School Nativity Ideas
As the famous Andy Williams Christmas song goes, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year...” – go on, we dare you to name a person who doesn’t agree! But for teachers like you, the big festive cherry on top is knowing that you have produced a top-notch nativity for everyone to enjoy before the end of (a very long...) term. As Christmas edges closer, we know the pressure is on you to find the perfect nativity for your class or school. But never fear, The School Musicals Company is here!
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13 Christmas Assembly Ideas for Primary School
For many primary school children, Christmas is the most exciting and magical time of year. From counting down the days on their advent calendars, to praying every single night for the gift of a white Christmas (*crosses fingers for 2021*), it’s a time for joy and education in equal measure. So how do you get the right balance for your Christmas assembly? Read on and we’ll tell you. Whether you want to put a spin on a whole primary school nativity or sing some truly brilliant festive songs, here are some unforgettable Christmas assembly ideas for primary school.
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Year Six Leavers Ideas: The Best Ways to Say Goodbye
As the end of the school year approaches, it’s time to start thinking about Year Six leavers ideas. Year Six children building towards the final phase of their primary education will experience a whole range of emotions when they move from one chapter of their life to another.
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Hooray! Music & Drama Education Awards - Finalist
We are delighted to announce that our musical "Bamboozled - An Extraordinary Musical Adventure" has been shortlisted at the Music & Drama Education Awards within the category "Excellence In Musical Theatre". The project, written and published in partnership with Edinburgh Zoo and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, is an uplifting tale of friendship and survival, and carries a vital message to young performers about conservation and looking after our natural environment.
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All The Home’s A Stage: What Role Can Drama Play In Remote Learning?
Drama is a wonderful addition to the home-learning cannon. It’s an exciting, dynamic, creative and meaningful pursuit that most children will love the chance to do in their home. And it doesn’t need a cast of 30 to make it work. It can be done in pairs with a sibling or parent, or even as an individual. On top of that, it requires very little teacher involvement, it can provide a break from looking at a screen or working at a table, it needn’t require any particular resources and it may be just what the children need when stuck at...
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Top Tips On Filming A Nativity
This Christmas will see many schools and nurseries filming a nativity rather than performing it to a live audience. For a lot of them, it may well be the first time that they have filmed a production. For everyone, it will be the first time that the filmed version needs to fill the metaphorical boots of the live version. And this being the case, the process of filming it perhaps needs a little more consideration and planning than it might otherwise: how to ensure everyone can be seen and heard, when to zoom in and when not to, when to...
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Bubble Nativities Are Go!
Within primary schools, the nativity is at once the backbone and the heart of the school year, so embedded within the cultural calendar and so intrinsic to the structure of the autumn term, that schools must and will do everything to ensure it takes place. But it will need to adapt.
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Harvest Up Our Free Download Packs
Ah, the modern-day harvest festival: giant packets of dried pasta, tins of baked beans, soups, cereal boxes, biscuits, even long-lasting milk. It’s a far cry from all the fresh fruit and vegetables of yesteryear, when tables bowed under the weight of potatoes and pumpkins, apples and onions, misshapen carrots and amusingly shaped turnips.
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Sing It... But Don't Shout It
As if schools being closed and communities being in lockdown wasn’t enough, the idea of finally returning to school but not being allowed to sing would have been heart-breaking to many children and teachers across the country. So, with the updated publication of the government’s “Guidance for full opening: schools” (see link below), many will be breathing a sigh of relief that music and singing can return to their rightful place at the heart of the school community.
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The “Outstanding” School Musicals Company Wins Prestigious Award
Just two years after launching The School Musicals Company, we are understandably delighted to have won the “Outstanding Musical Theatre/Drama Resource” award at this year’s Music Teacher “Awards For Excellence”. We have received wonderful feedback from the hundreds of schools and youth theatres about our shows and publications, “brilliant” comments from Teaching Drama Magazine and to now receive accreditation from industry professionals is the icing on the cake.
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What makes “Pantastic” completely fantastic?
As a leavers musical, there cannot be many to rival Pantastic for sheer joie de vivre. Tom Kirkham and Matthew Crossey’s exhilarating adaptation of the adventures of Peter Pan, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys and Tiger Lily has been delighting schools and youth theatres all over Europe since its publication in 2016.
So, what’s the secret? What makes it such a great leavers musical, and why do children, in particular, love it so much?
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School’s Back From Summer
We’ve all had it. That sinking feeling as the summer holidays draw to a close and the thought of going back to school edges its way into your mind, taking up more space each day until the morning finally comes and you traipse off, wondering where the time has gone and willing half term to arrive quickly.
And that’s just the teachers.
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The Question Is – Is Drama The Answer?
Teachers are constantly on the look out for new approaches to engage children with their learning, to put across information in an original way or to tackle challenging topics. We all know that pupils learn well when they are enjoying what they are doing, when they are stimulated and active, when they can get out from behind their desks! Used well, drama, singing and music have the potential to revolutionise learning, not to mention adding interest and (potentially) respite for the busy, multi-tasking teacher.
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A School Musical Is The Teacher’s Everest
Schools really are astonishing places, and teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders really are the most remarkable of people. These plate-spinning professionals multitask every moment of the day out of sheer necessity, serving as educators, performers, researchers, mentors, counsellors, administrators, writers, artists, designers, at times even as police officers. The days are frenetic and relentless; time is not their own, it belongs to the children, their parents, their colleagues. And yet, somehow, some of these people manage – and are willing - to introduce a whole new level of busyness into their lives when they agree to take on the...
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