The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is the busiest and seventh-largest exhibition centre in Europe. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway station It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 611 acres (2.54 km2) making it the largest exhibition centre in the UK.
Drama
Drama
Culture enriches lives, and participation in creative and cultural activities can have a significant impact on young people, by developing their appreciation, their skills and helping them to learn.
This has been shown repeatedly in international studies, and has also been backed up by recent evaluations of major programmes such as Creative Partnerships and Museums’ Strategic Commissioning. What these evaluations have shown is that culture and the arts can help young people achieve all of the Every Child Matters outcomes.
Cultural activities also gives young people the chance to develop important life skills such as creativity
As well as being valuable and enjoyable in its own right, participation in cultural activities also gives young people the chance to develop important life skills such as creativity, confidence, self-discipline, effective communication and the ability to work in teams. These skills are particularly important in a world of rapid technological and social change where the cultural and creative industries are increasingly important to our economic future.
That is why a commitment was made in the Children’s Plan to work towards a position where all children and young people — no matter where they live or what their background — have the chance to participate in at least five hours of high-quality culture per week, in and out of school. The Find Your Talent programme looks at different ways of offering young people a range of cultural experiences.
The aim is to give young people the chance to develop as:
- informed spectators (through attending top quality theatre and dance performances, world class exhibitions, galleries, museums and heritage sites)
- participants and creators (through learning a musical instrument, playing and singing in ensembles, taking part in theatre and dance performances, producing artwork, making films and media art, or curating an exhibition).
Arts and cultural activities are also an important stimulus to develop young people’s creativity. Learning outside the classroom activities which give children and young people the opportunity to work on real-life challenges; handle risk; develop their capacity to think imaginatively and creatively; define and explore complex problems; use and adapt multiple resources both within their community and beyond in order to experiment and devise solutions to these problems — all of these experiences nurture the mix of thinking, imagining, facing the unknown and making things happen which are the ingredients of creativity.
Examination Boards claim that GCE A Level and GCSE Drama courses not only allow students to demonstrate their skill and understanding of the dramatic arts but enable students to undertake challenging activities and to develop as human beings. Courses include such options as:
- improvisation
- stagecraft
- set design
- costume
- make-up and masks
- puppets
- lighting and sound
- stage management
Theatre visits will occupy an important place in any school Drama course. As well as watching plays, musicals, revues, operas, schools will want to seek out opportunities to see how these are put together. Drama teachers also appreciate the opportunity to show the ‘behind-the-scenes’ activities. A number of companies and organisations offer such possibilities.
For many years the Royal Opera House has not only staged school matinees, but also offered workshops to primary and secondary schools, including the opportunity for schools to create their own opera.
There are many travelling workshop companies that visit schools, too. This is known as Theatre in Education, a movement which was pioneered by the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in the 1960s. To download a history of Theatre in Education (TIE) click HERE. There are hundreds of companies who offer TIE and will visit your school to cover topics such as Joyriding, alcohol, smoking, truancy and even the transition to 'big school'. Such visits often engender interesting and involving discussions on the topics concerned amongst students.
One particular branch of TIE is Improv (short for Improvisation). This is often a participation theatrical experience as the actors involve students in the action, improvising scenes and sometimes even the story, engaging students even further.
Contacting companies who work in your area and subscribing to their mailing list or regular email updates will keep you in touch with what is on offer.
Main organisations:
National Foundation for Educational Research
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
Ticketmaster.com (other ticket websites are available and tickets are often cheaper when purchased direct from the venue)
Venues for this Curriculum
The Art Gallery & Museum has a permanent collection of over 11,000 objects in the fields of art, crafts, sculpture, local and social history, archaeology and ethnography. Most have been donated by local people, beginning in the 1860s and continuing to the present day.
The Arts Centre is open seven days a week and events are primarily presented during the three 10-week University terms, except for films, which are shown for 52 weeks of the year. At Christmas the Theatre and Studio are used for family shows.
Offering far more than an ordinary cinema, our day time up market coffee shop and gallery turns into a wine bar in the evening alongside the Circle and Auditorium Bar.
The New Vic is Staffordshire's award-winning theatre-in-the-round.
