We are very proud at Old Basford School to be a Lead Associate school with the RSC. This involves a close working partnership with the RSC, Nottingham Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse. Of course this is a massive privilege, but it is also a commitment from OBS staff to bringing Shakespeare’s plays to life in the 21^st Century.

There are an abundance of benefits to being an Associate RSC school and here are some of them:

• We have proudly earned the RSC Artsmark Alliance Platinum Award.
• We have a whole school , Nursery to Y6, Shakespeare week.
• We learn about a different Shakespeare play every year.
• Year 3 study Shakespeare and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in their 'What makes Britain great' topic.
• Our teachers have specialist training in drama techniques by the RSC.
• We use rehearsal room drama techniques in lessons.
• We use Shakespeare inspired language in our writing.
• We work with specialists in drama, music and art,
• We go to the theatre to shows and plays- most are for FREE!
• Theatre companies perform shows as well as Shaekespeare's plays at our school.
• Drama club performs Shakespeare's plays at the theatre every year.
• WE have backstage tours and heritage talks at the theatre.
• We have Shakespeare ambassadors.

Would you like to learn more about Shakespeare and his plays? Click on the link below to find out.

_{RSC @ OBS 2023-2024}

SHAKESPEARE AMBASSADORS' EVENT NOVEMBER 2023

On Friday 10th November our Shakespeare ambassadors for 2022-23 and ambassadors from the other RSC associate schools had their very first meeting of the year at the Theatre Royal. At the event, the children were inducted into the RSC ambassador programme and learned about their roles and responsibilities. They also took part in some drama activities based on Romeo and Juliet, which is our chosen play to study for this year. They then had time to share ideas of what else they could do in school as part of the role. They had loads of great ideas which included a drama club for KS1 children, and for our Shakespeare week a themed dress up day, quizzes, art competitions and a movie night- 'Gnomeo and Juliet' of course! Take a look at some of the photos from the day. 

MEET THE AMBASSADORS

Our new ambassadors this year are Liliana, Loki and Millie. They are super excited to represent Old Basford and have lots of ideas for promoting Shakespeare in school. It's going to be a good year!

_{RSC @ OBS 2022-2023}

As an RSC Associate school we are required to look at the impact of our work over the year and make a report with evidence of the impact on children, parents, the school and the staff. I have attached the document here, but the stand out statistic I would like to share is that 399 have experienced a FREE live performance either in school or at the theatre in this academic year alone thanks to our association with the RSC and partner theatres (Nottingham TRCH and Nottingham Playhouse). That's amazing!

NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE @ OLD BASFORD SCHOOL

Nottingham Playhouse came to OBS on Monday 17th July to perform an abridged version of our current Shakespeare text of "Twelfth Night". There was a cast of just 4 actors but they amazingly performed all of the different characters in the play. The children loved being able to change for Cesario and Sir Toby during their duel and really enjoyed singing a love song to Olivia. The play was hilarious in parts and the actors made the play so engaging for such a young audience whilst sticking to the original text. What an absolute treat! When the actors left we found the love letter to Malvolio from Maria pretending to be Olivia, so we have kept it alongside heart-shaped confetti as a memento!

OBS Drama Club in the RSC Regional Playmaking Festival 2023

On Tuesday 27th June 2023 20 children from Old Basford joined with the other 11 Nottingham RSC Associate schools in the annual playmaking festival. This year each school was assigned a scene from Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'. We were proudly represented by our Year 5 and Year 6 drama club who performed Scene 6 of the play. In the scene Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and a group of revellers are enjoying a party and being entertained by Feste's group and dancers. Malvolio tries to put an end to the festivities but Maria decide to hatch a plan for revenge! Please see below for the video of our scene during the dress rehearsal and some photographs of the day.

SHAKESPEARE WEEK AT OBS

This week the whole of school, from Nursery to Year 6  have been involved in cross-curricular work based on William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night".

