Increasing opportunities with the Rose Theatre

For many years the Rose Theatre have donated free tickets to pupils to attend their Christmas show.  Now thanks to additional funding they are able to offer opportunities for free theatre tickets for some of their other productions.  Most recently, Key Stage 3 pupils enjoyed a trip to see ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’.  Told from a child’s perspective, The Boy at the Back of the Class tells the story of Ahmet who has fled from a war torn country and started a new school in the UK.  The story highlights the power of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense and reminds us that everyone needs a place to call home.

In addition to watching productions at the theatre our Key Stage 4 pupils have also benefitted from taking part in workshops on careers in the theatre which has led to four older pupils in the school joining the Rose Collective.  The Rose Collective is a small-scale theatre company, formed of 16 -19 year-olds, based at the Rose Theatre for six months. Members attend weekly, term-time workshops to learn the skills, tools and connections you need to create a final major production project. The Rose Collective is a funded programme, offering young people who face barriers to accessing theatre the opportunity to benefit from high quality training and programmes.

Our relationship with the Rose Theatre has also been two way and we recently welcomed a delegation of Rose Theatre staff for a visit to the school.  Whilst visiting they were given a tour of the school, observed Drama and Communication lessons and then spent time questioning staff on best practice when working with young people with learning difficulties and/or neurodiversity.

Staff at St Philip’s have also attended Rose Connections events, a series of networking events for teachers at the Rose Theatre, where they have advocated and advised on SEN.