Topic Ignition – Mud Pie Arts!

To kick start our new topics in both EY/KS1 and KS2, each class have enjoyed a fantastic drama session with Mud Pie Arts who use drama to develop creative theatrical experiences in which children collaborate and learn more about the world around them.

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, they have been on a fantastic adventure to ignite interest of their brand new topic “Wonders of the World”. They went on an expedition with Jenna the Explorer to many different and amazing sights around the world: they found treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt, hunted like lions in Africa, climbed and made a base camp at Mount Everest and went to China to be like the terracotta warrior statues!

In Key Stage 2, their new topic is ‘Going for Gold’ linking to the postponed Olympic Games happening in Japan this year, so where better to begin than the ancient Greeks who invented the Olympics! In classes 5 and 6, the children heard the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and used drama techniques to act it out. They moved in and out of the ‘stage’, playing different characters and creating key parts of the story using their bodies such as the ship that Theseus sailed to and from the island of Crete on.

In classes 7, 8 and 9, their workshop was centred on the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box and the children were required to master numerous techniques to retell the story in a suitably dramatic style! The chorus worked together in groups to chant, react to events and represent the various evils Pandora let out of the mythical box, while certain children worked as narrators or acted out the principal roles to great effect. All KS2 classes found it really interesting to learn a little more about ancient Greek theatre and were particularly amused and amazed by the masks the performers wore (a little different to the masks we’ve been used to lately)!