The week began with an assembly by Mrs Thomas who gave a little detail about the play and then the history behind the traditions of the celebration of Twelfth Night.

 Throughout the week the children participated in lots of drama activities, exploring and becoming familiar with the original text. The children also wrote missing posters (for Sebastian), diary entries, letters to Olivia, letters to Malvolio, translated the text into modern speech and even had a go at writing sonnets using the iambic pentameter and rhyme! They created art work- storms at sea, portraits that showed different genders, portraits of twins and illustrated quotes from the text.

One of the wonderful benefits of being an RSC associate school is that the children have the privilege of being taught by creative practitioners to enhanced their learning. It is also great training for the teachers has they get lots of ideas from them. Year 1 and Year 5 both had a full day each of working Martha Toogood, a drama specialist. F2 and Y4 worked with Liam Malloy, a professional musician. Y3 had a full day with Jane Stockley, a visual artist.

Please see the year group websites for further photographs.

One of the wonderful benefits of being an RSC associate school is that the children have the privilege of being taught by creative practitioners to enhanced their learning. It is also great training for the teachers has they get lots of ideas from them. Year 1 and Year 5 both had a full day each of working Martha Toogood, a drama specialist. F2 and Y4 worked with Liam Malloy, a professional musician. Y3 had a full day with Jane Stockley, a visual artist.

We finished the week with a celebration of a selection of the children's work being on display for parents to admire. It was a very successful turnout and many parents were impressed with what the children had learned.

Shakespeare ambassadors

On Monday 23rd January our three Shakespeare ambassadors, Amaya, Sarah and Wahenoor, went to Nottingham Theatre Royal. They had the fantastic opportunity to work with Lizzie Hopley from the RSC on story and playwriting. The workshop was based on the RSC's '37 plays' project which is to create and inspire a new generation of writers. The children worked with other RSC ambassadors on drama activities, story telling and collaborative comic strip drawings.

Twelfth Night First Encounters

On 2nd November some of our Year 5 students had the exciting opportunity of watching the RSC First Encounters production of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' at Bluecoat Bilborough Academy (BBA). First Encounters productions are an abridged version of the original play using the original text. The main actors were from the RSC but some of the student at BBA played some of the minor roles, one of whom was an ex-Old Basford pupil. It was lovely to see that his love of drama is thriving!

SHAKESPEARE AMBASSADORS' EVENT SEPTEMBER 2022

On Tuesday 27th September our Shakespeare ambassadors for 2021-22 and our ambassadors for 2022-23 were invited to an event at the Theatre Royal. At the event, the children had time with Freddy Goymer from the RSC and the author Andy Barrett. Our old ambassadors proudly presented their video about Shakespeare at Old Basford. The new ambassadors were inducted into the programme and learned about their roles and responsibilities.

RSC @ OBS 2021-2022

IMPACT AND EVIDENCE

Please see the document below below which shows evidence of the impact that being an RSC Associate School has had on our teaching practice and the experiences of our children.

OBS SHAKESPEARE AMBASSADORS

Our ambassadors Carol, Kasim and Elinor have created a video to showcase the activities and work we have done this year during our Shakespeare week.

Click on the link below to watch...

RSC ASSOCIATE SCHOOLS REGIONAL PLAYMAKING FESTIVAL

I am extremely proud to tell you about Old Basford School's Drama club and their performance for the Playmaking Festival at Nottingham Playhouse on Wednesday 29th June 2022. The nine Nottingham RSC schools chose a short scene to perform from Shakespeare's plays. The scenes were then put together for the festival to represent the theme of 'Magic and Mayhem'.

OBS chose the opening scene from the Tempest as it perfectly encapsulate the theme of ‘magic and mayhem’. A ship is sailing through a violent storm created by the powerful hands of the magician Prospero with the help and trickery of Ariel, his spirit servant. The crew and passengers are tossed and turned, believing that all is lost and they will perish. Fortunately, despite the turmoil and confusion of the tempest, Ariel ensures no harm is done and all are washed up on the shore.

