Our experienced theatre experts will create and run a half day, full day, or series of days, tailored to the specific needs of the participants and your desired focus and outcomes.

In addition to supporting rehearsal-room approaches to teaching Shakespeare in the classroom we also offer outreach days that build teachers’ skills in creating performance with young people.

We can create a course for teachers with little or with considerable experience of teaching Shakespeare and for teachers working from Early Years to A-Level.  

• Staff will experience a unique and immersive CPD session with an internationally-renowned theatre organisation. 
• INSET workshops are bespoke, tailored to the specific needs of your group and your desired aims and outcomes.
• Most of the rehearsal room approaches covered during the day are transferable to other age ranges, plays and texts covered in the National Curriculum. We can cover the elements required by the GCSE English specifications, for example, close language analysis, how a theme reflected in an extract is explored elsewhere in the play, the relationship between the text and the context in which it was written, personal response, Shakespeare’s use of language, structure and form, key themes, characters and ideas. 
• Each participant will receive a set of high-quality resources featuring all the strategies and texts used during the day/s to support their planning and teaching.
• Use CPD experiences with the RSC to count towards further training e.g. RSC Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare.
• Involvement with the RSC’s CPD offer can contribute towards a school’s acquisition of Artsmark.
• The far-reaching impact of our work is backed up by a large and widely-recognised evidence base. 

You can find out more about the benefits of RSC CPD here.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss any of the above.

 

 

Courses can be built around any of the following options: 

Rehearsal Room Approaches to Shakespeare

Based on the Shakespeare play(s) of your choice, and tailored to the needs and experience levels of the group of teachers you bring together, these bespoke courses explore how rehearsal room approaches can help students of all ages and abilities engage with Shakespeare’s texts. 

Teaching Shakespeare with pupils with Special Needs

Find out how to adapt rehearsal room approaches to Shakespeare for the benefit of pupils with special needs. Using proven techniques we will look at how to approach Shakespeare in ways that honour, support and celebrate the needs and attributes of those pupils. 

Creating Performances with Young People

Move on from using rehearsal room techniques as part of classroom pedagogy into creating performances with your pupils with a course led by one of our specialist practitioners.

Improving Literacy through Matilda The Musical

Find out how rehearsal and performance approaches based on the RSC’s multi-award winning Matilda The Musical can help extend writing in the Primary classroom. We will help you develop a toolbag of practical activities, direct from RSC rehearsal rooms, which engage students with stories, plotlines and character development.

  

Each RSC CPD day is different, depending on the participants, aims and desired outcomes. Please see below for examples of what our practitioners have focused on during previous courses:

• Our cohort are quite disaffected and we think this will help
• We are running a whole school project around a Shakespeare play and want to learn how to get all staff and students involved
• Romeo & Juliet is our new set text at GCSE
• We are a University and want all our trainee English and Drama teachers to take part
• Bringing Shakespeare to Early Years and Primary children
• Engaging boys in Years 7-9 – the main focus is to help staff gain confidence in to teach the text actively to support students’ understanding of meaning
• We’re looking at rolling out a new curriculum for the academic year 19/20
• Each of our cluster schools are producing an abridged version of a Shakespeare play for the school and wider community 

Our INSET days have had an exceptional response and impact participants and their students. Please see below for some quotes from teachers: 

• 'Invaluable, immersive insight into the works of Shakespeare'.
• 'Some really interesting and valuable ways into the texts to make them accessible to students and bring the plays to life. I now have a list of strategies I can use to adapt for my classes.'
• 'Techniques to include everyone - not just the 'drama-minded''.
• 'I learned how to introduce a complex text like R&J to a class in a way that eliminates the fear of Shakespeare.'
• 'A variety of new and alternative ways into studying Shakespeare. Some excellent techniques to engage students and to get them thinking in new ways.'
  

 You can read more feedback from teachers who have undertaken our CPD here.

If you’re interested in booking please email teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk in the first instance. If possible, please include the following information in your email:

• The focus for the day/s, especially which Shakespeare text you’d like to explore and why
• Desired outcomes
• How many participants you expect to attend
• Profile of teachers (e.g. primary/secondary/drama specialists etc.)
• Familiarity of teachers with Shakespeare and rehearsal-room/drama approaches
• The age of the children they teach 

Once you’ve done this a member of the Education team will be in touch to talk about your aims for the INSET and how we can best support them. 

An RSC INSET day costs £875 (£850 for RSC Education Members). This can work out at as little as £35 per person.

A full day typically runs from 9.30am – 3.30pm and includes all our expenses and a full resource pack for participants. 

We also offer shorter sessions. Please contact teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk to discuss your requirements.

Practitioner expenses will be paid for by the RSC and following the session you will receive a full pack of high-quality resources (notes/texts and so on.) for the play you have studied during the day. Please note, lunch is not provided as part of the total cost.

To book, please email us providing as much information as you can about the course you would like to organise. More information about what would be useful to know from you can be found under 'What information does the RSC need?'