The New Vic delivers a programme of international-class work made with local audiences in mind. And, through an extensive community involvement, is helping to make our community a better, safer and more inspiring place to live and work.
In the Roald Dahl children's gallery you can boggle your eyes and baffle your brain and let your imagination run wild!
Buckinghamshire County Museum is an award winning County Museum in the attractive old town area of Aylesbury in beautifully restored buildings, some dating from the 15th century.
The Sheldonian Theatre, an exquisite Grade I listed building situated in Oxford’s city centre, is the official ceremonial hall of the University of Oxford. Some of the ceremonial activities that take place in the Theatre include matriculation, graduation ceremonies,Encaenia and Congregation. The Theatre is open to the public to visit when not in use.
STA Travel is the world’s largest travel company for teachers, students and young people. With over 35 years’ experience STA Travel Education organises safe, secure and exciting tailor-made trips for Schools, Colleges and Universities.
Take your students on a 70 minute journey through 2000 years of York’s murky history, as our full cast of entertaining theatrical actors bring to life gripping stories of the city's most infamous characters and events - from 71 AD when the Roman's created the City to the infamous highway man Dick Turpin in 1739.
Since opening in 1990, West Yorkshire Playhouse has established a national and international reputation.
We provide both a thriving focal point for the communities of West Yorkshire and theatre of the highest standard for audiences throughout the region and beyond.
No frills but plenty of guts
The museum tells the story of the famous Staffordshire Regiment and its predecessors while also looking forward to its role in the Mercian Regiment. 300 years of heroic history are shown through exhibits and displays, live interpretation, special exhibitions and a unique full-scale World War I Trench System. The museum is open all year round and runs an extensive event programme.
Nationally and internationally acclaimed, adventurous theatre across two distinct venues - the Everyman and the Playhouse.
Schools
Activ4 was established in 2002 and is today run by people with a genuine passion for providing students with the best travel experience possible.
Activ4 has gained a deserved reputation for delivering tours worldwide offering excellent value.
The Ulster Hall is a Victorian music hall which opened in 1862. It contains the world-famous Mulholland Grand Organ, which was donated to the city by local linen baron and former Lord Mayor Andrew Mulholland.
Glyndebourne is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual summer Glyndebourne Festival Opera.
Make an occasion of visiting Glyndebourne and come for the whole afternoon: you can explore the grounds, visit our Archive and Gallery or have a picnic on the lawn.
The Glyndebourne Gardens and Lake
Bristol Old Vic is a renowned theatrical company based in a restored Georgian theatre with red-and-gold tiers and modern technology. It also boasts one of the most successful and well-respected conservatoire drama schools in the UK.
Schools
Are you thinking about bringing a school group to Bristol Old Vic?
The Romantic poet John Keats lived in this house and was inspired to write his most memorable poetry here.
The grade 1 listed building is open to the public as a museum and literary centre, where Keats's memory lives on through events, creative activities and special displays.
Leonard and Virginia Woolf's 17th-century country retreat
Nestled in the heart of rural Sussex, Monk’s House is a tranquil 17th-century weatherboarded cottage inhabited by Leonard and the novelist Virginia Woolf from 1919 until Leonards death in 1969.
Get to know Leonard and Virginia Woolf and the wider Bloomsbury Group by visiting Monk's House. Full of their favourite things, the house appears as if they just stepped out for a walk.
Actviities include Ski & Snowboarding, Science-Geography-Technology Discovery, TeamWork Sports Tours, and Academy Tours for Performing & Expressive Arts.
Get the complete Harry Potter Experience at the Studio Tour. Go behind the scenes of the Harry Potter film series, located at the Studios where it all began. Step on to authentic sets and relive the magic through the eyes of the filmmakers who brought the Harry Potter film series to life.
Brimming with history, the Theatre Royal Bath is one of the oldest and most beautiful theatres in Britain.
Comprising three auditoria, the Main House, Ustinov Studio and 'the egg' theatre for children and young people, a wonderfully varied programme of top quality entertainment is on offer all year round.
There are 5 large work areas which enable schools to undertake large scale art projects and dance activities.
Swansea Grand Theatre has a wide variety of shows and exhibitions for everyone to enjoy.
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