The festival was a roaring success and everyone enjoyed watching the talented young people of Nottingham. Please see below the video of OBS's performance and some photographs from the dress rehearsal.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Our Shakespeare week this year was very successful and was based on A Midsummer Night's Dream. All children from Nursery to Year 6 were involved in studying the play (at the appropriate level) and produced some amazing work.

The Year 2 and the Year 4 children were lucky to work with Martha Toogood, a drama specialist, who helped them to understand the characters and the setting of the play through drama techniques using words and phrases from the original text. Year 5 were fortunate to work with the artist Jane Stockley on a project of making props for the play, namely a donkey's head for the character Bottom. Year 6 had the exciting opportunity of writing lyrics, singing and recording their own song about the play under the expert direction of the musician Liam Malloy. 

The rest of the school (and the children when not working with specialists) were involved in drama activities, art, music, dance, IT and written pieces of work. Please see the photographs below of a selection of their work. Or alternatively, go to class pages to see even more examples of their work.

               THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

As a Royal Shakespeare Company Lead Associate School, every year we focus on one of Shakespeare's plays for a whole week. This year we have all been immersed in 'The Merchant of Venice' which is a tale of love, prejudice, revenge and justice. Each year group has looked at parts of the play (appropriate for their age), reading the text, using drama to bring the text to life and using the language to influence their own writing. We have also used cross-curricular lessons to explore the story and the setting of Venice. We have had visits and support from an artist in Year 6, a drama specialist in Years 3 and 4 and a musician in Year 1. That is a total of 240 children who have received specialist creative arts input. We finished the week with a celebratory assembly looking at some of the work that has gone on. The quality of the work was absolutely amazing. Some of the children had used quotes or phrases from the text in their own pieces of writing. Some children had rewritten parts of the play into modern day language or were inspired to write their own play scripts with stage directions to perform in front of their peers. Some children had used quotes from Shakespeare to help illustrate pictures. Others had created scenes of Venice through different media. Overall there was a wealth of activities that had gone on throughout the week. Some of this work has been displayed in the main corridor- come and take a look next time you are in school! If you would to see work that your child has done during the week, please go to their class page on the website.

                   OBS WORK DISPLAYED AT THE ROYAL CONCERT HALL

From the 24th February there is a Shakespeare Festival taking place at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. As part of the celebratory work the Associate schools have been asked to display some of the work that has been taking place. Please take a look at the photos below of the work from Old Basford School showcasing some of the work that we created during our 'Romeo and Juliet' week in 2019.

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY AT OBS (13/11/19)

We were extremely privileged today to have hosted the Royal Shakespeare Company who performed 'The Merchant of Venice'. The play was absolutely amazing! Our Year 5 and 6 children were mesmerised by the acting for a whole 90 minutes and although the actors used the original Shakespeare text, the children were completely hooked and understood what was happening. We also welcomed Year 3 from Whitemoor Primary to watch the play who were equally enthralled. My 4 Shakespeare ambassadors, Aaryan, Jack, Kara and Nemrah enjoyed being stage hands and taking part in the play. They did a sterling job and did OBS proud!

 SHAKESPEARE AMBASSADORS

Exciting news!For the first time ever we have 4 Shakespeare Ambassadors at OBS. Today Mrs Thomas took the 4 lucky pupils, Aaryan, Jack, Kara and Nemrah to the Theatre Royal to have their introductory trainind session with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company Education Team. We had a great day getting to know the other 36 Nottingham pupils who have been given this prestigious title. The boys and girls got to know about their roles and responsibilities and now have a better understanding about spreading the word about Shakespeare. The children came away full of enthusiasm and really motivated to carry out their roles. The first thing the ambassadors have pledged to do is set up a Key Stage One drama club at lunchtimes. Planning will begin shortly and we hope to start in November.

