Pupils in Year 5 were visited by the Senior School Head of Drama, Mr Todres, as part of the ‘Drama Bridging Project’. The Bridging Project gives children in the Prep School a glimpse of what it is like to study in the Senior School. Pupils expereince Drama, Science, DT, Maths, Geography and Music (to name but a few!). 

Mr Todres took the children through a selection of activities and exercises that are used in the Senior School to get Drama students’ minds working and to show their creative and expressive sides. The exercises began with a fast paced ‘speed walking’ game whereby Mr Todres dictated the direction and speed at which pupils moved around the hall.

This was followed by a game known as ‘Trains and Carriages’, where pupils are put into pairs, one to act as the train, the other as the carriage, whilst trying to out manoeuvre ‘the catcher’. This game is designed to show trust and bring out confidence in students.

The third exercise, known as ‘Houses’, involves groups of 3, two students acting as ‘the house’ providing walls and a roof to the third student, ‘living’ in the house. On Mr Todres’ command, students were to swap their role with another ‘house’, leaving one student ‘out’ each time to continue to dictate the movement of the rest of the class.

Once the exercises had been completed, it was time for the children to put their acting ability to the test. Using a technique known as ‘Production Line’, a group of students had to act out the assembly of various objects whilst the rest of the class guessed what it was they were creating through their expressive actions. The Prep School Hall suddenly became home to three separate assembly lines creating bikes, roller skates, cars and even a tank!

The last part of the project gave students the chance to improvise, under the guidance of Mr Todres. Suddenly pupils were taking on roles such as TV Chefs, angry Headmasters, Doctors and even soldiers protecting each other from impending injury by live grenade!

The Prep School would like to thank Mr Todres for holding such a brilliant workshop with the Year 5 students, all of whom are looking forward to visiting the Senior School next term for the second part of the project.