SCHOOL THEATRES

of school theatres

which then gives the illusion of a raised stage. This pit can also be used to house a small orchestra or the rostra panels can be raised to create a flat floor. The Performing Arts Centre also has a Dance

Studio, Drama Studio and Green Room, all available for teaching or community hire. The main auditorium is supported by the usual back-of-house facilities including dressing rooms, scene dock and general storage areas plus a control room and technical gallery. A handful of independent schools have long had

their own theatres of course. Eton has had one for many years and Bradfield College in Berkshire is famous for the original-language Greek drama it stages triennially in its outdoor amphitheatre. And many more have been built in the last 20 years in private schools. But on the whole plays in schools of all sorts were,

until recently, amateurishly staged in unsuitable, multi- purpose halls and the drama department – if it had a discrete existence as opposed to being an adjunct of the English department – was often treated loftily by teachers of “proper” subjects such as maths. Now Partnership for Schools and the Building Schools

for the Future programme has enabled the building of many more new schools or radical refurbishments of existing ones. And the transformational power of the performing arts is now so widely recognised that an increasing number include theatres. So much so that the Theatres Trust made Making

School Theatres the subject of its 2010 conference last month. Designing School Theatres took place at Leeds College of Music with Guardian journalist Maev Kennedy in the chair. It explored the architecture, design, building and sustainability of theatres within schools and discussed issues such as capital development.

SecEd

• Former teacher Susan Elkin is education and training editor at The Stage.

Further information

www.theatrestrust.org.uk

“Impatience never commanded success.”

Edwin H Chapin

Is work experience working?

Psycho babble

AS PART of the curriculum, students are required to take up a work experience placement between the ages of 14 and 16. The idea is obviously to cement knowledge acquired in the classroom, prepare students for working life, and offer an opportunity for students to get practical experience. These programmes are carefully monitored

through the schools to ensure that students are given a job description and encouraged to carry out a range of tasks. In an ideal world, students will be offered placements that are relevant to the subjects they are studying and the career they want. In reality, however, this is often far

from the case. You’ll be aware that McDonalds has offered a Level 2 BTEC as a reward for students who successfully complete 80 hours of their work experience programme. Chances are that not many

students aspire to working in a burger bar in future life; however, I can’t help but think that this programme will get more from students than the average work experience placement. For one thing, the job description is clearly defined; students know what they have to achieve, and they attain an academic qualification. My own son is about to

Goat and Monkey,” she said. Other links are also being developed through Royal Holloway College, part of the University of London, where Ms Coccia-Clark is doing a PhD on drama and education. Designed by Building Design Partnership, the

six-floored Bridge Academy is horseshoe-shaped. Of course they also want the local public to use the theatre for “public and private performances”. And it isn’t as though the school will be using it for lectures, staff training and the like because Bridge also has a 280-seat lecture theatre which can be hired by external groups for conferences and courses. Of course Bridge Academy is not unique. Consider

Allerton Grange High School in Leeds which also moved into its new building in September 2009. Its 1,690 students, like their counterparts at the Bridge Academy, now have access to a purpose-built, professional standard stage, theatre and auditorium. There is another interesting example at The St Peter Port Secondary School in Guernsey. Completed

SecEd • May 13 2010

in December 2006, The Princess Royal Centre for Performing Arts offers students the opportunity to study full-time vocational performing arts courses for the first time on the island. The centre, which was officially opened by

Princess Anne in June 2007, also offers part-time and short courses. These courses include all elements of performing arts from acting, dancing and singing to stage-management, lighting, sound and set design as well as the performing arts business, booking systems and the legal aspects of performance. Although primarily an education resource, the

Princess Royal Centre for Performing Arts is also available for community use. The main auditorium features a flexible performance space that can be set out in a traditional proscenium arch format, theatre in the round or flat floor. The maximum audience capacity is 400 when configured for a theatre-in-the-round performance. Tiered seating, the majority of which is retractable, can be continued down into a seating pit

undertake his first taste of work experience and is lucky enough to have found a placement that reflects his interests and his potential future career path. Many of his friends, however, have not been so lucky. Some have a few days sweeping floors and making tea for the staff in local shops; others have vague opportunities to help out in local businesses, with no clear understanding of what will be required of them, and no real relevance. The truth is that there is a dearth of opportunities,

and many businesses are reluctant to give students any real responsibility or opportunity. If this is their first experience of work, it will be neither inspiring nor will it have any practical applications. There is some good Canadian research into the

value of work experience for secondary school students. There is a marked difference in the Canadian approach to this type of programme, because schools, business and other partners put substantial efforts

into arranging work experience that is relevant to the students in question, and which acts, effectively, as a “school-to-work” transition. Their findings are important for a number of

reasons, if only to encourage a change in our own approach to work experience and to highlight a need for much greater community and business involvement. In 2009, the Canadian Council on Learning with

support from the Ontario Ministry of Education, reviewed 35 international studies that looked into the effectiveness of secondary school work experience programmes. Researchers found that evidence of the impact of work experience programmes on academic achievement was inconclusive. More positive results were found

regarding the impact of such programmes on secondary school graduation rates and career preparation. Further, students who experience any type of work experience also show improvements in self-esteem, engagement in the workplace and in school, leadership and motivation. Most interesting, however, were the conclusions about

what makes a placement valid and valuable for students. The researchers found that care must be taken when matching students to placements. They write: “When students are not interested in the career path associated with a particular placement,

they may become disengaged.” They also found that the most effective way to ensure placement success is for a contract to be developed between the employer and the student,

which sets out reasonable explanations for each party. As educators, we undoubtedly need to facilitate

better links with the business community, and establish placements that are appropriate for the kids in question. There’s no reason, either, why more organisations can’t follow the lead of McDonalds, and structure a course so that it offers rewards and the possibility of real achievement for students. All students need to come away from work

experience with something tangible, or the benefits are immediately negated.

• Karen Sullivan is a bestselling author, psychologist and childcare expert. Email KESullivan@aol.com

Lighting fires

“Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same

one a second time.”

Josh Billings

“He that would be a leader must also be a bridge.”

Welsh Proverb

“To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is more

difficult.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing

makes it happen.”

Frank Lloyd Wright

“To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.”

William Shakespeare

“Try not to become a man of

success but a man of value.”

Albert Einstein

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