MEMORIES OF RSC AT OBS 2019

During the week of 1st -5th April Old Basford had a whole school theme of 'Romeo and Juliet'. During the week the children took part in lots of drama activities influenced by the rehearsal room techniques that are used by the RSC themselves. These activities really helped the children to understand the play, the characters and the dialogue. The children looked at the themes of friendship, love, grudge and hate. You can see from the photographs below how much the children loved acting out the scenes and we certainly saw some aspiring actors! As well as drama, there were other cross curricular activities going on, for example the children created Romeo and Juliet themed art work, writing and used IT.  Even our very youngest children in the nursery experienced the story at their level, understanding that it is about two families that do not get along. They had a dress up day and had their own masquerade ball!

We were fortunate to work alongside an RSC associate artist, musician and dramatist. Three year groups were fortunate to have a day which each of the artists and gain from their expertise. The musician, Liam Maloy worked with the classes in F2 and taught them songs that he had specially written and got them dance along and accompany him with percussion instruments. Liam's songs are very catchy and the children quickly picked up the lyrics and could join in. They loved it! Jane Stockley, the artist, worked with the Year 2 children to create masks for the Capulet masquerade ball, which they did, in fact, wear later in the week when they re-enacted the scene. As you will see from the photographs the masks were made from paper, paper plates and some very clever cutting and folding techniques. They looked fantastic! The Year 5 children were fortunate to work Martha Toogood who worked on the children's drama techniques. The classes then used the scenes to perform in their parent achievement assembly.

The week ended with a celebratory assembly when each year group shared some of their highlights. It really was a fantastic week! As we say at OBS "OPPORTUNITIES BRING SUCCESS"!

RSC AT OBS 2018

Twenty Year 4 children had the amazing experience of performing at the Theatre Royal in a production of Macbeth with eight other Nottingham schools. OBS performed the final part of the play. They all had 1 or 2 lines to say and all ‘danced’ in a fight scene which was to an original song that they had previously created in school with the musician Liam Maloy.

RSC 2017

TEMPEST TOUR

RSC 2016

DREAM 16

OLD BASFORD SCHOOL IS JOINING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IN CELEBRATING THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHAKESPEARE'S DEATH. ONE AMAZING PROJECT THAT WE ARE FORTUNATE TO BE INVOLVED IN WITH OUR PARTNER P6P SCHOOLS, IS 'DREAM 16'. FIVE YEAR 5 CHILDREN WERE SPECIALLY SELECTED TO ACT IN A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE PRODUCTION OF 'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM' AT NOTTINGHAM'S THEATRE ROYAL. IN MAY THE CHILDREN PLAYED THE PARTS OF SOME OF TITANIA'S FAIRIES ALONGSIDE 5 OTHER CHILDREN FROM ROSSLYN PARK. THE OTHER CHARACTERS WERE PLAYED BY PROFESSIONAL RSC ACTORS AND AN AMATEUR GROUP FROM HUCKNALL TOOK THE PARTS OF THE MECHANICALS.  FIFI, ELLA, COURTNEY, CONNOR AND THOMAS WERE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. THE SHOW WAS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS AND THE CHILDREN WERE STARS! IT HAS REALLY WHET THEIR APPETITES FOR FURTHER DRAMA ROLES. 
       WE WERE FORTUNATE TO TAKE OUR YEAR 5 AND 6 PUPILS ALONG TO A MATINEE PERFORMANCE OF THE PLAY ALONSIDE THE OTHER P6P SCHOOLS. THE RSC ACTORS SAID THAT THIS WAS A TRULY UNIQUE EXPERIENCE FOR THEM AS THEY HAD NEVER PERFORMED TO SO MANY CHILDREN BEFORE. IT WAS A TRULY SPECIAL AFTERNOON AND HOPEFULLY HAS CREATED A NEW GENERATION OF SHAKESPEARE FANS.
        HERE ARE A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS OF OUR REHEARSALS.