School Workshops
New! History Through Drama – Titanic Tales: a Ship and its People
The story of Titanic has gone down in folklore – from its triumphant departure from Southampton in April 1912 to its disastrous encounter with an iceberg just five days later. It’s a story that includes social history, the science of materials, human error and human bravery – and it’s a story that’s every bit as relevant to our lives today as it was over a hundred years ago.
Introduction
Our Titanic Tales drama workshop has been developed to offer your pupils an insight into the story of both the ship and its people. With clear links to identified strands of the National Curriculum, the programme is available in formats that can accommodate anything from a single year group to a whole school (up to 420 pupils) in just one day. There are no costumes, props or artefacts in a History Through Drama day – but creativity, imagination and lots of history content.
Single Year Group
A member of our team will work with a single year group to explore, in age-appropriate ways, the life of Titanic – from its inception to launch to maiden (and only) voyage. Children will learn about life on board the ship, what happened on the night of April 15th, what went wrong – and the bravery shown by passengers and crew.
Whole School
Following an assembly looking at the story of Humans and the Sea, a member of our team will work with each year group in turn, using a range of age-appropriate, drama-based activities to support pupils in exploring different aspects of the tale of Titanic.
Workshops:
EYFS/P1: If I Were a Rich Man … comparing and contrasting what a rich person could expect from the voyage to what a poor person might expect.
Year 1/P2: Food, Glorious Food! … what do we know about the food people ate on Titanic? How did the chefs manage to prepare such marvellous meals?
Year 2/P3: Defying Gravity … the engineers who built Titanic thought it would be unsinkable. What materials did they use – and where did they go wrong?
Year 3/P4: All That Jazz … the band on Titanic famously kept playing while the ship went down. Who was in the band – and what affect did they have on the passengers and crew?
Year 4/P5: You’re Rocking the Boat … what exactly is an iceberg? And how can the science of states of matter help us understand just how one did so much damage?
Year 5/P6: Over the Rainbow … amazingly, more than 700 people survived the disaster. But who came to the rescue – and what did they do?
Year 6/P7: You’ll Never Walk Alone … tracking the stories of six people aboard Titanic, from all walks of life: their hopes, their dreams – and what happened to them.
| Year Groups | EYFS-Y6 |
|---|---|
| Curriculum | History |
| Pupil Numbers | 60 per workshops |
| Duration | Multiple workshops over one day |
| Space | School hall |
Workshop FAQs
How many pupils can take part?
Titanic Tales can accommodate up-to 60 pupils per workshop – that’s the whole of a two-form entry school in just one day!
What is the format of the day?
The day involves a whole-school assembly, followed by workshops, each one accommodating up to 60 pupils at a time. We will plan a timetable based on the number of classes you would like to include, but a whole-school day might look something like this:
09.00 – 09.20: Whole-school introductory assembly…
09.20 – 10.00: Year 1 stay in the hall for their workshop …
10.00 – 10.40: Year 2 come to the hall for their workshop …
10.40 – 11.20: Year 3 come to the hall for their workshop …
11.20 – 11.50: One Reception class have a visit, in their own setting …
LUNCH
1.00 – 1.30: The other Reception class have a visit, in their own setting …
1.30 – 2.05: Year 4 come to the hall for their workshop …
2.05 – 2.40: Year 5 come to the hall for their workshop …
2.40 – 3.15: Year 6 come to the hall for their workshop.
Are there any technical requirements?
Your visitor will need access to a laptop/ screen/projector set up in the working space, so that pupils can view the supporting PowerPoint.
Can we dress up?
Yes! lots of schools choose to dress up to really get into the theme of their history day.
Workshop Testimonials
“From all ages foundation to year 6, every children loved it. The teachers commented how well Jackson captivated their attention, was able to command a room too. He broke the poem down very simply and they did some freeze frames to portray how the soldiers would have felt. Was engaging and they were on their feet most of the time to perform, everyone had a part to play with no room for being passive! All the children we have asked had a great time, enjoyed dressing up and found Jackson really engaging. Everyone was so impressed and we can’t wait to work with you again.”Find out more about our Big History Workshops here
“Please can you pass on a big thank you to Joe for the 80th Anniversary of VE day assembly and workshops that he delivered on Friday. I didn’t get to see him before he left however I have received lots of positive feedbackfrom both students and staff. The assembly was very successful and the children were thoroughly engaged. “
“I wanted to thank you and Chris for our VE Day workshop. The children and staff all had a wonderful time and were full of praise for the content covered. Chris was engaging and knew exactly how to pitch the workshop to capture the children’s interest. We had a great day.“
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